[lit-ideas] Re: Paying taxes for months on end
- From: Robert Paul <robert.paul@xxxxxxxx>
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Tue, 07 Jun 2005 15:01:07 -0700
Phil Enns wrote:
> Julie Krueger wrote:
> The point of the court action was to discern whether the police were
> empowered, that is
> had the right, to do what they did. If they had 'absolutely no right to
> do that' then they would have been found guilty because they did not
> have the power to act as they did.
I'm sure Phil did not mean to say exactly that. It is a contingent fact
that some people who have broken the law are, if tried, found guilty.
Phil seems to be thinking of an ideal world in which what he says would
be true. This world is not it.
Here's a summary of the events in question.
In 1992, four LAPD officers were indicted for using excessive force in
subduing Rodney King (who had been stopped for speeding, and who
resisted arrest). They were tried in Ventura County. after a California
appeals court had granted a defense motion for a change of venue. All
four were acquitted, although the jury could not agree on one of the
charges against officer Laurence Powell.
Two hours after the verdict was announced (on April 29, 1992), rioting
broke out in Los Angeles. Before it was over, fifty-three people had
died, and over 7,000 had been arrested.
Two days later, President Bush (George H. W. Bush) asked the Justice
Department to determine whether the police had violated any of King's
federal civil rights [sic].
A Federal grand jury returned indictments against the same four officers.
On April 16, 1993, a Federal jury convicted Powell, and another officer,
Stacey Koon, of violating King's civil rights. They were both sentenced
to 30 months in a Federal prison.
Robert Paul
Reed College
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