86
votes
Suing a Police Officer Instead of the Police Department
Even if you had grounds for a lawsuit, you could not make it come out of the officer’s pocket. Under Chapter 4.64 of the Seattle Code, the City of Seattle is generally required to defend and indemnify ...
- 23.6k
28
votes
Is an abuse of power necessarily a criminal offence?
No, abuse of power is not necessarily criminal
Imagine a judge that is “heightist” - they always rule in favor of defendants who are taller than 175cm and always rule against those who are shorter ...
- 198k
20
votes
Suing a Police Officer Instead of the Police Department
I'll go ahead and add in a federal level legal principle on top of all of the local and state laws that stand in your way: qualified immunity.
In short, you'd have to prove that the officer was ...
- 356
19
votes
Is an abuse of power necessarily a criminal offence?
The point is that an act need not be a crime for which the actor could be convicted in criminal court for it to qualify as an impeachable "high crime or misdemeanor."
So, abuse of power isn't ...
- 35.1k
16
votes
Suing a Police Officer Instead of the Police Department
You could sue the officer. You could even make it a federal suit under Section 1983 (see the text of the law). However, to prevail, you would have to show that the officer knew that you were doing ...
- 113k
14
votes
Is an abuse of power necessarily a criminal offence?
No, abuse of power is not necessarily criminal
because abuse of power is a moral construct and something being criminal is a legalistic one.
And that the law and morals are only loosely related to ...
- 309
10
votes
Accepted
Suing a Police Officer Instead of the Police Department
No, you can not sue him for this. A police officer has to have done something wrong for you to sue, not just his job.
I know you are saying the ticket was not warranted, but even if you are right, he ...
- 3,964
5
votes
Is an abuse of power necessarily a criminal offence?
High Crimes and Misdemeanors (the bigger category from which Abuse of Power was derived) was historically meant as a catch-all for any actions that could cause a peasant to believe that the monarchy ...
- 439
5
votes
Implementation or enforcement: which is required by law by the governments concerned?
if these questions and answers are found to be legally binding ...
They aren’t. Therefore the premise of your question is flawed.
It’s like asking “If my dog was a cat ...”. Well, since your dog isn’...
- 198k
5
votes
Accepted
Could a president sue a person for defamation during their time in office?
Defamation is a suit that can be brought by anyone, however, there are extra hurdles if the plaintiff is an official. Following New York Times Co v Sullivan, the plaintiff must prove actual malice: ...
- 198k
5
votes
Accepted
Has the Alien Property Custodian Office been abolished?
The ability to create such an office derives (according to Roosevelt, who invoked the power), from the constitutional authority of the president and the Trading with the Enemy Act amended by the War ...
- 211k
4
votes
Why do prominent public figures resign, instead of being prosecuted, when they appear to have committed a crime?
I will address only the legal issues.
Prosecutors for very good public policy reasons are not required to prosecute every crime they have suspicions about.
When exercising this discretion they ...
- 198k
4
votes
lying to lawyer illegal
No
A lawyer is considered an "officer of the court" in the sense that certain duties to the court are imposed on the lawyer. That does not give the lawyer authority as if the lawyer was part ...
- 113k
4
votes
Suing a Police Officer Instead of the Police Department
Most of the answers are being too specific, vicarious liability would apply to the officer just as it does with any other employer. The employer is responsible for the employees incompetence, not the ...
- 2,041
4
votes
Is it legal to give fictional characters titles of real-world government officials?
It's fine, as long as it's clear that it's fiction
As far as I know, titles such as "Mr. President" aren't specifically restricted in any way. That said, there are a few relevant laws here ...
- 10.2k
4
votes
Implementation or enforcement: which is required by law by the governments concerned?
what is the relationship between stack exchange network and the governments concerned and how these two different realities are connected?
Governments have and enforce their laws.
StackExchange ...
- 25.8k
3
votes
Which members of the American government are required by law or tradition to live in a specific location beyond the President?
Many states have laws providing for a residence for their governors, but I know of no state that mandates the use of those homes. Oregon's previous governor, for instance, lived in Portland rather ...
- 57.2k
3
votes
Wrongful death suits against government officials
No.
A governor could not be held liable in a lawsuit on those grounds. Governors in every U.S. state have governmental immunity from liability in tort (and a lawsuit for wrongful death is a kind of ...
- 196k
3
votes
Suing a Police Officer Instead of the Police Department
The biggest issue with your situation is that the police didn't get your $350. The towing company did. So even if you can get the police to admit they made a mistake, they don't have your money, and ...
- 734
3
votes
Why is equality under the law, the ideal? Shouldn't high ranking government and military officials be given greater benefit of the doubt, trust, etc.?
Why should they?
If a person is accused of a crime, say murder, why should more evidence be needed to convict them if they are a high ranking government official than if they are just an ordinary ...
- 198k
2
votes
In the United States, is there a Governmental Entity that oversees the auditing of various other non-governmental entities?
Within the field of accounting, the process of maintaining financial records and auditing financial records for purposes other than tax collection is called "financial accounting" as distinct from "...
- 196k
2
votes
Suing a Police Officer Instead of the Police Department
There are laws in place in some states and cities that prevent a towing company from holding your vehicle hostage if you don't pay the tow fee. I know this doesn't help you right now, but I post as an ...
- 121
2
votes
Can a US cabinet secretary be criminally liable for a misapplication of federal law?
No, federal officials are not immune from criminal laws. Obviously, many politicians have been arrested.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_American_federal_politicians_convicted_of_crimes#...
- 3,964
2
votes
Accepted
Why do prominent public figures resign, instead of being prosecuted, when they appear to have committed a crime?
This interview with the man who served as the lead prosecutor on the Enron Task Force clarifies some of my questions. In essence, as one of the other answers mentioned, just because someone committed ...
- 145
2
votes
Why is equality under the law, the ideal? Shouldn't high ranking government and military officials be given greater benefit of the doubt, trust, etc.?
"Equality under the law" refers to the idea that all people are to be equally protected by the law, and does not mean that all people are to be treated the same. It is obvious that no ...
- 211k
2
votes
Why is equality under the law, the ideal? Shouldn't high ranking government and military officials be given greater benefit of the doubt, trust, etc.?
I agree with the answer from @user6726 but would like to expand on a couple of points pertinent to the title question:
Why is equality under the law, the ideal? Shouldn't high ranking
government and ...
- 196k
1
vote
Which members of the American government are required by law or tradition to live in a specific location beyond the President?
Which members of the American government are required by law or
tradition to live in a specific location beyond the President?
In addition to the President, the Vice President, Governors, some Mayors,...
- 196k
1
vote
lying to lawyer illegal
It is not illegal to lie to an individual, and it is illegal to lie in a 'matter'. The statutes are framed in terms of a circumstance such as being under oath of in an investigation. Fraud of course ...
- 211k
1
vote
Identifying corruption in tendering process
Since no one more knowledgeable has posted an answer, here is my best attempt at an answer. I suggest that the OP, or other interested party, treat this as an initial overview rather than a final ...
- 8,747
1
vote
Redacted emails from public records request
It's possible that the emails in question fall under an exemption. There is, for example, an exemption for materials "relating to a specifically named individual, the disclosure of which may ...
- 7,110
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible