Pottawattamie County case settled for $12 million
The U.S. Supreme Court will not decide the question in Pottawattamie County v. McGhee, whether prosecutors can be liable for fabricating evidence, coaching witnesses, concealing exculpatory evidence, and sending an innocent person to prison for 25 years of his life, because the government has settled the case before SCOTUS had the opportunity to rule.
The lower courts had ruled that prosecutorial immunity does not extend to the preparations that occur before trial begins, and SCOTUS heard arguments in the case in November. Now a settlement of $12 million has made the issue moot. I am guessing that the County feared an adverse ruling from the Supreme Court which would allow lawsuits to go forward against prosecutors in future cases - but, lawsuits are going to be filed now anyway, and the issue will make its way back to the Court eventually.
Prosecutors should be liable in extreme cases such as the Pottawattamie County case, where the misconduct can be proven. They should be more than civilly liable, they should be criminally liable. If it is proven that a person (prosecutor) lied, suborned perjury, and obstructed justice and the result was that an innocent man lost 25 years of his life, should there be criminal consequences? Should that person be sentenced to 25 years in prison to pay for what they did? Does $12 million really make up for the loss of 25 years of a person's life?
If it is proven that a person (prosecutor) lied, suborned perjury, and obstructed justice and the result was that a human being was sentenced to death by a judge or jury, should there be criminal consequences? Did that prosecutor commit murder, the very thing that he is supposed to be working to prevent? And what should the penalty be?
These are the extreme cases, but they are out there and it happens. There should be consequences - under the current system, prosecutors are immune from lawsuit, no-one polices them, and in most cases they are not so much as disciplined by the bar association. Police, prosecutors, judges, and defense attorneys hold peoples lives in their hands. They have the power to heal, to help, to hurt, and even to kill. With that power comes responsibility, and accountability.
I am glad that McGhee and Harrington are being compensated for what was done to them. I doubt that they feel $12 million is enough.
Edit: Gamso and Norm Pattis have blogged about the settlement as well.
Comments
This type of case intrigued me as a crime victim poking around in the mechanics of justice. I had no idea about the abuses of immunity that have destroyed the lives of many. I come from a non typical school of point of view. I am not an accused criminal alleging official misconduct. I along with my wife, dialed 911 to report a crime. From what I know now, I can’t in good conscience report crime again. I just can’t afford it! Unfortunately for us, this person we reported was connected to a campaigning DA who reversed 4 docketed trials against their “friend” when he was elected, as stated he would do, enraging the victims.
So far, reacting to our complaints, a Judge was found guilty of wrong doing by the state CJP. A Sheriff is stepping down prior to election, and a BOS was discovered committing fraud to cover this up by her political party. She was later arrested on unrelated charges. As a self represented Plaintiff in federal court immunity issues have come up. Defendants 3 separate counsels defense is, “so what we are immune [short paraphrase].” Legislative immunity is abrogated for “Ad Hoc” legislation that does not affect public policy, and Monell Liability of unlawful policy to deprive rights under color of law, abrogates immunity. The 3 separate defense counsels argued for a “dismissal hearing,” but did not provide controlling law. The hearing was vacated as requested by us Plaintiffs. Due to the CJP decision to take “corrective action” against this local good ole boy felony fixing judge, “plausibility” of our allegations should be viewed more objectively. Up until now, you would think we were Al Quida for holding our officials accountable. By the way citizens, you do not have constitutional rights, contrary to popular belief, because they are not enforced! In Pottowattamie, the man served 25 years in prison for Christ sake and SCOTUS doesn’t want to muddy the waters for prosecutors who have a constitutional right to be corrupt, where citizens have no rights to be protected from any crime! We are crime victims, a new trend in civil right violations probably due to Gonzales v. Castle Rock, and this Pottawattamie case. I wonder if this still leaves the door open for them to “frame” accused criminals due to the “clearly established law” doctrine.
Posted by: Pat | January 7, 2010 11:40 AM
Okay 12 million? What did these people do for a living that they would have ever earned 12 million? I believe in compensation, I am all for victims rights but thats a little much for a weak economy.
Posted by: Anonymous | July 25, 2010 6:35 AM