Thursday, February 23, 2012

Law Enforcement Legislation Concept: "Penalities For Bad Cops & Lawyers Doing Flawed Investigations"

Hello All,

(First off I am not anti-police, I actually respect and admire to a point honorable police institutions. I may be biased due to having myself and mother saved from a random arsonist attack a couple years ago in our home.)

Good cops would not or should not be concerned with my proposed law enforcement concept for a flawed criminal investigation. To narrow this down further by flawed criminal investigations are cases of false imprisonment. Where be it by incompetence or downright corruption of police detectives that care nothing more than to close a criminal case. Sending an innocent man or woman for years to decades at a time to prison. If not in the very rare case of an innocent prisoner dying in prison from execution by the State to an attack from other inmates.

Usually its for advocacy organizations like the nationally known "Innocence Project" to vindicate innocent men and woman from the penal code system. Be it by means of DNA testing, false confessions that are coerced, erroneous eyewitness identification, bad lawyering, government misconduct, informants or snitches giving misleading statements, etc...

The Innocence Project

Cases like these are made worse that globally we are known as the world's jailor. With a prisoner population exceeding 2 million inmates, more than any other nation including China. Although China has the infamy of executing prisoners on a fast track basis with very little due process. Unlike here in the States where a death row inmate can spend decades waiting to be executed.

Right now in my own State of Florida where our State legislature is in its yearly session. They are deciding on a 1.3 million dollar award for a man that was falsely imprisoned for 27 years time. Every year the State of Florida gets these cases not unlike other States in our Union. Besides leaving the American tax payer in the lurch for a case of false imprisonment. Why not share the shame and pain of an ineffective justice system with the police detectives that caused such misery in the first place. Of course such a system can be extended to cases of poor legal representation by over loaded incompetent criminal defense lawyers provided by the State. Or an over zealot State prosecutors office that wants justice at all costs, even if it means ruining an innocent persons life.

What I'm proposing is a 3 Strike Policy similar to what felons receive in many U.S. States. Unlike here it would be aimed at incompetent or corrupt police, criminal defense lawyers, and State prosecutors office. Under a 1st Strike offense that later proves sometimes years or decades after the fact of a wrongful imprisonment occurred. Be it a Police departments Internal Affairs or a similar State task force pours over the documentation of a flawed investigation. To see who was to blame, be it one or more aspects of the law enforcement or the criminal justice system. Would be a penalty of some sort to the offending party, be it garnished wages or a 5% to 10% deduction of someone's pension. If still serving as a police officer or lawyer an official admonishment can be stacked onto their record of misconduct of the public trust. Either the police officer such as a detective, lawyer as a criminal defense lawyer, State prosecutor can be sent to retraining or re-certification courses.

A 2nd Strike ratchets up the offenses, which would mean in the career of a police officer or lawyer they have sent 2 innocent persons to false imprisonment. Here a career ending resignation or reassignment duty is forced upon the offending party. Wages would continue to be garnished, if not a 15% to 25% deduction from their State government pension. The reasoning of the wage garnishment or pension deduction is to help the State recoup a small percentage of the false imprisonment award. To the innocent person that goes through the court system to collect from the State.

On a 3rd Strike Offense of sending 3 or more innocent civilians to false imprisonment in their sorry career as a police officer or lawyer (defense lawyer or State prosecutor). They would be convicted as a Felon of abusing the sacred trust of the community at large. They would be either docked 50% of their State pension or completely forfeit it entirely. Such an incompetent or corrupt police officer or lawyer can be blacklisted nationally from ever serving in such a capacity as well. After they have served their time in prison for falsely convicting others.

Exceptions to a deduction to a police officers pension is they died in the line of duty. So their heirs collecting as an inheritance on their pension would not be penalized. However it would be known that the former officer committed such a past offense of incompetence or corruption to their reputation. Police officers or lawyers of the State receiving a pension be they still in their career or in retirement are still subject to any penalties. Police or lawyers that have since died long ago after their retirement where remaining heirs are collecting on their pension as an inheritance. Can be docked or deducted from their pension on a case by case basis on the severity of a 3 Strike Policy.

The injustice of subjugating an innocent person to false imprisonment should be a crime against the State as well. Be it incompetence or corrupt malfeasance needs to be penalized be it by offending Police Officers, Criminal Defense Lawyers, or a States Prosecutors Office. The buck has to stop somewhere and rightly so it has to stop those that initially caused a tremendous amount of pain and suffering on the innocent in our society. 

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