Re: Should individual police officers pay out-of-pocket for wrongfully charged crimes
I chose other. Their are some situations that warrant compensation but not as a general rule. I have seen abuse by law enforcement and the DAs office that while "legal" was unethical.
An example of this is someone I know. Law enforcement charged him 3 different times with charges and then let the time limitation expire (1 year). If he had been unable to bond out he would have spent 3 years in jail while never having been convicted of a crime. I wont get into all the details but I fully believe that it was intentional because of the long feud this person had had on a personal level with local law enforcement. I believe they knew full good and well they had nowhere nearly enough evidence to make a conviction but used it as a means of punishment or the removal of this person.
Also their have been some rare occasions where the judicial system has clearly and sometimes intentionally convicted innocent persons. While this normally carries prison time, the time isnt nearly enough. Fairly recently (cant remember the case off hand, will look for it) a judge intentionally imprisoned a innocent person which spent over 20 years in prison. In return the judge was sentenced to like 6 years. I believe at a min. they should server a equal amount of time.
I chose other. Their are some situations that warrant compensation but not as a general rule. I have seen abuse by law enforcement and the DAs office that while "legal" was unethical.
An example of this is someone I know. Law enforcement charged him 3 different times with charges and then let the time limitation expire (1 year). If he had been unable to bond out he would have spent 3 years in jail while never having been convicted of a crime. I wont get into all the details but I fully believe that it was intentional because of the long feud this person had had on a personal level with local law enforcement. I believe they knew full good and well they had nowhere nearly enough evidence to make a conviction but used it as a means of punishment or the removal of this person.
Also their have been some rare occasions where the judicial system has clearly and sometimes intentionally convicted innocent persons. While this normally carries prison time, the time isnt nearly enough. Fairly recently (cant remember the case off hand, will look for it) a judge intentionally imprisoned a innocent person which spent over 20 years in prison. In return the judge was sentenced to like 6 years. I believe at a min. they should server a equal amount of time.