Posted on 01/31/2009 4:25:13 PM PST by george76
NO. I’m saying that those responsible should be sued as individuals so that there is individual responsibility.
Gotcha. My guess is they couldn’t be sued individually because they were likely taking orders as government employees....in the same way that our military couldn’t be sued individually (and shouldn’t be) for taking orders from our pansy Commander in Chief. :) My husband sued a supervisor, but since he works for the state, the state paid the damages. In some cases, I can see where that would rub you the wrong way, but since my husband was also in the Air Force, I see the point of having it that way. I wouldn’t want our troops, or fireman, or cops, or fish and game, or border guards, etc. to be able to be sued individually for every persons grievance against government policy. Know what I mean?
In addition to my previous response, consider this... My husband works for our state L&I, and they deal constantly with threats and people who are angry at them. So much so that they are on a secure floor of their building and all of their personal information is kept from public employment databases and protected. If people could sue him individually for anything that pissed them off about how he did his job, we’d be in court constantly and bankrupt from defending ourselves. Not because he was doing anything wrong, but because people don’t like the laws he has to enforce. The tax payer would have to fit the bill if a suit was filed, and they do, but that’s the way it has to be.
What is L&I?
Labor and Industries (OSHA)
Well I do not agree with you 100%. I feel that individuals should bear the responsibility for their actions where injury or loss of life results regardless if they’re working for the government or not. If sued should maybe be defended by govt, but if they lose should bear individual responsibility. Something like the BART police shooting a couple of weeks ago. Do you feel that this individual should not bear the responsibility for his actions?
Oh, I definitely agree that individual crimes that were not a the result of doing a job properly and per written policy should be punished like anyone else. I just worry about prosecuting, for example, soldiers who defend themselves and then get sued for murder. Or, fish and wildlife employees that follow procedure and a bear attack results because the government has stupid procedures and laws about how those employees must carry out their duties. If the state employee didn’t do his job properly and a death results, he still has the presumption of innocence until proven guilty, so the state should defend him. If it’s proven he is guilty of something, then I’m not opposed to part of the sentence being the reimbursement of any tax dollars used to defend them. But, if they are innocent, they shouldn’t have their bank account wiped out by someone who didn’t like how the government made him do his job. We’re probably on the same page, just looking at it from different perspectives. I’m thinking of the possible abuses because of my past experience with a public that sometimes doesn’t like state employees, and as you well know, a public that has a large segment of anti-war, anti-troop nutroots.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.