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Charges Against Blackwater Dismissed

Discussion in 'Sports and News' started by YankeeFan, Dec 31, 2009.

  1. YankeeFan

    YankeeFan Well-Known Member

    In the Baghdad shooting.

    Per MSNBC.
     
  2. Football_Bat

    Football_Bat Well-Known Member

    Here's the link.

    http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/top/all/6794001.html
     
  3. fishhack2009

    fishhack2009 Active Member

    Sounds like they get off on a technicality.

    I'm sure the Iraqi government and the families of the dead Iraqis will be thrilled.
     
  4. YankeeFan

    YankeeFan Well-Known Member

    Yeah, the Constitution is pretty technical.

    Can't prove 'em guilty in a court of law, so we'll just declare them guilty in spite of what happened today.
     
  5. Ace

    Ace Well-Known Member

    They said they fired their weapons. Civilians were killed.

    The court apparently won't get to determine whether the killings were justified by circumstances or not.
     
  6. TheSportsPredictor

    TheSportsPredictor Well-Known Member

    Worked in the OJ case. I'll go with it.
     
  7. HejiraHenry

    HejiraHenry Well-Known Member

    Election's over, move ... uh, along.
     
  8. fishhack2009

    fishhack2009 Active Member

    Next time read your link before you gloat, YF:

    =================================================================

    Because of the immunity deal, prosecutors had to build their case without those statements, a high legal hurdle that Urbina said the Justice Department failed to clear. Prosecutors read those statements, reviewed them in the investigation and used them to question witnesses and get search warrants, Urbina said. Key witnesses also reviewed the statements and the grand jury heard evidence that had been tainted by those statements, the judge said.

    =================================================================

    Sounds like the kind of thing you and your right-wing pals would bitch and moan about being a "technicality"
    if it were anyone else but these cowboys.
     
  9. HC

    HC Well-Known Member

    There are days where I actually think that common sense and morality can't win. Today is one of those days.
     
  10. The Big Ragu

    The Big Ragu Moderator Staff Member

    I agree and disagree at the same time.

    The civil libertarian in me really does believe that if you are not willing to uphold the Bill of Rights when it is difficult, you may as well give government license to ignore the Bill of Rights whenever it wants. And in this case, it was a really clear-cut fifth amendment violation--they compelled them to incriminate themselves by promising immunity and then used what the perps told them to toss the immunity deal and prosecute them anyhow.

    That said, what annoys me most right now is that we lost our pureness when it comes to judicial constraint a long time ago. Our justice and legal systems have been so willing to pervert the Constitution to achieve all kinds of social goals, time after time; very often randomly deciding what real life situations to ascribe to the Bill of Rights and which ones not to--all based on random political and social goals, not in the interest of assuring uniform protection of rights for everyone. With the barn door left wide open a long time ago, why wouldn't this be yet another time to do whatever it takes to achieve a certain ends (prosecute them) regardless of the means for doing it?
     
  11. Ben_Hecht

    Ben_Hecht Active Member

    Fact remains that the jury on Juice's criminal trial was largely
    comprised of simpletons.

    Civil jury saw through the smoke
    and bullshit.
     
  12. YankeeFan

    YankeeFan Well-Known Member

    Lots of differences between this & the OJ case.

    OJ claimed that he didn't do it. The question in this case is whether or not the actions were justified.

    To assume that they would have been convicted if not for the prosecutors violation of their Constitutional rights is unfair.

    These were charges that were thrown out, not convictions.
     
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