Questions tagged [government-officers]
17 questions
54
votes
7 answers
Suing a Police Officer Instead of the Police Department
My car was towed in Seattle for an alleged parking violation.
I paid $350 to get it back and then went to court and had the
violation dismissed. The police officer who wrote the ticket
and called for the tow did not show up for the court…
bobuhito
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13
votes
4 answers
Is an abuse of power necessarily a criminal offence?
Trying to make sense of the conflicting opinions regarding the 2020 impeachment proceedings in the USA. In particular, is the claim that an abuse of power does not necessarily has to be a criminal offense valid? That is, can a government official…
Michael
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4
votes
2 answers
Has the Alien Property Custodian Office been abolished?
I'm doing research into Japanese internment, and I was reading about executive order 9095. This order created the Office of Alien Property Custodian (APC) as authorized by the Trading with the Enemy Act. I read that the APC was abolished by LBJ in…
tox123
- 143
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2
votes
4 answers
Why is equality under the law, the ideal? Shouldn't high ranking government and military officials be given greater benefit of the doubt, trust, etc.?
I've always found the concept of 'equality under the law' to be self-contradictory in any society when there are very clear hierarchies in the same society, with explicit privileges granted as one ascends the hierarchy.
This seems to also be the…
M. Y. Zuo
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2
votes
2 answers
Which members of the American government are required by law or tradition to live in a specific location beyond the President?
Foreward: This question is about the American government, but an argument could be made that it doesn't concern law, strictly speaking. If it doesn't belong here, please let me know where it could find a better home, or migrate it. I do think it's…
TheEnvironmentalist
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2
votes
1 answer
Can a US cabinet secretary be criminally liable for a misapplication of federal law?
I am a bit surprised that this hasn't been asked yet, but it seems indeed that it has not.
A few days ago, CNN reported:
President Donald Trump told Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Kevin McAleenan he would grant McAleenan a pardon if he…
phoog
- 42,299
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2
votes
2 answers
lying to lawyer illegal
It's against the law to lie to a lawyer, isn't it?
This will vary by state, but I understand that almost any attorney admitted to practice in at least one court (that would be most attorneys by far) is an officer of that court. If a particular lie…
Nick
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2
votes
1 answer
Could a president sue a person for defamation during their time in office?
In this hypothetical (unless it's happened in the past), a prominent citizen or news agency makes statements about the president, or his decisions or policies, that are knowingly inaccurate or false while he is in office. In the opinion of the…
user3580
1
vote
1 answer
Is it legal to give fictional characters titles of real-world government officials?
Is it legal to refer to fictional characters in a video game with titles of real-world government officials, e.g., a Congressman, the President, etc.? I've seen lots of movies where they refer to "Mr. President" as a character in the show, but who…
gamerstar345
- 37
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1
vote
1 answer
Identifying corruption in tendering process
Under Indian law, is it allowable for a department (or department head) to bypass the a formal open "request for tender" process, by instead calling limited tender among arbitrary selected venders. Specifically, does this (or is this likely to)…
user15453
1
vote
1 answer
In the United States, is there a Governmental Entity that oversees the auditing of various other non-governmental entities?
Certain businesses, non-profits, organizations, etc (referred to here after as "non-governmental entities") have certain government requirements they have to meet to stay a float; these non-governmental entities are frequently audited to make sure…
leeand00
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1
vote
1 answer
Encrypted emails sent by employee under FOIA
Under the Freedom of Information Act, messages sent by government employees and officials can be disclosed in response to a FOIA request. If an individual whose communications were covered by FOIA encrypted their messages with a third-party program…
Ryan Kennedy
- 113
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0
votes
1 answer
Can I publish correspondence with a member of parliament?
If I were to publish an email conversation that I have with a private individual then in many countries that could be found to be an invasion of privacy (it is a conversation that the other could expect to be private and as such I would require…
dave
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0
votes
1 answer
Redacted emails from public records request
Recently I did a Massachusetts Public Records request on a public school district for an employees email to and from a domain (ex: all emails from example.com and to example.com). For convenience, I even provided a gmail filter to find the emails…
user13525
0
votes
2 answers
Why do prominent public figures resign, instead of being prosecuted, when they appear to have committed a crime?
A few examples:
Iceland's prime minister resigned when his relationship to the Panama Papers was discovered.
The police superintendent in Chicago, Illinois, USA was fired when a video containing a police shooting was uncovered more than a year…
Pedro
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