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<\/a><\/p>\nUSA Today, November 9, 2015<\/p>\n
End federal agents’ license to kill:<\/a><\/h1>\nJames Bovard<\/div>\n\nDo federal agents need a license to kill in order to protect us?\u00a0<\/strong> Unfortunately, federal judges are giving law enforcement agents blanket immunity when they shoot Americans while the agents are on the job. It would be difficult to imagine a greater violation of equal rights under the law or a bigger mockery of due process.<\/p>\nAfter Larry Jackson, Jr., of Austin, Texas, was killed by a policeman in 2013, a local prosecutor indicted the policeman on manslaughter charges.\u00a0Jackson\u2019s family claimed that he had been executed by the policeman but a federal judge granted immunity from prosecution because the policeman \u201cwas acting in his capacity as a federal officer<\/a>.\u201d The ruling in the Austin case could extend\u00a0federal immunity from prosecution for shootings to \u201chundreds, if not thousands, of state and local police officers who participate in federal task forces,\u201d the Washington Post<\/em> noted.<\/p>\nFederal officers have been involved in 33 killings<\/a> so far this year.\u00a0The Justice Department almost never prosecutes federal agents for shootings in the line of duty, and the feds have invoked the Supremacy Clause of the Constitution to block state and local prosecutions of federal agents in recent decades. The ruling in the Austin case \u201craises the question of when, if ever, a federal law enforcement officer can be charged with a crime for killing someone in the line of duty,\u201d the Post <\/em>noted.<\/p>\nThe best-known case of immunity for federal officers involves Lon Horiuchi<\/a>, the FBI sniper who in 1992 gunned down 42-year-old Vicki Weaver as she stood in a cabin doorway in Ruby Ridge, Idaho holding her 10 month-old-baby. Horiuchi previously shot<\/a> her husband, Randy Weaver, who was outside the cabin and under indictment on a federal firearms charge. A confidential Justice Department report condemned Horiuchi<\/a> for taking a shot with a high-powered rifle through a cabin door when he believed someone was standing behind it. But other Justice Department and FBI officials warned that permitting Horiuchi to be prosecuted would have \u201can enormously chilling effect on federal operations, especially law enforcement<\/a>.\u201d A local prosecutor indicted Horiuchi<\/a> on manslaughter charges anyhow.<\/p>\nBut federal judge Edward Lodge ruled<\/a> in 1998 that Horiuchi could not be tried for killing Vicki Weaver because he was a federal agent on duty, and thus effectively exempt from any jurisdiction of state courts.\u00a0Lodge focused\u00a0on Horiuchi\u2019s \u201csubjective beliefs\u201d: as long as Horiuchi supposedly did not believe he was violating anyone\u2019s rights or acting wrongfully, then he could not be guilty. The judge even blamed Vicki Weaver for her own death. Lodge decreed that \u201cit would be objectively reasonable for Mr. Horiuchi to believe that one would not expect a mother to place herself and her baby behind an open door outside the cabin after a shot had been fired and her husband had called out that he had been hit.\u201d Thus, if an FBI agent unjustifiably shoots one family member,\u00a0the government apparently receives a presumptive right to shoot any other family member who fails to hide.<\/p>\nThe U.S. Marshals Service has been involved in 18 killings this year<\/a> \u2014 more than any other law enforcement agency in the nation.\u00a0But U.S. marshals enjoy de facto immunity for any use of force in the line of duty.\u00a0Marshals Service spokesman Drew Wade told the Washington Post<\/em> that \u201che could not recall a case that led to criminal charges.\u201d<\/p>\nPrior to Horiuchi killing Vicki Weaver, 14-year-old Sammy Weaver and a family friend encountered a team of three undercover U.S. marshals<\/a> who had taken up a \u201cdefensive position\u201d not far from the Weaver\u2019s residence;\u00a0one of the marshals fatally shot Sammy. According to the friend, Sammy was leaving<\/a> the scene when he was shot.<\/p>\nEven though the marshals\u2019 statements and testimony on the conflict were riddled with contradictions, the Marshals Service gave its highest valor award<\/a> to the marshal who killed the young boy and the other undercover marshals who provoked a firefight (in which one marshal was killed).<\/p>\n
Do federal agents need a license to kill in order to protect us?\u00a0<\/strong> Unfortunately, federal judges are giving law enforcement agents blanket immunity when they shoot Americans while the agents are on the job. It would be difficult to imagine a greater violation of equal rights under the law or a bigger mockery of due process.<\/p>\n After Larry Jackson, Jr., of Austin, Texas, was killed by a policeman in 2013, a local prosecutor indicted the policeman on manslaughter charges.\u00a0Jackson\u2019s family claimed that he had been executed by the policeman but a federal judge granted immunity from prosecution because the policeman \u201cwas acting in his capacity as a federal officer<\/a>.\u201d The ruling in the Austin case could extend\u00a0federal immunity from prosecution for shootings to \u201chundreds, if not thousands, of state and local police officers who participate in federal task forces,\u201d the Washington Post<\/em> noted.<\/p>\n Federal officers have been involved in 33 killings<\/a> so far this year.\u00a0The Justice Department almost never prosecutes federal agents for shootings in the line of duty, and the feds have invoked the Supremacy Clause of the Constitution to block state and local prosecutions of federal agents in recent decades. The ruling in the Austin case \u201craises the question of when, if ever, a federal law enforcement officer can be charged with a crime for killing someone in the line of duty,\u201d the Post <\/em>noted.<\/p>\n The best-known case of immunity for federal officers involves Lon Horiuchi<\/a>, the FBI sniper who in 1992 gunned down 42-year-old Vicki Weaver as she stood in a cabin doorway in Ruby Ridge, Idaho holding her 10 month-old-baby. Horiuchi previously shot<\/a> her husband, Randy Weaver, who was outside the cabin and under indictment on a federal firearms charge. A confidential Justice Department report condemned Horiuchi<\/a> for taking a shot with a high-powered rifle through a cabin door when he believed someone was standing behind it. But other Justice Department and FBI officials warned that permitting Horiuchi to be prosecuted would have \u201can enormously chilling effect on federal operations, especially law enforcement<\/a>.\u201d A local prosecutor indicted Horiuchi<\/a> on manslaughter charges anyhow.<\/p>\n But federal judge Edward Lodge ruled<\/a> in 1998 that Horiuchi could not be tried for killing Vicki Weaver because he was a federal agent on duty, and thus effectively exempt from any jurisdiction of state courts.\u00a0Lodge focused\u00a0on Horiuchi\u2019s \u201csubjective beliefs\u201d: as long as Horiuchi supposedly did not believe he was violating anyone\u2019s rights or acting wrongfully, then he could not be guilty. The judge even blamed Vicki Weaver for her own death. Lodge decreed that \u201cit would be objectively reasonable for Mr. Horiuchi to believe that one would not expect a mother to place herself and her baby behind an open door outside the cabin after a shot had been fired and her husband had called out that he had been hit.\u201d Thus, if an FBI agent unjustifiably shoots one family member,\u00a0the government apparently receives a presumptive right to shoot any other family member who fails to hide.<\/p>\n The U.S. Marshals Service has been involved in 18 killings this year<\/a> \u2014 more than any other law enforcement agency in the nation.\u00a0But U.S. marshals enjoy de facto immunity for any use of force in the line of duty.\u00a0Marshals Service spokesman Drew Wade told the Washington Post<\/em> that \u201che could not recall a case that led to criminal charges.\u201d<\/p>\n Prior to Horiuchi killing Vicki Weaver, 14-year-old Sammy Weaver and a family friend encountered a team of three undercover U.S. marshals<\/a> who had taken up a \u201cdefensive position\u201d not far from the Weaver\u2019s residence;\u00a0one of the marshals fatally shot Sammy. According to the friend, Sammy was leaving<\/a> the scene when he was shot.<\/p>\n Even though the marshals\u2019 statements and testimony on the conflict were riddled with contradictions, the Marshals Service gave its highest valor award<\/a> to the marshal who killed the young boy and the other undercover marshals who provoked a firefight (in which one marshal was killed).<\/p>\n