The issue of civil rights
and due process rights is important for the country, and in microcosm,
for the City of West St. Paul. There is no better place to start changing
this issue for the better than at a local level. Admittedly, the
City of West St. Paul does
not handle "major crimes" as these are by and large handled
at federal, county and state levels. However, it is unfortunate that
West St. Paul has been involved the the scandalous Metro Strike Force
matter and other cases of questionable merit and judgment, for example
but not limited to, the Krengel case, for more info, follow THIS
LINK.
The history of these rights
is long and shows how critical they are to our free economy and middle
and working classes existence; in
brief summary:
Up to the time of the Magna
Carta (click heer for more info on the Magna Carta,
1215 AD, Western Civilization was essentially a feudal one, the very
rich and serfs, or essentially indentured servants. There was no middle
class and no free enterprise at that time, all wealth was owned by
the very rich and only the rich nobility had civil rights and rights
to due process in criminal courts. As the trading class began to emerge
they began to demand the rights to due process of law, which was essentially
a requirement that "the crown" show cause for arrest, state
facts justifying the charges and show evidence/witnesses so a fair
trial could be had. The Magna Carta formalized these early rights,
and thereby allowed the newly emerging middle class of traders to
have enough stability and freedom from onerous and unjust prosecution
that their earned wealth and ability to trade freely was not able
to be easily be threatened by the whim of the crown.
Going back to the "good ole
days" does not include dispensing with rights codified by the
Magna Carta, as times before that were not the "good ole days"
at all.
These rights have expanded over
the centuries in all of Western Civilization and are incorporated
into the US Constitution.
Over the past ten years or
more, much fear has gripped some people, which has lead some to urge
that there be a diminishing of the civil rights of others, and some
prosecutors have also sought this result, with perhaps less emotional
motivation.
I don't believe that the
citizens of West St. Paul want the results that disregard of civil
and due process rights will bring which are:
The human race has many challenges
and larger sets of problems to solve in the years ahead, and wasting
human and material resources on frivolous and abusive litigation will
significantly limit our ability to see clearly and solve the problems
that are there, in many instances unavoidably.
Citizens have contacted me, complaining
that they believe their civil and constitutional rights have been
violated by the current City
of West St. Paul police, city government, and
prosecution team, the latter of these is hired on a independent contractor
basis, the cost of which has never been disclosed to citizens, or
posted on the city website. The contracts for this have never been
disclosed to citizens. Some other examples of what could be terms
civil rights violations and/or frivolous litigation:are:
"The right to be accused in
language of ultimate fact, in
separate counts for separate offenses, with a citation of whatever
statute,
regulation, or or other provision has been violated, is rooted in
the
Statute of 2 Henry V, Chapter 5 (1541), which is one of many elaborations
of
Magna Carta, and is so basic to due process that anybody who does
not know
it is incompetent to practice criminal law.
To think that the old Levander
law firm was charging out
cases without understanding these basis provisions is scandalous.
It is
like a real estate firm that does not now how to convey a simple interest
in
land, or the difference between a tenancy in common and a joint tenancy.
It
is amazing that Kori Land still hasn't got it. She should not have
passed
the bar examination. -- J. R. G."
