The fact of a man or woman's criminal past, does not give the right to be electrocuted while he is in handcuffs with an instrument no better than the cattle prod used on animals.
Scooter!-Tasered to Death in Winnfield, Louisiana. The death of Baron Pikes aka Baron "Scooter" Collins is akin to what has happened in Queens, New York. Scooter had no prior record, though and was treated less than human by a Winnfield Police Officer. And he is now still being treated inhumanely by the judiceo-law enforcement community of Winn Parish. It is an indictment on the Jindal Adminstration's evolving of a New Louisiana.
"Absolute Immunity"
For decades, the Supreme Court has recognized two types of immunity under 42 U.S.C. 1983, the statute under which Goldstein filed his civil rights suit. When sued for money damages, most public servants enjoy “qualified immunity,” meaning charges are automatically dismissed unless the alleged conduct violated clearly established constitutional rights. Meanwhile, a small subset of officers — including judges, legislators, and prosecutors — enjoy “absolute immunity” for all conduct taken while exercising their official, traditional duties.
On appeal, a 9th Circuit panel unanimously affirmed. Citing the Supreme Court’s 1976 decision in Imbler v. Pachtman, the circuit panel found prosecutors only enjoy absolute immunity for conduct “intimately associated with the judicial phase of the criminal process.” As examples, the panel wrote that immunity would apply to decisions on whether to prosecute particular cases, but not to statements made during press conferences or alleged discrimination in personnel decisions.
As opposed to rote administrative tasks, Renick maintains that locating and disseminating potentially exculpatory information falls within the type of core prosecutorial function traditionally afforded absolute immunity. Indeed, the petition notes, the Supreme Court’s decision in Imbler itself provided absolute immunity to a prosecutor alleged to have withheld exculpatory evidence from the defendant.
Whereas line prosecutors themselves cannot face suit for withholding information from defendants, Bednarski cites cases from the 4th, 7th, and 11th Circuits rejecting qualified immunity for police officers who withheld such information from prosecutors in the first place. From a larger standpoint, Bednarski argues, prosecutorial immunity was meant not to shield all employees in prosecutors’ offices from any liability, but to serve as a narrow exception to civil rights laws used only when necessary to protect the judicial process itself. Goldstein
NVL/end
Louisiana Gov Jindal Appoints Criminal Commission
Written by: BayouBuzz Staff
Article Written on: Tuesday-March-4-2008
BATON ROUGE- On Tuesday, Governor Bobby Jindal announced the appointments of twenty-seven members to the Commission on Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice, including several sheriffs, judges, district attorneys, chiefs of police, sheriff’s deputies and citizens. Judy Dupuy Mouton, of Baton Rouge, will serve as executive director.
The Louisiana Commission on Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice provides a forum for all elements of the criminal justice system to develop multi-agency programs which serve the needs of a wide range of criminal justice organizations. Appointments by the governor to the commission are required by statute to consist of three district attorneys, three sheriffs, two chiefs of police, one district court judge, one juvenile court judge, fifteen professionals or lay persons, and one appointment from a list of three candidates submitted by the Victims and Citizens Against Crime.
Appointments include the following:
Sheriff Mike Cazes, of Port Allen, has served as sheriff of West Baton Rouge Parish since 2004.
Paul Connick, of Metairie, has served as district attorney for the 24th judicial district since 1996.
Sheriff Austin Daniel, of St. Francisville, has served as sheriff of West Feliciana Parish since 2000.
Sheriff Larry Deen, of Benton, has served as sheriff of Bossier Parish, since 1988.
Sheriff Richard “Ricky” Edwards, Jr., of Jennings, has served as sheriff of Jefferson Davis Parish since 1992.
Hunter Grimes, of Walker, has served as chief of police since 2005.
Leland Guin, of Tullos, has served as the chief of police for Tullos since 2001.
Doug Hebert, Jr., of Kinder, has served as district attorney for the 33rd judicial district since 1990.
Bobby D. Hickman, of Leesville, has served as chief of police for Leesville since 1995.
Jerry Jones, of Mer Rouge, has served as district attorney in the fourth judicial district in Morehouse Parish since 1991.
David R. Kent, of New Orleans, has served in the area of criminal justice as a professor, security consultant, and a deputy chief with the New Orleans Police Department.
Nancy Amato Konrad, of Metairie, is the senior judge for the Jefferson Parish Juvenile Court.
Arthur Lawson, of Gretna, currently serves as the chief of police for the Gretna Police Department.
Jay Lemoine, of Dry Prong, has served as district attorney for the 35th judicial district in Grant Parish since 2002.
Sheriff Tony Mancuso, of Lake Charles, has served as sheriff of Calcasieu Parish, since 2004.
Sheriff Randy Maxwell, of Vidalia, has served as sheriff of Concordia Parish since 1990.
Sheriff Steve May, of Columbia, has served as sheriff of Caldwell Parish since 2000.
Rudolph McIntyr, Jr., of Winnsboro, currently serves as district court judge for the 5th judicial district.
Harry Morel, Jr., of Luling, currently serves as district attorney for the 29th judicial district.
Judy Dupuy Mouton, of Baton Rouge, formerly served as deputy director for the Louisiana Commission on Law Enforcement.
Chris Nevils, of Winnfield, has served as district attorney for the 8th judicial district since 2006. -c.nevils@fvelaw.com-
Location: [Partner-Law Firm Vilar & Elliot,LLC]3709 Masonic Drive, P.O. Box 12730, Alexandria, Louisiana 71315-2730, (Rapides Parish)
R. Christopher Nevils practices in the following areas of law: Complex Litigation; Construction Litigation; Civil Litigation
Admitted: 1996, Louisiana and U.S. District Court, Western, Middle and Eastern Districts of Louisiana; U.S. Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit; U.S. Supreme Court
Law School: Louisiana State University, J.D., 1995
R. Chris NevilsCollege: Louisiana State University, B.A., 1991
Member: Alexandria, Fifth Federal Circuit and Louisiana State Bar Associations.
Biography: District Attorney, Winn Parish, Louisiana (2005—). Assistant District Attorney, East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana (1997-2004).
Born: Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Sheriff Steve Prator, of Shreveport, has served as the sheriff of Caddo Parish since 2000.
Walter Reed, of Covington, has served as district attorney of the 22nd judicial district in the St. Tammany/Washington Parish region, since 1984.
Sheriff Mark Shumate, of Sondheimer, has served as sheriff of East Carroll Parish since 1998.
Chief J.D. Thornton, of Natchitoches, has been a sheriff’s deputy with the Natchitoches Parish Sheriff’s Office since 2002.
Sheriff Jeff Wiley, of Gonzales, has served in the Ascension Parish Sheriff’s Office since 1988, and has served as sheriff of the parish since 1996.
Patrick Yoes, of Norco, has served as a sheriff’s deputy with the St. Charles Parish Sherriff’s Office since 1984.Goldstein
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