You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an alternative browser.
You should upgrade or use an alternative browser.
Open Borders Slime, at it again
- Thread starter LT701
- Start date
Quote from achilles28:
Why can't the Government be prosecuted on failure to enforce Federal law?
Clearly, open borders are a threat to our security and a major drain to the economy.
Plus, its illegal.
Technically, they are enforcing the law; they're just doing it in a completely ineffectual manner. Good luck prosecuting them for that, given that they do everything in a completely ineffectual manner.
Quote from heidegger:
Technically, they are enforcing the law; they're just doing it in a completely ineffectual manner. Good luck prosecuting them for that, given that they do everything in a completely ineffectual manner.
Funny. But a bit of a cop out.
Government is highly efficient at prosecuting felonies and tax enforcement.
The departmental beaucracies may be ineffectual.
But insofar as felonious criminal matters - where damning evidence exists - they are very swift to engage and enforce.
Off the top of my head, some charges that have legs:
Criminal Negligence
Criminal Negligence (Gross)
Malfeasance in office
Treason
Quote from achilles28:
Funny. But a bit of a cop out.
Government is highly efficient at prosecuting felonies and tax enforcement.
The departmental beaucracies may be ineffectual.
But insofar as felonious criminal matters - where damning evidence exists - they are very swift to engage and enforce.
Off the top of my head, some charges that have legs:
Criminal Negligence
Criminal Negligence (Gross)
Malfeasance in office
Treason
I can't see any of those charges sticking, 28; the defense canl be "We're doing the best we can with the resources allotted to us." . Also, the structure of government is such that trying to fix blame on particular individuals would be all but impossible and, for practical reasons, you can't prosecute an entire government agency whether or not there's a legal basis for doing so.
In any case, except for treason, I believe all those charges are state matters and the states would have difficulty prosecuting federal officials. Selling sloppy border policing as treason would never go; any accused would say "OK, maybe I'm not up to the job, but I'm ready to step down if you have somebody better suited to work with our limited resources" etc., etc., etc.
The only hope of improving the situation lies in voting out the bums, but then you have to hope the crew that replaces the bums doesn't turn out to be just a different bunch of bums.
Quote from heidegger:
I can't see any of those charges sticking, 28; the defense canl be "We're doing the best we can with the resources allotted to us." . Also, the structure of government is such that trying to fix blame on particular individuals would be all but impossible and, for practical reasons, you can't prosecute an entire government agency whether or not there's a legal basis for doing so.
In any case, except for treason, I believe all those charges are state matters and the states would have difficulty prosecuting federal officials. Selling sloppy border policing as treason would never go; any accused would say "OK, maybe I'm not up to the job, but I'm ready to step down if you have somebody better suited to work with our limited resources" etc., etc., etc.
The only hope of improving the situation lies in voting out the bums, but then you have to hope the crew that replaces the bums doesn't turn out to be just a different bunch of bums.
A failure by the Executive Branch, ie the President, to enforce valid laws is not a matter that citizens can take to court, unless you can make some sort of Equal Protection or Due Process argument. For example, if the IRS only prosecuted Republicans, then there might be a claim that it was a denial of Equal Protection. In general however, the type of failure we're talking aobut here can only be addressed politically, eg by voting or by an impeachment proceeding. The latter of course has to be initiated by the House of Representatives.
Federal officials can be prosecuted by states for crimes they commit in the course of their duties, for example an assault, but not for a general failure to do their jobs properly. States have sued the federal government for expenses incurred in dealing with illegal immigrants, such as medical care. I am not aware how these suits have turned out.