Me, reading the Union Leader: “Goddammit! They [INSERT SOMETHING MORONIC THE STATE IS DOING]! I am going to write a letter to the editor!”
Louis, laughing: “You say that every morning.”
Today, I can’t decide whether it should be a scathing attack on Governor Maggie Hassan’s position on the Second Amendment: “There is no statute or rule that prohibits state employees from carrying a legally licensed firearm in state offices — with the exception of the courts — but according to William Hinkle, spokesman for Gov. Maggie Hassan, ‘The governor strongly discourages state employees from bringing guns to their offices as doing so would make their workplaces less safe’,” or the New Hampshire Supreme Court’s cronyist, idiotic decision yesterday that a warrantless, unconstitutional search and arrest where the PD said: “This is what you get when you fuck with a 30-year veteran of the Concord PD” does not rise to the level of “reckless or wanton conduct” and that the PD is protected by qualified “immunity.”
The state of NH is the worst thing about this state!
EDITED, with LTE:
Dear Editor,
The NH Supreme Court erred in its recent decision upholding the immunity of the City of Concord and its PD. Immunity boils down to this: Ignorance of the law is no excuse, unless you are the /enforcer of the law,/ then you can do what you want (in this case: an unconstitutional, warrantless search and arrest where, according to testimony, the office said: “This is what you get when you f— with a 30-year veteran of the Concord PD”). The court called it a “close case,” but found the PD’s actions did not rise to “reckless or wanton conduct.” I’m curious, what would?
Instead of saying “exposure to personal liability and hindsight review… would undoubtedly compromise effective law enforcement,” the court should have sent a clear message that in NH, the rights of individuals are respected above those of public servants. We /want/ our police to worry about doing things the right way. We /want/ them to worry about the consequences when they don’t.
Every resident should be aware their public officials are held to a LOWER standard of accountability than the people they serve. State immunity is an insidious curse that protects bad behavior. And guess what? When you protect bad behavior, you get more of it. Any public official who violates a person’s constitutional rights should be immediately terminated, without pension. Enforcers, writers, and deciders of the law should not be /above/ the law. Accountability, not immunity, should reign supreme.
Sincerely,
Carla Gericke
Manchester, NH
