Saturday, November 5, 2016

Comining and Going - A Civil Right

Your coming and going.

You do not think about it.

It is something you just do.
But, it IS a protected civil right.

You seldom think about the right to come and go.

The rights, privileges and immunities secured by the Constitution and laws of the United States mean there is an inherent right to travel free from restrictions unrelated to legitimate government objectives.

I never gave that civil right much thought until I read the indictment that Kelly and Baroni were convicted of today. Bridgegate. When they conspired to close lanes on the George Washington Bridge they impeded, harmed and denied the rights of thousands of persons their freedom to come and go.Their doing so amounted to conspiracy as there was no legitimate government function in what they did. See the indictment for a seminar about your rights at https://www.justice.gov/usao…/file/768866/download

Missed business appointments, medical appointments, loss of income reporting to work late, waste of fuel by the delay, avoidable air pollution - some of the things that come to mind in lane closures.  There may have been court appearances missed causing a defendant to be at further risk in the criminal justice system for failure to appear. A plaintiff in a civil case has further delays to their claim. Worse, the plaintiff's case might have been dismissed.  A professional licensure examination was missed causing disqualifiaction to practice a profession. These are just a few situations that come to mind. Given the thousands of persons denied the civil right to come and go, multiply the outcomes and affects, is a 20 year sentence unreasonable?

As for Mr. Christie, per the departed Paul Harvey, "Stand by for news!"

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