Above the Law in America

If you watch Dominik Dunn's "Power, Privilege and Justice", you'd know that simply being rich does not make put you above the law; and Paris Hiton (not Hilton Paris) proves it. Today, she was dragged weeping out of her mansion and retaken to jail after public outrage over her release yesterday. Being Rich may afford you a dream Team of attorneys and leniancy with judges they socialize with daily in courtrooms. But since most criminal charges involve jury trials, it doesn't place you above the law.

In America, state and federal government officials have always been above the law. Most Americans aren't outraged over this because they don't get to deal with federal or state governments that often. Consequently, they don't run into issues with them to where they end up suing, and learning the system. Due to government's seperation of powers, most of their dealings take place at city or county levels, which traditionally didn't enjoy abuses of Sovereign Immunity.

When you file a litigation against a federal official, you mail out 3 summons:
(1) to the legal office of the department that official works for, which really has nothing to do with litigation; (2) to the US Attorney General's office, which really has nothing to do with litigation; and (3) to your district's US attorney's office, from where an assistant US attorney handles it, typically demanding an immediate dismissal under Sovereign Immunity, or whatever else - if "mumbo jumbo" has been successfully used as defense in even one litigation, they'll throw it out as defense too.

Most often the officials involve don't even know that there is a pending litigation, unless you tell them; and you shouldn't, because it will only lead them to further mischief and abuse of power in their future dealings with public. It doesn't matter how many laws and regulations are violated by the official, US attorneys will even argue that officials involved are not bound by their department regulations. Federal courts can't do a criminal prosecution unless the US attorney involved brings the charges; and in criminal cases, that choice is left up to the US attorney. Federal judges love to dismiss cases to manage their litigation load, which is probably better than sitting on a ruling, which has no time limit.

Unfortunately, recent federal court rulings seem to extend Sovereign Immunity from federal and state governments to local governments, which means that you could face the same lawlessness in your dealing with police, business and liquor licenses, health inspections and permits, etc.

Conclusion: In America, being rich or celebrity doesn't put you above the law, but being an official does.