🚀 go-pugleaf

Fred Rodgers <erod76@nospam.com> wrote in message news:<3E28E510.6453C201@nospam.com>...
> Strip-Searched Boy Wins $150,000 Judgment 
> 
> By Martin Weil
> Washington Post Staff Writer
> Saturday, January 18, 2003; Page B01 
...
> http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A9082-2003Jan17.html


Short answer: Yes, the boy should get the judgement.

Reason: When the government makes a mistake in apprehending or
otherwise
humiliating a citizen -- adult or child -- it should pay.

Was the amount awarded too much or too little? We don't know, because
there
are some crucial gaps in the reporting. Read the news story carefully
(or use
your browser's "Find in page" command) and discover that neither
"judge" nor
"jury" appears. I would guess that it was a jury trial, because the
plaintiff's
evidence seemed to be skimpy, and in a civil case the burden of proof
is on
the plaintiff. A jury, of course, can ignore evidence or otherwise do
what it
pleases...

I've followed this story with moderate interest since the news broke
back in
2001, and I never could get a handle on it. Did the kids know in
advance that one or more of them were going to be subjected to
jailhouse routines? Was the
atmosphere of the visit all in good fun...and then the kids' parents
heard
about it later and decided otherwise? We don't know; the reporting was
generally
slovenly.

--
mailbox@cpacker.org (Charles Packer)
http://cpacker.org/whatnews