I brought this up in another topic. I wanted to post it in a seperate one so as not to distract from the topic.
This is the current state of open carry in the eastern half of PA. Thankfully there is the ACLU.
http://www.aclupa.org/pressroom/gunrightsadvocatesuescityo.htm
Good luck to them though. The last two cases I heard reported on this topic the people lost in Federal Court.
They lose in Federal court here also. That's why we don't file in Federal Court.
Same Jury Pool here. I could see that in VA, you would want to exclude north eastern VA individuals from the jury pool.
I guess I need an explanation. I assume the open carry law is a state law, as it is in NM. So why do they file in a federal court?
Not a lawyer, obviously> ???
The audio file was appalling. I'm fortunate to know some really fine law enforcement folks. Some of my best friends are employed by the FBI.
It seems however, that the bad apples are really, really bad. And the courts automatically place favor on the testimony of a cop, regardless of his reputation. I can only imagine how bad this would have been had it not been for the audio.
It is a civil rights violation case. They can usually be brought in either jurisdiction depending on the case, but most often it is Federal. Civil Rights violations are constitutional and can be under many different constitutional sections, 2nd amendment, fourth amendment (false imprisonment) etc., giving Federal Court original jurisdiction.
Strategy wise things like possible jury pool, influence of local politicians, influence of law enforcement, Judicial rotation can all effect which jurisdiction you want to file in, but the default is usually federal.
In the end it comes down to a jury of your peers.
The fact that they actually arrested him months later after they were publicly humiliated is the real kick in the pants. It really added to the allegations in the complaint.
Quote from: MountainDon on February 14, 2012, 05:46:06 PM
I guess I need an explanation. I assume the open carry law is a state law, as it is in NM. So why do they file in a federal court?
Not a lawyer, obviously> ???
It depends on the state Don.
In Va we have the right to keep and bear arms in our Constitution, in fact it was in ours first. The Federal 2nd was copied from ours. We have the right to open carry because there is no law against it. Va adopted full preemption that prohibits any locality from passing any law or regulation pertaining to the sale or transportation (carry)of firearms.
Last Updated March 15, 2011
Article II, ยง 6 of the Constitution of New Mexico provides:
No law shall abridge the right of the citizen to keep and bear arms for security and defense, for lawful hunting and recreational use and for other lawful purposes, but nothing herein shall be held to permit the carrying of concealed weapons. No municipality or county shall regulate, in any way, an incident of the right to keep and bear arms.
Here's a snag for the NM open carry law. If you are out at night operating a spotlight, you may not have in your possession a centerfire firearm capable of harvesting game. (whatever they interpret that to mean).
So if you are looking for a rural mailbox number using a high powered flashlight, leave your defense weapons at home I guess.