Once again, the Washington power elites are above the law and stick together. Jack Murtha faces no accountability for his actions — because he is in Congress. (h/t – Instapundit)
A federal appeals court ruled Tuesday that Rep. John Murtha cannot be sued for accusing U.S. Marines of murdering Iraqi civilians “in cold blood,” remarks that sparked outrage among conservative commentators.
The appeals court in Washington dismissed a defamation lawsuit brought by a Marine who led the squad in the attack. The judges agreed with Murtha that he was immune from the lawsuit because he was acting in his official role as a lawmaker when he made the comments to reporters.
Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich of Meriden, Conn., claimed Murtha damaged his reputation by saying the squad he was leading engaged in “cold-blooded murder and war crimes” in Haditha, Iraq, on Nov. 19, 2005.
At a Capitol Hill news conference in May 2006, Murtha predicted that a Pentagon war crimes investigation would show the Marines killed dozens of innocent Iraqi civilians in Haditha.
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Wuterich’s attorney Mark S. Zaid said that despite the appeals court ruling, Murtha should apologize for his statements.
“It is disappointing that the court has placed members of Congress on a special pedestal and granted them carte blanche immunity to defame anyone they choose as part of their official responsibilities without even allowing a victim to expose the actual facts that are known only to the perpetrator,” Zaid said.
And the courageous Americans who volunteered to defend this nation and its principles are on the butt end of this court’s ruling.
Of course, the “racists” in Johnstown, PA (Murtha’s words, not mine) re-elected him. So they deserve their traitorous Congressman. But the rest of us don’t.
-Bruce (GayPatriot)
Here’s hoping the voters in PA will come to their senses and oust TWO traitorous Congressmen – Jack “Abscam” Murtha and Arlen “RINO” Specter.
It just goes to show you that hypocrisy and stupidity are bipartisan traits.
Regards,
Peter H.
I think that the bigger story here is the actual piece of legislation that the case was dismissed under, which I see that you didn’t mention. The Westfall act is an astonishing declaration of absolute immunity, and appears to allow the defendant to define what is his or her ‘scope of employment’ actually is. You want to get Murtha? change the law.
#2 – “You want to get Murtha? change the law.”
I’ll remember that the next time some wingnut moans about how nobody is trying to arrest or indict GWB for alleged war crimes, since “protecting the United States” is under the scope of his then-job requirements.
Regards,
Peter H.
Absolutely, that’s what I was thinking. I guess, that, interpreted without too much license, this completely immunises the entire Bush Administration from any internal investigation.
It has no impact on international law, however, so whatever’s going on in Spain is not affected by this legislation.
Returning to the topic for a second, I thought that members of Congress were immune from litigation when they uttered or spoke or acted in their legislative capacity as a Member of Congress. Wasn’t that what Art 1, Sec 6 was all about? I know there have been some recent cases testing how far that immunity goes… but I was thinking that Murtha’s slimely comments about the Marines was made in his “line of duty”, no pun intended. And from a former Marine, no less; the Commandant should disavow Murtha’s status as a Marine.
Frankly, in my book, Murtha is a much a sleazebag –no worse– than BarneyFrank. And my unfortunate hunch is that with ALFranken (pronounced ALF-ranken) coming soon to a Senate near you, Murtha’s and Frank’s sleaziness quotient will be eclipsed in short, short order.
Scottland, do you have a statutory citation for that Act? I’d like to read it.
http://www.thomas.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d100:HR04612:@@@L&summ2=m&
And you wouldn’t believe the sponsor for this ammendment…your friend and mine, Barney Frank!!!
And, its not the defendant that defines the scope of their employment, but the AG. still leaves plenty of room for collusion.
Got to say, GP, you really missed the meat of this story. Politicans will always say and do ridiculously stupid things. Its the laws that protect them from prosecution for the stupid things they say and do that are of interest to us all.
Since when can “officials” say things like this and get away with them. Oh wait, since January 20th, 2009.
Counting the days until 2012……..
The electorate has the power to deal with the likes of John Murtha. The challenge we have is in most of their safe districts, they can get away with murder. Murtha has been an embarassment for years. He sells himself now to his district by listing how much pork he brings home. I guess the people get the govt they deserve. I’m all for term limits that will return citizens to our government. Our founders wanted legislatures to return to private enterprise, that was the hedge against run away law making and corrupt officials. Eventually they would have to return to their towns and be regular folks. Now they are career, crooked, embarassing congressmen.
Thanks Scottland! I’m bookmarking the link–I hope to read it soon. (Unfortunately, I’m coming up on exam time… I need to turn down my OCD blog-checking for a while…)
Law enforcement officers who break the law are themselves punished and even sued, which means they are not above the la. Why should a law maker be above the law? I hope the marine appeals the decision.
I’m not sure who he can appeal to. The Westfall act is a declaration of soverign immunity. The case is de facto United States v United States. Does he have any other recourse?