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I wanted to share my most recent op-ed in The Daily Beast, about making a legal case against elected officials that have proven to be negligent or malfeasant in the face of today’s pandemic. With the Brazilian Senate recently recommending that President Jair Bolsonaro be charged with crimes against humanity, perhaps it is time that we considered similar charges against criminally negligent political leaders in this country.
For more on how and why we should build a legal case against Governors such as Greg Abbott and Ron DeSantis, read the full article here.
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“Elected officials are thought to be somewhat protected from civil suits or even certain categories of criminal charges through a principle known as sovereign immunity. But is this immutable? How many unnecessary deaths from COVID-19 attributable to willful actions or deliberate inaction on the part of a governor are acceptable before prosecutors think it’s time to bring the likes of Florida’s Governor Ron DeSantis or Texas’s Governor Greg Abbott up on appropriate criminal charges or civil litigation?
Winning an election can’t be a get-out-of-jail-free card for negligence, dereliction of duty, and overt acts that endanger lives and undermine the well-being of their constituents. Citizens should be able to bypass sovereign immunity and sue state officials for willful and negligent disregard of local jurisdictions’ right to protect the health and safety of school children in Florida, where Gov. Ron DeSantis banned the use of masks and mandatory vaccinations, actions which likely led to pediatric wards overflowing with COVID-positive children.”
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