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NH: Being a Public Servant Gives One Special Priviledges the Public Doesn’t Have
Posted by Raven on July 25th, 2008
In NH, public servants now have exclusive rights the peon public do not have.
NASHUA – A man who once claimed to be God has become the first person to be convicted under a new state law lowering the threshold for what can be considered a threat against public officials.
A disclaimer: I do not endorse ANY form of threat made against ANY citizen. However, public “officials” are no better or different or more deserving of special laws and protections, than the very PUBLIC they are serving.
Michael Rezk, 44, will face up to seven additional years in prison for threatening to kill a Rockingham County Superior Court judge last September. In a single-day jury trial this week, prosecutors only needed to show a threat was made. Because of the new law, there was no burden to prove the threat was also meant to “terrorize.”
Mr. Rezk made a stupid choice. He threatened a Judge.
It was always illegal to threaten a public official, but what was in the past generally considered a misdemeanor in most cases was also upgraded under the new law to a Class B felony. The change makes jail time more likely for those convicted of threatening the current and former governors, legislators, judges and a variety of other public officials and their families — even if the public official has no reasonable fear for his or her safety.
Average people, peasants as we are, don’t deserve the same special reactions when we’re threatened? When Joe Blow threatens Sally Citizen it’s still just a pesky little nuisance. But when it’s a Judge, or a governor, or any other “public official” the rules change.
We can thank the Democrats in the NH House for this elitist law.
“This is a new addition to the criminal code,” said Senior Assistant Attorney General Jane Young. “It’s a new crime.”
Yeah. A new crime? I don’t think so. We’ve always had laws on the books about threatening others. What’s new is the class of crime and therefore, the punishment.
Threaten Joe Blow and watch what happens. (Nothing) Ask the police how many citizens go to them with complaints of threats- and ask the cops what they do about it (besides laugh at you)…
Threaten Judge Joe Blow and expect to be arrested, charged, trialed and face jail time.
We live in times where political correctness overrides clear thinking.
What’s to stop a humble public servant from feeling “threatened” every time a citizen questions their vote, their actions, their word?
What’s to stop a public servant from making of “feeling” threatened by the presence of a gun carrying pesky citizen who happens to verbally inform said servant of disagreement on issues?
What’s to stop our public servants from feeling threatened by blog posts such as this one? Or editorials in our newspapers that highlight state house stupidity?
What is the threshold here? As Bruce asks, are we heading down slippery slopes? I think so.
What’s good for the servants should be good for the public. ALL the public. Since the public PAYS the servants, we must stand up and demand equality under the law.
July 25th, 2008 at 12:59 pm
I think the theory here is that public officials, by the nature of their jobs, are much more in the collective public view than a private citizen. And depending on the nature and responsibility of their jobs, they might be open to more harassment and or coercion than normal from crazies or criminals. In theory.
July 25th, 2008 at 7:55 pm
In the land of equality, some people are more equal than others.