I thoroughly enjoyed Connecticut AG Richard Blumenthal’s discomfiture at the hands of Glenn Beck yesterday. Blumenthal, like NY AG Cuomo, has interjected himself into the AIG bonus kerfuffle, playing a game of bullying and intimidation against the bonus recipients.
Although Beck tortured Blumenthal for 11 minutes, the gist of the discussion involved a simple question that Beck pursued relentlessly: what Connecticut law had the bonus recipients violated and in the absence of any violation, why was Blumenthal sticking his nose into a matter that didn’t concern him?
Of course Blumenthal had no answer and fell back on vague invocations of ‘policy’. Beck wasn’t buying it and, like a shark smelling blood, kept circling back to the original question. The whole encounter is worth savoring, so I’ve included the video at the end.
But there’s another issue that’s not been discussed in the general hubbub. Did AG Blumenthal act under ‘color of law’ to violate the civil rights of the AIG employees? The phrase ‘acting under color of law’ is an interesting one. It means a state official who exceeds his lawful authority in the course of performing his official duties. The phrase occurs with regularity in civil rights law, particularly in the case of police who violate the civil rights of suspects. 18 U.S.C. § 242 states:
Whoever, under color of any law, statute, ordinance, regulation, or custom, willfully subjects any person in any State, Territory, Commonwealth, Possession, or District to the deprivation of any rights, privileges, or immunities secured or protected by the Constitution or laws of the United States . . . shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than one year, or both; . . .
Section 242 also provides enhanced penalties – up to and including the death penalty – should the acts committed result in serious bodily injury or death.
One of the most egregious violations of the statute was described in the 1945 Supreme Court case of Screws v. United States. Georgia Sheriff Claude Screws beat a handcuffed black prisoner to death. As the court noted, the predecessor statute to section 242 was enacted to enforce the 14th Amendment and upheld Screw’s conviction.
Surely, when the chief law enforcement officials of Connecticut and New York threaten and intimidate citizens who’ve violated no statute in an attempt to deprive them of a lawful property right, there must be some violation of section 242. Particularly when Blumenthal as much as admits that the AIG employees have broken no law.
But back to Beck’s torture. Enjoy.
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