Re: Carrying the Bible an Offense?

[Sean Gabb <cea01sig@gold.ac.uk>]

Is it not possible in the US jurisdictions to mount private 
prosecutions?  There is a common law right to do so in England.  Indeed, 
before the Crown Prosecution Service was established in 1984 - a fine 
year for bad laws in this country - prosecutions were usually handled by 
the Police, and were in theory private prosecutions.  They are quite 
often started even now by private individuals; and the Attorney General 
has an old statutory authority to take them over or to stop them.  But I 
do remember a number of recent cases of private prosecution for murder.  
None of these, I think, has succeeded:  the reason the CPS refused to get 
involved was because of a lack of good evidence to get cases through the 
committal (grand jury) process.

If this right doesn't exist in American common law, I shall think far 
less of your laws than I have so far.

Sean Gabb
Editor
Free Life.