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Re: Carrying the Bible an Offense?
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.