From: Sean Gabb <cea01sig@gold.ac.uk>
Date: Sun, 18 Feb 1996 03:47:43 +0800
To: Greg Broiles <gbroiles@darkwing.uoregon.edu>
Subject: Re: Carrying the Bible an Offense?
In-Reply-To: <199602162012.MAA13658@darkwing.uoregon.edu>
Message-ID: <Pine.SUN.3.91.960217192524.9446A-100000@scorpio.gold.ac.uk>
MIME-Version: 1.0
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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.