‘What Kind of Government?’
NYT editorial
The F.B.I.’s reputation has been seriously stained by the James (Whitey) Bulger case and its disclosures that the agency protected murderers to use them as informants against the Mafia.
The damage has been compounded by a ruling from the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, in Boston, dismissing lawsuits brought by the families of two murder victims who had won a total of $8.4 million in judgments against the federal government. The court ruled, incredibly, that they had filed their claims too late.
The suits were brought under the Federal Tort Claims Act, which is supposed to provide a remedy for people the government harmed. The law says claims must be filed within two years of when they arise. But that limit cannot be imposed if someone harmed does not know, or has been stopped from knowing he has a claim, as in this case.
In 1982, Edward Halloran was a low-level criminal in Boston. Whitey Bulger and his crime partner Stephen Flemmi offered him a contract to kill someone. Mr. Halloran told the F.B.I. about the offer. Word got back to Mr. Bulger and Mr. Flemmi and they had Mr. Halloran killed. An innocent bystander, Michael Donahue, was also killed.
(More here.)
The F.B.I.’s reputation has been seriously stained by the James (Whitey) Bulger case and its disclosures that the agency protected murderers to use them as informants against the Mafia.
The damage has been compounded by a ruling from the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, in Boston, dismissing lawsuits brought by the families of two murder victims who had won a total of $8.4 million in judgments against the federal government. The court ruled, incredibly, that they had filed their claims too late.
The suits were brought under the Federal Tort Claims Act, which is supposed to provide a remedy for people the government harmed. The law says claims must be filed within two years of when they arise. But that limit cannot be imposed if someone harmed does not know, or has been stopped from knowing he has a claim, as in this case.
In 1982, Edward Halloran was a low-level criminal in Boston. Whitey Bulger and his crime partner Stephen Flemmi offered him a contract to kill someone. Mr. Halloran told the F.B.I. about the offer. Word got back to Mr. Bulger and Mr. Flemmi and they had Mr. Halloran killed. An innocent bystander, Michael Donahue, was also killed.
(More here.)
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