NYPD officer faces up to 7-year sentence for fabricating charges against photojournalist, article.
Police officer Michael Ackermann claimed that Stolarik had disobeyed "numerous lawful orders," fired a strobe repeatedly in the officer's face and "violently resisted being handcuffed." Now those claims have been disproven, and the officer faces three felony counts and five misdemeanors for fabricating the reasons for the arrest, and could face up to seven years in prison.
It's heartening to know that policemen don't always get away with everything. Sure, they have a hazardous job and deserve a lot of respect and support. But they are also in a rare position to push people around, and it's important that this should not be taken for granted as a "right" they have, because it's not.
The government (and government officials acting in official capacity) have no rights, only powers and duties. The duty to "tell the truth and nothing but the truth" is a pillar of any concept of justice. This guy deserves hard time just as much as Martha Stewart did, and more of it since he is sworn to uphold the law.
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