Something good could have come from the 1992 FBI showdown with the Weavers at Ruby Ridge. But it didn't.
The episode that cost human lives and tarnished the FBI's reputation could have, at least, settled important questions about the relationship between state and federal laws, a former U.S. solicitor general told Kansas University law students Monday.
But, Seth Waxman said, the case against FBI agent Lon Horiuchi was dropped, erasing the legal rulings.
"It stands for nothing," Waxman said. "It was as if the case had never really happened."
Waxman, who oversaw government litigation under President Bill Clinton from 1997 to 2001, represented the federal government in a 2000 appeals court hearing about the case. He spoke Monday at KU's Green Hall as part of the Stephenson Lectures in Law and Government series.
The case stemmed from federal agents' attempt to arrest Randy Weaver on weapons charges at his home near Ruby Ridge, Idaho. An initial gun battle killed a U.S. marshal and Weaver's 14-year-old son.
Later in the standoff, Horiuchi killed Weaver's wife while trying to shoot a neighbor in the house.
Despite inquiries indicating Horiuchi followed federal protocol, the county prosecutor charged Horiuchi with involuntary manslaughter.
Waxman said the charge raised important questions about the Constitution's supremacy clause, which says state laws can't supersede federal laws, and the 10th Amendment, which says a state can enforce its own laws within its border.
A previous U.S. Supreme Court decision said agents had immunity if their actions were "necessary and proper" and within federal laws.
After initially ruling Idaho couldn't charge Horiuchi, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned its decision. But Idaho then dropped the charge possibly, Waxman said, because the county prosecutor who filed the charge wasn't re-elected.
Weaver was later acquitted of all charges except those for jumping bail. The government paid him and his family $3.1 million to settle a lawsuit.
Waxman said the remaining legal question is how much latitude agents are given in their jobs. If an agent sees a man pull what appears to be a gun from a coat, he said, the agent should concentrate on his actions and not the consequences.
"Do we want to live in a society where the agent ... is thinking, 'I think I'll let the other guy shoot. I could go to state prison if I were deemed negligent or careless,'" Waxman said.
No comments
Commenting is turned off for this story.