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[Leafsnail]

I thought diplomatic immunity was mainly for preventing diplomatic disputes from occurring over minor offenses committed by diplomats abroad, rather than an excuse for politicians to do whatever the hell they like.

[shadowclasper]

Wow... this is just freaky. I just did a paper on the movie Network(1976), look it up. You'll find the similarities almost disturbing.

[Puzzlemaker]

Whoa.

That's... wow, that would make a good murder mystery movie.  I hope Hollywood jumps on that.

[JoshuaFH]

I thought diplomatic immunity was mainly for preventing diplomatic disputes from occurring over minor offenses committed by diplomats abroad, rather than an excuse for politicians to do whatever the hell they like.

Yeah, I thought it was so politicians don't get bogged down with speeding tickets and parking violations while speeding to the house of representatives, and then parking on the lawn to save time.

[Dakk]

And people still ask me why I'm aways sorta ashamed of living in Brazil. Sure, it happened on state that's very very far from where I live,  but its a damn shame anyway.

Apparently though, he didn't actualy order the killings, but he did have links with the gangs. They warned him when and where the murders were going to happen, and he sent the crew there, so its almost the same thing anyway. IRC, it happened on one of the northernmost states, and the north region of this country is seriously underveloped (with some rare exceptions spread eastern shore) compared to the rest of the country, but it still makes me sick that people actualy vote for this kind of guy.

One thing that pisses me off is that whenever someone like this gets caught, they aways come to the public using some cheesy bible quote (and he did) as if it somehow made it all awwwwwright. This is probably one of the reasons to why I'm atheist.

[chaoticag]

I thought diplomatic immunity was mainly for preventing diplomatic disputes from occurring over minor offenses committed by diplomats abroad, rather than an excuse for politicians to do whatever the hell they like.

This is true. I was eligeble for diplomatic immunity while I was in the US, but never considered getting it because I doubted I'd every get caught up in a crime. My sister and my dad got it though, not that any of us needed to show our cards in any circumstances.

One thing that pisses me off is that whenever someone like this gets caught, they aways come to the public using some cheesy bible quote (and he did) as if it somehow made it all awwwwwright.

How politicians can do this with a book that starts off with "Thou shalt not kill" is one of the mysteries of life. The New Zealand polititian that got arrested for getting foriegn people to work on his estate for no pay did the same thing.

[Duke 2.0]

 I would assume parliamentary immunity is different from diplomatic immunity, as they deal with different spheres of influence. Or at least different parts of spheres of influence.

 I'm sure people would like Christianity if it came with a disclaimer: Thal shalt not quote our scripture if thou contradicts it's basic principles.

[Aqizzar]

Dammit Duke, don't you dare bring religion into this.  Why you gotta do that?

But anyway, yes Diplomatic Immunity is completely different from Parliamentary Immunity.  Which for the record, American politicians don't have, so I don't really know what it's supposed to mean.

Anyone else got a sudden hankering for some Lethal Weapon 2?  Now that's diplomatic immunity.

[chaoticag]

But anyway, yes Diplomatic Immunity is completely different from Parliamentary Immunity.  Which for the record, American politicians don't have, so I don't really know what it's supposed to mean.

So they cannot park in fire lanes or litter? Bummer.

[Duke 2.0]

 I was just finishing up the comment on how the guy who said this was attempting to get out home free.

 And we would either need Wikipedia or Dakk to explain Parliamentary Immunity.

[Leafsnail]

I know in some countries politicians are literally above the law (Silvio Berlusconi, for instance, is immune to prosecution), although I'm pretty sure they don't have it in Britain or America (the MP I know got into trouble for a speeding ticket, after all).  It doesn't seem right to me - I mean, I understand that there might be a case for letting them break parking restrictions or speed, but total immunity to the law seems insane.

[Sensei]

I think it lets them get off on double parking and whatnot, in addition to preventing arrests without a solid accusation (so they can't just arrest a senator they suspect of something, since that would cause obvious problems).

Also: Death Senate 2000 sounds like a great plot for a hokey 80's action movie.

[Ampersand]

Congressmen in America are immune to prosecution for the duration of their service in the congress. However, the Congress is permitted, at any time, to expel any congress person for any reason, and the second they are expelled, they are open to prosecution. That is not to say that a congress person will be instantly expelled the second they commit a crime, Congress typically takes it's sweet time with such things.

[DJ]

I KNEW it
This means we can still have a gunfight Congress, and an awesome movie made on that topic. The expulsion clause just makes it awesomer. I can already see it in the trailer:
The big honcho in the Congress (head of Senate?) raises a gun towards the camera.
"You are expelled." he proclaims and shoots.
The screen goes black, and the words Death Senate 2000 appear, written in blood.

[Aqizzar]

I love the idea, and I'm actually considering what it would take to slap together a grindhouse thriller about an alliance of congressmen who moonlight as serial murderers.  But I still don't think that's actually true, especially the "Congress can expel it's members at will".  If that were true, don't you think in this cutthroat environment that it would be happening all the time?

By the way, just saw on the news that Silvio Berlusconi is not immune to prosecution.  He claimed he was (and stands by it), but Italy's high court have decided that he really doesn't.