Nevada Laws (NRS's) Demand that Griffin Should be in Jail
Will the Attorney General determine that the law means what the law says it means? If she shows some honor, then Griffin will be punished... according to the law. This Citizen's Complaint is self-explanatory. There is no way the Attorney General should be allowed to legally or logically weazle out of this. Period!
Here we have a senior citizen with a bad back. He was ignominiously placed in shackles in front of everybody at Reno city hall... surrounded by 8 policemen... and then thrown in a jail cell incommunicado indefinitely... until he was finally bailed out. And even then he was not released until the early morning hours.
Attorney General Frankie Sue Del Papa was quoted in the Reno Gazette newspaper on 6 April, 2000:
"We have never in the past and will never ignore allegations of criminal conduct within our jurisdiction simply because the people against whom such allegations are made... are too big, too rich, or too powerful."
So here we go Ms. Del Papa... please insert your "money" where your mouth is:
3 April 2000
===== BY CERTIFIED MAIL =====
Frankie Sue Del Papa
Attorney General, State of Nevada
Dear Madam Attorney General:
This letter regards a criminal misdemeanor violation of Nevada's Open
Meeting Law by Jeff Griffin, mayor of Reno.
Under NRS 241.040(4), "the Attorney General must investigate and
prosecute alleged violations of the Open Meeting Law." (Per the Open
Meeting Law Manual)
On 23 November 1999, during an official meeting of the Reno City
Council, Mr. Griffin had the undersigned wrongfully excluded from that
meeting for exercising his First Amendment right to free expression
while speaking at the podium during a public comment period; this
incident is documented on video tape. The undersigned was subsequently
arrested and held incommunicado for approximately ten hours at the
Washoe County Jail; during this time he was not permitted to attempt
calling an attorney. Related charges were dropped in early March 2000
when the Washoe County District Attorney's Office determined that the
undersigned had committed no crime.
According to page 67 of the Nevada Open Meeting Law Manual (Seventh
Edition):
"...wrongful exclusion of any person or persons from a meeting is a
misdemeanor. NRS241.040(2)."
months, a fine not to exceed $500, or both."
conviction of a violation of NRS 241.040 ..."
Page 1 of 2
The undersigned calls upon you, Ms. Del Papa, to hold Mr. Griffin
accountable for his wrongful exclusion of the undersigned from a public
meeting, a misdemeanor.
The undersigned especially calls upon you to enforce NRS 283.040(1)(d)
which mandates that "a person's office becomes vacant upon conviction
of a violation of NRS 241.040." Such enforcement would mean that Mr.
Griffin would be removed from his position of public trust.
Summary statement:
On 23 November 1999, Mayor Jeff Griffin of Reno had the undersigned
wrongfully excluded from an official meeting of the Reno City Council.
against Nevada's Open Meeting Law.
keeping with NRS 283.040.(1)(d).
You are requested to investigate and prosecute this complaint.
Sincerely,
Guy Felton
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