The law requires that one who takes the stand in a courtroom under
oath tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so
help them God. These words are universally understood to mean that
once one takes that oath they are expected to adhere to them the
entire time they are on the witness stand in a court of law. While it
is a wonderful concept and by and large rings true the court system is
aware that it does not always happen. Perjury, the act of lying under
oath on a witness stand, does occur and the court is charged with
deciding who is doing it and what to do about it when it happens.
People lie on stands for many reasons but it is usually for the
purpose of getting someone out of trouble or keeping themselves out of
trouble. There are penalties for this but they are not always pursued.
The cost and time involved with seeing a perjury case to the end can
be prohibitive. There is one instance however, where no stone should
be left unturned, and cost should not be a factor. This is the case of
perjury by police officers. While everybody is expected to play by the
same rules in a court of law, it is imperative that police officers
believe in, uphold and follow the rights set out by the constitution.
If police officers are allowed to get away with perjury it starts a
very slippery slope as to the ability by citizens to live freely
within the guidelines of the United States Constitution.
When police officers feel comfortable committing perjury on the stand
it takes away the ability of the court system to operate. The officers
are the agents who make the arrests, build the cases and present it to
the court. While an individual may perjure himself or herself about
the limited involvement that they are aware of regarding t...