Should a governmental body - any agency or entity from municipal to county, to state, to local be able to bring a civil lawsuit against a private entity or individual? Should there be restrictions or prohibitions on such actions? Is it really the place of government to bring civil suits and take such actions against private individuals and citizens as a punitive measure, or should all interactions be held either as a criminal / law enforcement action where financial penalties or special conditions are the sentence passed down by judge / jury?
The thread about Chicago suing oil companies got me thinking on this topic, and instead of derailing that thread (I know, I know, this is TGT where derailment is really an unwritten requirement, and damned if I'm not one hell of a derailing engineer myself sometimes...) I am starting this one.
Do you believe that government entities engaging in bringing civil suits generally serves the public interest, or should such actions be restricted or prohibited?
The thread about Chicago suing oil companies got me thinking on this topic, and instead of derailing that thread (I know, I know, this is TGT where derailment is really an unwritten requirement, and damned if I'm not one hell of a derailing engineer myself sometimes...) I am starting this one.
Do you believe that government entities engaging in bringing civil suits generally serves the public interest, or should such actions be restricted or prohibited?