Stardate 20011003.1723 (On Screen): I bet you thought you'd heard the last of Elian Gonzales, did you? Not in America; nothing happens here without ten years worth of lawsuits just to keep the memory alive. The Cuban community of Miami did their best to create as dangerous a situation as possible to make rescue of the kid as perilous as they could, and Reno ordered a heavily armed raid led by US Marshalls, who train for this kind of mission. During that raid, some members of the crowd were sprayed with non-lethal gas and had other small indignities inflicted on them -- and they're suing Reno. A judge has decided that they have that right, though he dismissed a claim of excessive force. My opinion is that the level of force used
was completely necessary, and I consider this suit completely baseless. But it will ultimately be decided by a jury. More to the point, it will be decided during jury selection, and that is going to be acrimonious. If the jury is loaded with Cubans, Reno is screwed.
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