Santa Clara officials charged for alleged shakedown for concealed carry license

[KyJim]

The Santa Clara County Undersheriff and a Captain in the sheriff's office have been charged with shaking down applicants for a concealed carry license. As most of you may know, California is a "may issue" state that leaves issuance to the discretion of local officials. Here, the two officials have been indicted for soliciting bribes to issue licenses. Interestingly, two persons were also charged for offering bribes. One is the head of Apple Security who offered IPads to the sheriff's office at the request of the two indicted officials. The other is local businessman who promised to provide tickets to hockey games worth $6,000.

More details can be found here: https://reason.com/volokh/2020/11/2...s-accused-of-concealed-carry-license-bribery/

What does this mean? It means that "may issue" states invite corruption and unfair and uneven treatment of citizens. In some localities, it is understood that a CCL is reserved for the rich and powerful. The indictment seems to back this up.

NOTE: AN INDICTMENT IS ONLY A FORMAL CHARGE. GUILT MUST BE PROVEN BEYOND A REASONABLE DOUBT.

 

[Aguila Blanca]

I find it interesting that the sheriff herself, who is known for being corrupt, wasn't indicted. That suggests she's skilled at practicing plausible denial. The question is: Will she throw her two underlings under the bus? Stay tuned ...

 

[shurshot]

Unreal! This sounds like something that would happen south of the border, corruption in the Mexican Police & Government.
Hopefully they end up in prison.

 

[SIGSHR]

Not surprising, when the government has so much power, control, access. The bigger the government, the more you get people who see it as a way to enrich themselves.

 

[Pathfinder45]

In the article, some of the details are lacking or hazy....leaves me wondering if there was more than a little entrapment involved. California used to be better than this.

 

[hemiram]

Actually, and sadly, I kind of thought this was SOP in areas where it's at someone's discretion to issue, when it was more common. I couldn't think of any other reason certain people were able to get permits and others weren't.