◆ SpookStack

Nos. 77-1698, 77-1210 & 77-1370 95 this record that the ebullient trial counsel were in- timidated by the judge. In this circuit, voir dire of the jury is conducted by the trial judge. Yet in this civil case, failing to get special treatment, the plaintiffs claim they were treated unfairly. If there is merit in claims of incorrect judicial rulings, those rulings should speak for themselves in requiring reversal and they do not need to be sandwiched in a desperate collage of conclusory overstated charac- terizations. Even though it often might seem that heaping abuse on public officials is now a favorite public pastime, it does appear to me that the proper place for this steam-venting is other than in the area of appellate review. We have here the matter of the propriety of directed verdicts. I should think that while hyperbolic and cynical character castigations might create an at- mosphere of suspicion and distrust, even though un- founded, it does not upon examination provide a case or controversy to go to a jury. I do not, I hasten to add, mean to suggest that history has not recorded corrupt governments, or public officials who have intentionally deprived citizens of those rights which are given to them by our constitution. When, however, the’ charge is a broadside condemnation of the entire fabric of law enforcement in a large metropolis, we at the very least ought to examine most carefully the underlying facts to see if the charges are reasonably inferable or are nothing more than fanciful conjectures. Chief Judge Fairchild observes in his concurring opin- ion that the main objective of the plaintiffs appears to be the recovery of damages arising from the events of the raid. I agree with him insofar as the Hampton plain- tiffs are concerned but, as I have already indicated. it appears to me that the Anderson plaintiffs have a secon- dary objective, indeed, one which may well be a primary objective in view of their emphasis on it, and that is to use this litigation as an exposition ground for political philosophy and the courtroom as a political forum. If law enforcement or other government officials are demonstrated by evidence as having deprived citizens of their constitutional rights and in the process of such