I fought the law, and the law won.

• Author: Peters, Charles
• Position: Tilting at Windmills - Brief Article

From time to time, I have complained about the inability of the civil service to get rid of bad apples. Here's a recent example.

Last month a deputy U.S. marshal was charged with murder. While off-duty, the marshal, Arthur Lloyd, had been involved in a Maryland parking lot dispute that ended when he shot the other party, Ryan Stowers, four times, first in the leg as they were standing in the lot and then in the back. Stowers did not pull a gun or any other weapon, and was shot in the back as he tried to drive away.

The marshal had kept his job for 28 years, despite a record of bizarre behavior. According to The Washington Post, he had once made a $10,000 payment to a federal prisoner to settle a lawsuit in a case in which he had tied the prisoner's hands and...