An Idea I Submitted To Senator Barack Obama.

The Administration of President Barack Obama, once in office, should seek to have legislation passed that would require that officials and agents of the Federal Government, including all related State agencies and officials, be required to attend a mandatory 8 to 20 hours long Ethics, Civil Rights & Constitutionality Course every year, or every two years, in which they would learn and/or be reminded of the very dangers of corruption, of the failure to respect the Constitutional and other Civil Rights of citizens, of the fact that they, as government officials, may be investigated at any time to help insure that they are following through on their ethical and legal obligations under the Constitution.

We also need to create a strong Citizens’ Rights Ombudsman-ship Department, with Ombudspersons randomly invited from all walks of life and sectors of society. The purpose of this semi-government agency would be to give citizens a serious added measure of protection, as well as place to air legitimate grievances, against any possibly corrupt government official or agent, and whose Ombudspersons would be authorized to investigate, publicly publish all findings and seek the prosecution of any persons who are seriously suspected of having violated the Civil Rights of any and all citizens. To insure that the Ombudspersons, at least four for every State in the Union, themselves have not been corrupted, there should be a Special Internal Investigations Council of Ombudspersons which would be comprised of both current and former Ombudspersons who have not been in violation of the law, with exception to a single Misdemeanor. No Convicted Felons would be allowed to be Ombudspersons. As an added measure to insure ethical behavior on the part of Ombudspersons, they would be paid significant salaries and would be eligible for a special bonus upon successful completion of their four-year tenures. Such Ombudspersons would also be part of the following idea:

The Administration of President Barack Obama should seek to create a Federal Court of Special & Exceptional Cases, such that citizens whose grievances and problems are unusually complex and/or odd can get the attention of the Federal Government and make their case for seeking whatever possible/reasonable Federal Assistance, i.e. Legal or Financial, that by virtue of the intent of The Constitution they would be entitled to. After all, there are many persons, perhaps in the thousands, whose grievance and problems are due to some very unusual circumstances and/or experiences that cannot be addressed by any regular courts. Some likely case examples:
1. A citizen Holocaust Survivor’s (or any other Genocide’s) adult child is unable to have her/his rightful family property returned by the government of a foreign country on account of their own domestic property rights laws that are in violation of International Law, but The United States Government could represent the individual concerned in an International Court and seek reparations/damages on behalf of that U.S. citizen! The obvious benefit to the U.S. government would be that it could then discourage any future violations of the Human Rights of anyone in the world! And even if the case concerned involved a ridiculously low level of government compensation, the case would still stand up in an International Court.
2. A citizen is an exceptionally brilliant and self-educated person, what is known as an autodidact, but due to past injustices and misfortunes was unable to acquire formal accreditation that she or he would otherwise, based on the merits of their actual exceptional knowledge, experience and abilities, be entitled to. Such a person should have the right to be tested by an accredited institution of higher learning and, should they have passed the examination(s), receive the diploma they are entitled to. The government would pay for the diploma, and the recipient would then be given a fixed number of years to repay the government, pending their actual income. This opportunity would be relatively rare and unlikely to be abused, as no one in their right mind would set up their lives to have a long period of relative failure, and the benefits to society would be potentially enormous! Institutions of higher learning would offer their diplomas to such exceptional persons at a discount, and this would, once and for all, help solve the historic injustice of people who are disenfranchised simply because they were unable to afford to obtain a full higher education and associated formal accreditation, diploma, and related employment opportunities. Last but not least, society as a whole would not be at risk of forever missing-out and losing the great innovations, inventions, ideas and solutions such autodidacts tend to offer! This is truly a win-win-win solution!
3. A citizen has been through a series of unusually unfortunate misunderstandings and what not, and is somehow unable to get the public assistance they would otherwise be entitled to, but with such a Special & Exceptional Cases Court they would finally be able to explain their over-complicated case and have a Judge or Jury decide whether or not they have been denied their due.
4. A citizen lost her or his employment due to nasty pressure tactics and threats from criminal gangs or organized crime and was unable to afford, financially and security-wise, to safely take their case to court, but their Civil Rights were nonetheless denied and such a special court could judge in favor of that particular citizen receiving special federal protections, and what not, as well as representation against any entities involved in the denial of their right to employment.
5. A citizen believes that their specific religious beliefs and/or lifestyle and/or sexual identity, etc.., have been used against her or him against her or his rights, but was unable to afford legal representation and would now be able to have this Special & Exceptional Cases Court judge in their favor and connect them to the resources and representation they would need to get justice, thereby insuring that the Law is Truly Fair, Just and Blind to whether or not they can afford private representation on their own means, etc…

Such Federal Court of Special & Exceptional Cases would include in its juries Ombudspersons, thereby helping insure that no case held can be rigged against the citizen!