It's true that California Attorney General Jerry Brown gave Republican activists James O'Keefe III and Hannah Giles immunity from prosecution in exchange for their full, unedited videotapes of ACORN employees.

But that doesn't mean the couple is necessarily off the legal hook entirely.

As Brown's own report notes, because of the immunity deal, his office did not determine if the couple violated California's Invasion of Privacy Act when they recorded ACORN employees.

But, as Brown's report observes,  "if the circumstances meet the requirements of the Act, the ACORN employees may be able to bring a private suit against O'Keefe and Giles for recording a confidential conversation without consent."

That's an important point to remember, given that rightwing groups are bragging that O'Keefe recently saw felony charges, filed in connection with his recent invasion  of the Louisiana office of Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA), reduced to a misdemeanor.

Could O'Keefe's apparent ability to walk away relatively unscathed from acts that would land other folks in jail have something to do with his life of privilege as outlined at Gawker, using O'Keefe's Facebook photos? Or is it more to do his close ideological ties with the increasingly aggressive Republican attack machine?