  We examine the causality and degrees of freedom (DoF) problems encountered by
charged, gravitating, massive higher spin fields. For spin s=3/2, making the
metric dynamical yields improved causality bounds. These involve only the mass,
the product eM_P of the charge and Planck mass and the cosmological constant
\Lambda. The bounds are themselves related to a gauge invariance of the
timelike component of the field equation at the onset of acausality. While
propagation is causal in arbitrary E/M backgrounds, the allowed mass ranges of
parameters are of Planck order. Generically, interacting spins s>3/2 are
subject to DoF violations as well as to acausality; the former must be overcome
before analysis of the latter can even begin. Here we review both difficulties
for charged s=2 and show that while a g-factor of 1/2 solves the DoF problem,
acausality persists for any g. Separately we establish that no s=2 theory --DoF
preserving or otherwise -- can be tree unitary.
