Juror thrown out for bringing up the Constitution
Posted August 16th, 2008 by FireTeamforFreedom
output
It was supposed to be just another federal drug prosecution. The federal prosecutors introduced evidence that the man on trial was involved in the black market drug trade. The defense attorney said the government agents entrapped his client. And then the twelve citizen-jurors retired to deliberate the outcome of the case.
But then something unusual happened. The jury sent a note to the trial judge with the following query: Since the Constitution needed to be amended in 1919 to authorize federal criminal prosecutions for manufacturing and smuggling alcohol, a juror wanted to know from the judge where “is the constitutional grant of authority to ban mere possession of cocaine today?”
This is bad news wrapped in good news in my opinion... because at least people are starting to ask questions!!!
See you in MN!
Bookmark/Search this post with:
I asked exactly that same question
when I was a freshman in college (1988) and taking their mandatory class on the US Constitution. The class being mandatory, it was in an auditorium with 300+ students, so I had quite an audience.
The professor made a very insulting remark about how there was always a few "potheads" in class and how such people weren't intelligent enough to be in college. I tried to say that, since the class was specifically about the Constitution, I felt that my question was relevant, but I was hushed up and sat down.
After class, though, a number of students congratulated me for asking that question - so many that we were blocking the exit and had to move along.
LOL
Yeah! Way to stick it to the "Professor"! :P
"I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just, that His justice cannot sleep forever." - Thomas Jefferson
Don't forget to DIGG!
http://digg.com/political...
the bottom line
is you should always judge the law as they are written. Most are unconstitutional. You as a juror are the law and higher than the law. alot of federal courts have kept grand juries on for 18 plus months at a time because they know we are the next ones who will be on those juries and we will judge the law as well as judging them. This guy above never should have sent a note to the judge he should have voted not guilty and stuck to it and convinced others of the same
Elastic Clause.
Elastic Clause.
Doesn't Exist
There is no elasticity in the Constitution. The so-called "Elastic Clause" RESTRICTS the enumerated powers of the Congress, further limiting fe'ral authority. If the "Elastic Clause" were to be interpreted to EXPAND fe'ral authority there would be no need for the rest of it. If the Congress can do what it wishes, it has no need for a list of recommendations.
No doubt... this is as important as it gets... because this
is really how we thwart them... with logic!
People need to realize if their were 2 or more people who knew what he was talking about... this jury would have probably come back..."NOT GUILTY" and soon the whole house of cards would follow!
One... take your case to trial.
Two... educate everyone on the rights of Jurors
Its even simpler than voting!
Mike
"Fire Team for Freedom" and "Revolutionary Business"
visit www.mikeandjake.com
There's an idea...
The Rights of Jurors class.
If there were a way to give every to-be juror a crash course on the Constitution prior to their duty...?
"I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just, that His justice cannot sleep forever." - Thomas Jefferson
Thanks for the post.
This is a very important post as jury duty is one of the most important functions for individuals in a citizen government to perform. And I believe a great place for Constitutionally sound activism to take place.
Every challenge of tyranny regardless of outcome is a victory for free men and women.
Join Pyrabangthe patriot search engine.
jury duty
I was called to jury duty early this year. I didn't know the particular case. I decided it it was a non-violent and consensual "crime", I was going for not guilty.
I appeared for jury duty and it had already been plea bargained.
From the article:
Once discovered, that juror was replaced with an alternate–over the objections of defense counsel. Shortly thereafter, the new jury returned with guilty verdicts on several cocaine-related charges.
Wow! Must not be identified as a "problem juror".
hypocritical
This government of ours has been hypocritical garbage for decades. Congress passed a constitutional amendment to prohibit alcohol. Then they repealed the prohibition. It was such a pain in the ass to amend the Constitution that the government said to fuck with it and now just passes unconstitutional laws so that they don't have to follow the constitution and amend it. If Congress had to amend the Constitution to prohibit alcohol then that proves that the federal government can't tell us what we can or cannot ingest, without the states ratifying it. You cannot legislate morality. I have heard the real reason why alcohol was constitutionally prohibited was because the Rockefeller family wanted all cars to use petroleum based gasoline. The Ford family started using alcohol in there cars. The Rockefeller's had alcohol banned thus the Ford vehicles could no longer use alcohol. This wasn't the only time political shenanigans were used to pass amendments. The 16th amendment which gave the government the excuse to tax income was never ratified by the majority of the states. Even if ratified it is unconstitutional because all direct taxes must be apportioned.
Web Developer
www.writetoredress.com
Take Back Your Country!
In an Empire of Tyrannical lies
Truth is Treason.
juror
I believe you can put anything into your body as long as you sign a waiver ,of GOV'T heath & medicare benefits. Don't come to me with your health problems resulting from abuse.
TLF
I have jury duty coming up
This is good inspiration.
In case you haven't already...
...make sure you check out http://www.fija.org/
Absolutely, Check it out
I keep getting "thanked and excused" because, when the judge asks whether I can follow his instructions, he doesn't like my answer.
However, if you want to really have your vote count by being on the jury, a friend suggested that "follow my instructions" could mean "understand my instructions" in which case you could answer "yes."
A jury in Los Angeles just convicted another "drug dealer" who was selling legal medical marijuana to cancer patients, etc. The judge did not permit this information to be given the jury.
Be aware that judges lie by omission and do not tell the whole truth or allow it to be told. I know people who were not told their case was a 3-strikes case; double-jeopardy and ex post facto are both prohibited by the Constitution. They can't punish us twice for the same crime, nor punish us more harshly now than the penalty was at the time of the crime, both of which are the main reasons prosecutors gave, when interviewed, for why they like the 3-strikes law.
The less you say about the Constitution, the better your chances of upholding it, assuming, of course, that the case is an interesting one involving these type of issues. Even during deliberations, it may be better to just say you don't believe the crime was committed.
Keep in mind that a mistrial or retrial usually benefits the prosecution more than the defense if they decide to pursue it again in court.
IMissLiberty
Citizen's Rule Book... dangerous
If you haven't read the Citizen's Rule book...do so
I have a link here
http://mikeandjake.com/ed...
but I couldn't help but include this explaination of the status quo of jury nullification
http://atheism.about.com/...
It's a real shame people are so ignorant
Mike
"Fire Team for Freedom" and "Revolutionary Business"
visit www.mikeandjake.com
DIGG the story...
http://digg.com/political...
The sad part is. They dont
The sad part is. They dont even need to call it a black market anymore. The prosecutors will just go after the defendants with the commerce clause. They will say things like, since they are selling cocaine at a low price they are violating interstate commerce clauses, because their sale of cocaine will inhibit the sale of cocaine from other states. Sound bizaar. They pulled that one out when prosecuting a woman in California for growing and using Marijauna.
But the good part is. Jurors are waking up. The American public is starting to wake up. That just shows that we are doing our job. And the message is getting out there.
The sad part is. They dont
double post. sorry
This story keeps popping up!
The Wall Street Journal
http://blogs.wsj.com/law/...
Boston.com
http://www.boston.com/new...
Mike
"Fire Team for Freedom" and "Revolutionary Business"
visit www.mikeandjake.com
That judge violated the defendant's rights.
I hope this case will be appealed. The judge clearly violated the defendant's right to trial by jury, by eliminating a juror without just cause.
-jcr
there they go with that "piece of paper" again
Now THAT is an "activist judge!"
There should be more discussion of jury nullification on DP
This could be a key "weapon" of the pro liberty movement against unconstitutional laws (i.e. gun control laws, taxes, drugs, prostitution, etc.).
It would be better if
it were about less harmless things than cocaine. Shame we all ca'nt get lucky enough to get jury duty for pot cases though.
Chonk, are you for banning tobacco and alcohol? Those drugs are
killing hundreds of thousands of people each year and an argument can be made that they are more harmful than cocaine or other drugs. The government has no right to tell me what I can put in my body.
For statistics on the top causes of death each year in America, click on the link below.
http://www.drugwarfacts.o...
Forget cocain and alcohol. We ought to ban corn syrup
I'm joking, of course.
Besides, agribusiness wouldn't permit it.
IMissLiberty
fat syrup
If we stop the importt tariffs that increase the price of sugar, food and beverage manufacturers would find that it would no longer be cheaper to use High Fructose Corn Syrup as a sweetener.
Many say HFCS tricks the body - calories but the body doesn't send the "am full" signals to stop eating.
Black Market?
The System continues to get more and more moronic....
What is a 'black market' but a free, untaxed and unregulated market?
Can we somehow get this to
I'm digging this right now...
Sorry I already beat ya to
Sorry I already beat ya to it...