I received a form for jury duty yesterday. If you’ve been with me over the long haul you know the background but a lot of folks don’t so I’m going to cover that first and then go into what I think is the right thing to do with it. As always I will follow my conscience and I think it is going to be pretty interesting for everyone if I am actually called in. Notice I did not say fun…
I will finish with what I know to be the law about a juror’s responsibilities and rights – and if you do NOT know about “jury nullification” and our constitutional obligations you really need to read that part because if you are called our system has degenerated to the point that great pains are taken to keep you from finding out about it.
I may post that again separately for those who are not interested in going through a long post to get to it. If you do not know the details of the Salem Bombing in 1988 it comes right up on internet searches and I have posted extensively about our unfortunate experience at the hands of our “justice system”. My Dad served 10 years for that despite the fact that we have proof the “experts” manufactured the evidence to convict him. See if I can find a link to that to share again at the end of this.
The background:
I was pretty much in shock when I was called in for jury duty some years ago because I had previously begged the judge, Frank Newkirk Jr. to do the right thing with evidence about the bombing in Salem that I KNEW he had because I and others had given it to him personally. This happened before he was a judge and I have come to believe he was threatened at that time – but…
At that time we desperately needed officers of the law to uphold the law and his failure to do so not only left our community vulnerable to some obviously dangerous people but also cost my family everything we own and put my Dad and another citizen in federal prison for ten years. I took it pretty badly when he denied even knowing what I was talking about and told me he would call the cops if I did not leave his office.
I did leave. I was hysterical and vomiting and in shock for days, but I left. That was the last time I saw him before I was called for jury duty last time and I did not do quite as well as I would have liked to when I faced him again because I had no idea he was a judge.
I did not name him personally when asked in his courtroom if I felt there were anything that might prevent me from doing jury duty but I certainly shared ALL the circumstances in a courtroom where everyone knew it was him anyhow. They just couldn’t get me out of that room fast enough. I didn’t get to say everything I wanted to. I will always wonder if our fire had anything to do with that and I do not know WHY I cannot just be quiet but I am not able to do that.
I should say here that if bad things happen to me or my family, information is going to be released that will satisfy my sense of justice and fairness and there will be further appropriate consequences. If you missed the background my entire family has been threatened and harassed and stalked and violated over many years any time I speak out and I am just entirely OVER that now.
I will add that I know exactly what it feels like to be threatened. I was afraid too. I am sure he had a lot to lose. He obviously had things to gain too. I do not bear grudges but I cannot be made to respect anyone who failed to uphold justice and the law when it was their duty to do so and accepted a position of further obligation and responsibility to the law, knowing this about themselves. I do pray for him. I cannot imagine… It is fair to add that I believe he tries to be a good judge and this counts as some meaningful restitution in my view.
So. Back to that jury duty form.
I am going to fill it out. I will most certainly go if I am called. I’ll dress the part of the conservative older business owner that should be a lawyers dream for a juror. And I will do my civic duty. I will practice this time and be ready to say that I have learned the hard way that evidence can be and is manufactured entirely because my family paid for an independent lab report to prove it, and our courts do not feel they need to hear evidence that might acquit an imprisoned man. The appeal courts can decline to see new evidence because it is not stapled. Knowing, no doubt, that prisoners might not have access to said staple.
I would have trouble accepting “evidence” as true because I have had the opportunity to learn that it can be made up and made to be quite convincing. Of course I can back ALL that up and I would just love to have the opportunity to do so. I would be fascinated to see if a judge would lie under oath if it came to a lawsuit, which I can see it might.
Because I think potential jurors need to know that. It is the right thing to do by my conscience. Despite the fact that my conscience causes me a great deal of trouble.
If they have not carried me out of the room when I get that out I will go on with everything I said last time… I will not stop talking until they shove me out the outer doors and I will project my voice like I am on stage. I am willing to do time for contempt of court for that. If I get any time at all for contempt I would also sue for damages and lost income and I might just file civil suits against individuals too. That adds up fast at shop rate. Pray for me? I might really need it. Apparently I have no sense at all. I do have Brian’s full support and that is a formidable thing at all levels.
If I am jailed for contempt of court, I’d want a jury trial. Not sure I could get it but I would sure give it my best effort. Because when asked if there were anything I wanted to say for my own defense I would say all of the above and the following – I feel it is my civic duty:
Jurors Handbook
http://fija.org
A link to the pdf file with the full handbook is posted on the page above. I have not been able to get a working link to just the file.
….. “the “judge” is there to conduct the proceedings in an orderly fashion and maintain the safety of all parties involved.”
….. “the jury has an “unreviewable and irreversible power… to acquit in disregard of the instructions on the law given by the trial judge…”
“….. If the jury feels that the law under which the defendant is accused, is unjust, or that exigent circumstances justified the actions of the accused, or for any reason which appeals to their logic of passion, the jury has the power to acquit, and the courts must abide by that decision.”
….. “In its broadest form, “nullification” has often been used to describe the jury’s “raw power to set an accused free for any reason or for no reason,” even for reasons having nothing to do with justice or guilt.”
But it is NOT required that jurors be told this. A great deal of trouble has been taken to avoid letting jury members know about their duties, responsibilities and rights in our system today. I won’t quote the cases. You can see them in the document I linked to below if you’d like. One final consideration that seems to me the perversion of “justice” which should be taken up and thrashed.
….. “Before ascending to the bench to try his first case, every federal judge is required by law to swear or affirm to uphold the Constitution (which includes the Sixth Amendment), and “that I will administer justice without respect to persons.” That is a most peculiar-sounding oath for anyone who intends to browbeat jurors into putting aside any notions of “justice” that might stand in the way of their willingness to condemn a morally blameless man.
Beyond all this, perhaps the most blasphemous aspect of the invocation of the oath is the simple fact that we really do not expect jurors to refrain from nullifying in all circumstances. That being the case, it ill-behooves us to place jurors under an oath that they will not nullify (much less lie to them about whether they have taken such an oath).
At least for those jurors who take their oaths seriously, it places them in an intolerable and totally unnecessary conflict between deeply held moral scruples. It demeans the seriousness of the oath, which stands at the very bedrock of our system of justice.”
Statistics: Posted by rj5156 — Thu Jun 01, 2017 7:43 am