erictheoldfart
Member
The "smokey blimp" speaks the TRUTH on this one!! I, too, have known of this fact for many decades, a very important check within a political legal system. Thanks for bringing it up, Hash.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=37tEeO-qTYo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0sNWbiAMf80
The states formed the federal government not the other way around!!!!
Section 2: Judicial power, jurisdiction, and trial by jury
Trial of all Crimes, except in Cases of Impeachment, shall be by Jury; and such Trial shall be held in the State where the said Crimes shall have been committed; but when not committed within any State, the Trial shall be at such Place or Places as the Congress may by Law have directed.
IRS Defeated by Hung Jury Against Tax Resister
This morning, the jury in Doreen Hendrickson’s trial returned to the courthouse and deliberated all day. At around 5pm, they finally emerged and presented their verdict: hung jury. Hung by ONE! What a delightful victory!!!
One juror stood up to the others, stood up to the IRS (no small undertaking) and to the judiciary — who was clearly making decisions on the side of the IRS.
Judge Roberts admitted all the IRS’ evidence and almost none of the defendant’s. Her instructions to the jury were unconstitutional at best, criminal at worst. She should be removed from the bench and disbarred.
The lone principled juror was even called out and grilled about his decision. He was not swayed by the badgering: “I just wasn’t convinced.” Thank you! Neither were we.
And, yes, I’m saying the other jurors weren’t principled. Unless supporting thuggery is principled? Suborning perjury is principled? Obeying an IRS demand even if it is unlawful and unconstitutional is principled? Being ignorant of the Constitution, the Bill of Rights and jury nullification is principled?
I think not. As our masters are fond of telling us, being ignorant of the law is no defense. That blade cuts both ways.
Let those other jurors go home to Dancing with the Stars. Maybe one day, they will wake up. I’m grateful for the lone juror: thank you for being the conscience of the people.
“It does not take a majority to prevail… but rather an irate, tireless minority, keen on setting brushfires of freedom in the minds of men.” – Samuel Adams, Founding Father and signer of the Declaration of Independence
The IRS can call it quits and move on. Or it can re-try Doreen and waste even more taxpayer money.
If they try again, the Hendricksons will be even more prepared for the shenanigans. The news about jury nullification is spreading. As the economy falls further into the toilet, Americans are waking up to what is going on and who is benefiting.
More and more people are questioning the IRS’ tactics if not the entire institution. Calls to “Audit the Fed!” are heard more and more often…
Not that any dose of sanity will stop the DOJ drones. They have nothing to lose — ain’t their money they are spending to persecute a tiny woman for not obeying their order to sign the damn form and perjure herself. They get paid regardless, right? Get their pensions and benefits regardless, right? Right.
The only person who can stop them is YOU. We are gathering names and addresses for letters and emails to TPTB. The lone juror sent a very strong message today. Let’s not leave him and Doreen to stand alone.
I know from Facebook, online news sources, activist groups like Oathkeepers and the shares of these articles that everyone who reads about Doreen’s trial is outraged. That is cause for hope. Thank you!
Billboard advocating jury nullification concerns local prosecutors
The illuminated billboard in the Judiciary Square Metro station near the F Street entrance was strategically placed.
Prospective jurors who take the subway to D.C. Superior Court and exit near the National Building Museum see these words: “Good jurors nullify bad laws” and “You have the right to ‘hang’ the jury with your vote if you cannot agree with other jurors.”
Since the billboard went up this month, District prosecutors have been worried that the message could sway their cases. In the past week alone, they have asked judges in three *cases to ensure that jurors had neither seen nor been influenced by the billboard.
The billboard is part of a growing national campaign to encourage jurors who disagree with a law, or think a punishment is too harsh, to vote for acquittal. Kirsten Tynan of the Montana-based Fully Informed Jury Association, whose name and Web address is included on the billboard, said the nonprofit group generally challenges crimes it calls “victimless,” such as vandalism by graffiti or gun possession.
James Babb, a Philadelphia-based graphics artist who organized a fundraising campaign to put up the billboard, said he raised $3,000 in about a week through Facebook and other *social-media sites. He said he is concerned about laws that he thinks are too restrictive.
“People are going to jail for weed,” Babb said. “Things are getting so weird. There needs to be this final safeguard to protect us from a tyrannical government.”
Babb’s group has added a similar message on two pillars in Archives station, another Metro stop near the courthouse. Both displays are scheduled to be up for about a month. Babb said he also plans to place signs in other cities, including Chicago and Los Angeles.
Supporters of jury nullification in several cities have raised the ire of judges and prosecutors. In New York last year, an 80-year-old man was charged with jury tampering after passing out fliers about jury nullification to courthouse visitors; the case was later dismissed by a federal judge.
Locally, prosecutors have been scrambling to ensure that the billboard’s message doesn’t influence their *cases.
In a gang-related murder trial set to begin this week, prosecutors filed a motion asking the judge to question potential jurors about whether they had seen the billboard. They also requested that the judge remind jurors that their verdict should not be influenced by whether they agree or disagree with the law.
In their memo, prosecutors Todd Gee and Emily Miller wrote that jurors who see the billboard may think “they don’t have to abide by an oath” and that it could encourage them “to hang and to learn about the concept of jury nullification.”
In another recent murder case, the jury had already been sworn in and the trial was underway when prosecutors alerted Superior Court Judge Herbert Dixon to the billboard. Dixon, according to people familiar with the case, then asked the jurors if they had seen the billboard. No one said they had.
Days later, the jury found the defendant, Grant Johnson, 39, of Bladensburg, Md., guilty of first-degree murder in the slaying of 32-year-old Ricardo Lancaster during a drug deal in 2012, prosecutors said.
And in a trial involving an assault with a deadly weapon, Assistant U.S. Attorney Brittain Shaw asked the judge to question potential jurors about the billboard. Days later, the jury found the defendant, Charles Link, 53, guilty in a knife attack in November that left one man injured.
The billboard also comes as Adam Kokesh, a Fairfax County-based gun rights activist, is preparing to go to trial after posting an Independence Day video on YouTube of himself apparently loading a shotgun in Freedom Plaza. He had been scheduled to go to trial Thursday, but the case was pushed back to at least Nov. 18.
Kokesh’s supporters have advocated for jury nullification in his case.
Tynan said the Metro billboard was not directly aimed at the Kokesh, who pleaded not guilty to carrying a pistol without a license, but she said that his case was the kind her organization targeted. “It’s a victimless trial,” Tynan said.
A spokesman for the U.S. attorney’s office said there has been no organized effort by prosecutors to address the billboard, but instead prosecutors have raised the issue on a case-by-case basis.
“Jurors in the District of Columbia play an important role in holding accountable the criminals who threaten and harm the people who live, work and visit our city,” U.S. Attorney Ronald C. Machen Jr. said in a statement. But he added, “Jurors who ignore the law or refuse to follow the judge’s instructions embolden criminals who believe that they can get away with breaking the law and do harm to the community without any repercussion.”