Showing posts with label court. Show all posts
Showing posts with label court. Show all posts

Ashby Jones: Another Path To 'Not Guilty'

The jury's power to put the law on trial.        Not all juries are created equal. These days, nowhere is that clearer than in New Hampshire. A bill introduced earlier this month in the Granite State's House of Representatives would require judges to tell juries in every criminal case that they are free to exercise a long-standing but   ... MORE

Jerry Brito: Bitcoin - More Than Money

Changing the future of currency.     On August 6, Judge Magistrate Amos Maazant of U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas made many a headline when he became the first known United States government official to declare that Bitcoin-the non-government and non-bank currency, payments network, and anarchic digital         ... MORE

Support For Jury Nullification On Display In D.C.

by Joe Wolverton, II, J.D.           Drivers traveling around the Washington, D.C. Superior Court may have noticed lit signs encouraging jury members to “nullify” laws they disagree with. The Montana-based Fully Informed Jury Association is behind the displays, which read: “Good jurors nullify bad laws” and “You have the right to ‘hang’ the    ... MORE

Advertising Jury Nullification Concerns Prosecutors

They fear good jurors may nullify bad laws.     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  ... MORE

A Look At The Jury System & Our Participation In It

by Graham Dugas.        The jury system is one of the few remaining checks on the system available to those of us who love freedom. We must utilize this tool to the fullest measure if we ever hope to non-violently fight tyranny. Yes, it is a hassle but we needn’t look far to see all the evils visited upon us when this righteous check on tyranny and lunacy  ... MORE

DOJ Seeks To Protect Bernanke From Testitmony

Politicians have each other's back.     The government is trying to block questioning of Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke in a lawsuit by the former head of American International Group Inc. The Justice Department told a federal appeals court Friday that high-ranking officials should not have to testify except in extraordinary     ...  MORE

Samuel Darrett: Avoid Judicial Intimidation

You can judge both the facts and the law.    While many opinions have been expressed about the jury acquitting Zimmerman, there is one aspect of the trial that has not been fully delineated, namely the judge's instruction to the jury. What the judge tells the jury usually determines the verdict. Sad to say many jurors, who are unaware of why     ... MORE

Federal Judge Questions Government Drone Program

by Kevin Johnson.        A federal judge expressed deep reservations Friday about the authority of the government to carry out targeted killings of Americans in counterterrorism drone strikes abroad and appeared to reject a Justice Department argument that the courts had no role in one of the most controversial parts of the nation's     ... MORE

Tax Dollars Spent To Organize Anti-Zimmerman Rallies

Look what Judicial Watch happened to find.     A conservative watchdog group accused the Justice Department of helping manage the "pressure campaign" last year against George Zimmerman in the wake of the Trayvon Martin shooting, citing documents that show an obscure agency spent thousands assisting local demonstrations.  The   ... MORE

Arizona Sheriff Ordered To Return Seized Marijuana

Cops not allowed to confiscate medicine.   The Arizona Supreme Court is letting stand a lower court's ruling that the Yuma County sheriff must return marijuana seized from a woman with a California medical marijuana authorization honored by Arizona. The justices without comment on Monday declined to review a January ruling by the  ... MORE

Let's Divorce Marriage From The Government

by Steve Chapman.  As a kid, I remember watching a rerun of the 1952 I Love Lucy Show episode in which Lucy finds her marriage license while cleaning out a closet. She discovers, to her horror, a typo that refers to husband Ricky’s last name as Bacardi rather than Ricardo, which causes her to question the legality of her marriage. The ensuing hijinks ... MORE

Garry Reed: Man Facing 81 Years Seeks Jury Nullification

Pot dealer punished for refusing to rat out friends.   Today is Day One in Rich Paul's fight against legal prosecution for an act that the libertarians at CopBlock call "victimless actions." Paul, a political activist in New Hampshire, is charged with selling marijuana and faces up to 81 years in jail on felony charges. Paul had a chance to get the    ... MORE

Johnny Green: Juries Can Nullify Charges If Found Unjust

Judging the law as well as the facts. Although its usage is increasing in the American legal system, far too few people know about, and understand one of the biggest weapons we have in our civil-rights arsenal; jury nullification. Jury nullification is a practice that dates back to before our nation was formed, and is the act of a jury acquitting someone  ... MORE

Can Judges Overrule Free Speech When Criticized?

Conservatives, liberals and media advocates say no.  A group of free-speech advocates is rallying behind an Indiana inmate serving two years for his online rants against a judge who took away his child-custody rights during a divorce case. There’s no disputing that Daniel Brewington’s words were strong and angry -- found in hundreds of emails over ... MORE

How Litigation Threatens Professional Football

by Steve Chapman. Professional football is the most popular spectator sport in America, which is one reason yesterday’s Super Bowl was expected to draw 110 million viewers. With its famous athletes, storied franchises, and lucrative TV contracts, it's an industry whose future appears limitless. But football has a problem: the specter of mass brain  ... MORE

Mike Riggs: Federal Court Rules In Favor Of Federal DEA

Will continue to classify marijuana with heroin.  The U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for Washington, D.C. ruled today in favor of the DEA's decision to keep marijuana a Schedule I drug--a classification for substances that are highly addictive and have no widely accepted medical benefits. "On the merits,  the question before the court is    ... MORE

Jury Nullification Gaining Influence In Criminal Trials

by Ryan Conley.   The power of jury nullification has gained recognition, acceptance, and wider use in recent years, and has the potential to profoundly affect the application of criminal justice in the United States. Jury nullification allows juries to acquit defendants who are guilty as charged, but who they believe do not deserve to be punished.    ... MORE

Douglas French: Can Jury Slaves Say What's True?

Getting a taste of our jury system.   Until last week, I had managed all of my adult life to avoid jury duty. As a young adult in Topeka, Kan., I was never summoned. For my two decades living in Las Vegas, I was able to call in a couple times declaring economic hardship. Most of the time, I seemed to be off their radar screen. I always suspected it was  ... MORE