[News] UNCONSTITUTIONAL GRAND JURY TO TAKE PLACE TODAY

[News at freedomarchives.org]

From: Break Chains <breakthechains02 at yahoo.com>

For immediate Release: 4/22/04

UNCONSTITUTIONAL GRAND JURY TO TAKE PLACE TODAY

Does anybody remember the federal investigational charade that took place 
back in 2001-02 to investigate a 30 SUV arson that took place at Romania 
Chevrolet in April 2001? Five members of the Eugene community were 
originally subpoenaed to appear in front of a Federal Grand Jury and after 
month's harassment, surveillance, and numerously rescheduling of the 
hearings, only two people actually ended up testifying in front of the jury.

On March 6, 2004, Carla Martinez (one of the prior subpoenaed witnesses 
that never actually testified), was once again subpoenaed to a newly 
instated Federal Grand Jury. The current jury is only about four months old 
and will be serving for a total of eighteen months. Carla Martinez appeared 
in front of the jury on March 18, 2004. Now three other Oregon residents 
have been subpoenaed to appear in front of the jury today, April 22; the 
proceedings will begin at 8:30a.m. and continue throughout the day. Once 
again they are investigating the Romania 2001 fire.

Regardless of your opinion on this case, if you believe in your 
constitutional rights, you should be opposed to Grand Juries. Grand Juries 
are a tool of oppression that is used to intimidate organizations, 
communities and individual people. Grand Juries were established in England 
in 1166 in order to employ locals as an investigative tool of the king. At 
this time the grand jurors were drawn from the actual neighborhood to 
report on things they knew firsthand or had heard. Although they have 
changed in form, modern day Grand Juries still function the same way in 
that they are designed to serve the government. After centuries of unjust 
interrogations, England formally abolished Grand Juries on September 1, 
1993, with public support on the basis that they were costly and highly 
inefficient.  Unfortunately, the US has not made the same decision.

Many have criticized Grand Juries as being unconstitutional because a 
witness may not have a lawyer present in the room during the proceedings 
and the judge (not present in the court room) has the right to take away 
your Fifth Amendment rights (the right to not comment) with the threat of 
jail held over the witness's head. If a witness pleads the Fifth Amendment 
and a U.S. District Court judge then tells the witness they must testify 
and they refuse, you can be jailed up to 18 months or the remaining term of 
the jury (which ever comes first), for contempt of court in an attempt to 
get you to testify. This is said to be coercive not punitive (punishment) 
in the eyes of the law. Today, in the United States, they are often 
referred to as fishing expeditions.  It is namely the prosecution and the 
FBI, scraping at a community trying to get enough tiny pieces of 
information just to prove they have a case.  Many in the United States are 
against Grand Juries not only due to their overt expense and tedious 
inefficiency, but because they rob American people of their basic civil 
liberties. Unfortunately, most people are not aware that this process 
exists unless they are going through it, which is why it is so important 
that we all start talking about them and speaking out against them.

If you would like more information, please call 343-8548



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