Time: Wed Mar 19 19:56:38 1997 by primenet.com (8.8.5/8.8.5) with ESMTP id OAA05150; Wed, 19 Mar 1997 14:59:54 -0700 (MST) by usr02.primenet.com (8.8.5/8.8.5) with SMTP id OAA00937; Wed, 19 Mar 1997 14:59:44 -0700 (MST) Date: Wed, 19 Mar 1997 19:50:07 -0800 To: (Recipient list suppressed) From: Paul Andrew Mitchell [address in tool bar] Subject: SLS: L&J: The Meaning of Freedom (fwd) <snip> >Will wrote: > > >>What does it mean to be free? To be "self-governing"? >> >>It means at least this: We the People apply the law to ourselves; >>we are not governed by a foreign agent. >> >>Thomas Jefferson remarked that, in his view, the jury trial system >>was the only way that We the People could hold our freedom: >> >> >> "It is my view that the jury trial is the only device >> conceived by the mind of man by which a free government >> may be held to the principles of its Constitution". >> (approx from memory) (Thomas Jefferson) > > >You have a good memory. Here is the exact quote, with complete credit and >two sources by which it can be verified: > >"I consider that [the trial by jury] is the only anchor ever yet imagined >by man, by which a government can be held to the principles of its >Constitution." > >-- Thomas Jefferson, In A Letter To Thomas Paine, July 11, 1789 > >Dr. Martin Larson, in *Jefferson Magnificent Populist*, P. 134 > >*Writings Of Thomas Jefferson*, Edited By Baugh And Lipscomb, And Published >By The Thomas Jefferson Memorial Association, Washington, D.C., 1903-05, 20 >Volumes, Vol. VII, Pp 404-08 > > >> >>FIJA makes _a lot_ of sense. To me, we need to pursue that >>concept: Every time a jury is convened, We the People take the >>power of the judiciary in hand again: Our elected legislators >>may write any laws at all but unless We the People apply >>the enacted law to ourselves, the enacted law will lack force >>and will be effectively void. >> >>When the Jury is seated: The Judge and Lawyers then answer to >>the JURY, not vv. : We the People, through our juries, apply >>the law to ourselves. Lawyers and Judges are irrelevant, once >>a Jury is seated. And remember: if the amount at stake is >>$20 the Right to a Jury trial is preserved. >> >>To do this will require communications, and more. A sense of urgency >>must derive for without it we shall not find sufficient courage to >>deal with this issue. > > >A good tool for communication and great aid for FIJA, which conveys the >sense of urgency without irrational hysteria, is the book *Remarkable >Remedy* by Jean Carpenter. On p. 32 she has a discussion about the "most >important check" of the checks and balances incorporated into the >Constitution, "the one absolutely essential to the continuance of this >republic as a free people." Also, in the full edition, which incorporates >*The Treasury*, she has excerpts from Chapter One of Lysander Spooner's >Essay (1852). Lysander Spooner was a widely acknowledged authority on the >jury system. > >If you would be interested in knowing how to obtain this book, send me your >snail mail address, and I will convey your wish to the publishers that they >send you price information. I don't think they have email, but they happen >to be located in the same city as I. > >Not only do we need FIJA, we need to be on guard that the jury system we >have not suffer erosion. I have seen signs that it is under assault. > >Jean Westphal >kidogo@ionet.net (kidogo) >KIDOGO'S WORLD: http://www.ionet.net/~kidogo/ ======================================================================== Paul Andrew, Mitchell, B.A., M.S. : Counselor at Law, federal witness email: [address in tool bar] : Eudora Pro 3.0.1 on Intel 586 CPU web site: http://www.supremelaw.com : library & law school registration ship to: c/o 2509 N. Campbell, #1776 : this is free speech, at its best Tucson, Arizona state : state zone, not the federal zone Postal Zone 85719/tdc : USPS delays first class w/o this ========================================================================
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