General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: And Then There Were Three: Third Grand Jury Refuser Goes to Prison [View all]HiPointDem
(20,729 posts)It has left me as something of a specialist in an arcane, secretive, and obsolete area of the law one that has just reappeared with FBI raids, seizures of private papers, computers, and subpoenas to compel testimony in Chicago, Minneapolis, and other cities across the country.
I spent more than seven months in the federal correctional facility, not charged with any crime, allegedly not being punished (according to the judge), but rather being compelled to testify, and not knowing when, if ever, I would be released or if I might even be indicted.
(IOW, the person who refuses to testify is not in jail because they 'broke a law,' they're in jail TO COMPEL THEIR TESTIMONY.)
The federal grand jury is a secret, coercive, fishing expedition, a rubber stamp and tool solely of the prosecutor. Although it was once (at the time of the Magna Carta) a check on the singular and arbitrary power of the king, it has become its opposite: a greatly enhanced power of the executive. It has been abolished in England, virtually everywhere else in the world, and in more than half of the states in the U.S. It embodies fundamental violations of basic rights, and it is not necessary to the investigation and prosecution of crime.
Inside the grand jury room, there is no judge. The person compelled to appear cannot testify with her or his lawyer present, and cannot have a transcript of the proceedings. The grand jurors are sworn to secrecy. The prosecutor alone decides who and what to subpoena (testimony, records, computers, letters, photos), what possible crimes to investigate, who will testify, who gets immunity, and what charges to bring. It is famously said that any competent prosecutor can get a grand jury to indict a ham sandwich.
Here are ten key and surprising elements of the federal grand jury:
- It grants sweeping subpoena powers to prosecutors alone, with no safeguards or checks and balances.
- Prosecutors can use a grand jury to conduct an inquisitorial investigation or fishing expedition where there is not sufficient evidence of a crime.
- Defense counsel is barred from the grand jury, and no judge is present.
- It is not open to outsiders.
- Grand jurors hear one side only; prosecutors draft and read the charges to the grand jurors who are not instructed on the law, or screened for bias.
- Grand jury proceedings are secret.
- A grand jury subpoena compels a witness to testify under threat of an indefinite jail sentence until compliance; this coercion promotes unreliable evidence.
- There is no way to know what the grand jury investigation is about or who is considered a target.
- Grand Juries subvert the 4th Amendment to the US Constitution (ban on unreasonable state seizure of private property).
- Grand Juries subvert the 5th Amendment to the Constitution (ban on compulsory examination under oath).
It is no wonder that former judges and prosecutors, as well as legal scholars and organizations, call for reforms or abolition of the federal grand jury system.
http://kasamaproject.org/2010/10/11/know-your-enemy-grand-juries-on-witchhunts-fishing-expeditions/
iow, it IS a star chamber. and you support it.
Nearly two years ago, the FBI raided the homes of nine antiwar, labor and international solidarity activists in Chicago, Michigan and Minnesota. The activists, along with fourteen others, were issued subpoenas to appear before a federal grand jury empaneled to investigate the activists for providing material support to terrorism.
Each activist refused to testify because they understood their activism on behalf of Palestinians, Colombians and others in the world was what the Justice Department was investigating and they have a right under the First Amendment to assemble, organize, engage in freedom of speech and dissent against the policies of the United States government.
Not only is the US Attorney trying to criminalize my lawful acts and the acts of so many of us peace activists, but he is also gathering information on people, who just happen to be connected to usmy family, the sons of my dear friend Stephanie Weiner and Joe Iosbaker, who were raided as well in Chicago, six other children in Minnesota, explains Abudayyeh. All the partners, husbands and wives and extended families of all the subpoenaed are caught up in this horrible violation of our privacy and our civil liberties.
http://dissenter.firedoglake.com/2012/09/21/two-years-later-activists-raided-by-fbi-demand-grand-jury-investigation-be-closed/