Thought you would be interested in this -
The ultimate defence of freedom in the English-speaking countries depends on power remaining in the hands of the people. During the last thousand years the people of Britain developed ways of stopping king or government from locking them up unfairly. When fair trials are under enormous attack in Britain, we are very heartened to learn that US VP nominee Governor Sarah Palin understands the history of jury rights -
GOV. PALIN'S PROCLAMATION ON JURY RIGHTS DAY:
WHEREAS, September 5, 2007, will mark the 337th anniversary of the day when the jury, in the trial of William Penn, refused to convict him of violating England’s Conventicle Acts, despite clear evidence that he acted illegally by preaching a Quaker sermon to his congregation.
WHEREAS, by refusing to apply what they determined was an unjust law, the Penn jury not only served justice, but provided a basis for the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment rights of freedom of speech, religion, and peaceable assembly.
WHEREAS, September 5th, 2007, also commemorates the day when four of Penn’s jurors began nine weeks of incarceration for finding him not guilty. Their later release and exoneration established forever the English and American legal doctrine that it is the right and responsibility of the trial jury to decide on matters of law and fact.
WHEREAS, the Sixth and Seventh Amendments are included in the Bill of Rights to preserve the right to trial by jury, which in turn conveys upon the jury the responsibility to defend, with its verdict, all other individual rights enumerated or implied by the U.S. Constitution, including its Amendments.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, Sarah Palin, Governor of the State of Alaska, do hereby proclaim September 5, 2007, as:
Jury Rights Day.
Via Volokh.
All the best,
David
http://www.britsattheirbest.com
The ultimate defence of freedom in the English-speaking countries depends on power remaining in the hands of the people. During the last thousand years the people of Britain developed ways of stopping king or government from locking them up unfairly. When fair trials are under enormous attack in Britain, we are very heartened to learn that US VP nominee Governor Sarah Palin understands the history of jury rights -
GOV. PALIN'S PROCLAMATION ON JURY RIGHTS DAY:
WHEREAS, September 5, 2007, will mark the 337th anniversary of the day when the jury, in the trial of William Penn, refused to convict him of violating England’s Conventicle Acts, despite clear evidence that he acted illegally by preaching a Quaker sermon to his congregation.
WHEREAS, by refusing to apply what they determined was an unjust law, the Penn jury not only served justice, but provided a basis for the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment rights of freedom of speech, religion, and peaceable assembly.
WHEREAS, September 5th, 2007, also commemorates the day when four of Penn’s jurors began nine weeks of incarceration for finding him not guilty. Their later release and exoneration established forever the English and American legal doctrine that it is the right and responsibility of the trial jury to decide on matters of law and fact.
WHEREAS, the Sixth and Seventh Amendments are included in the Bill of Rights to preserve the right to trial by jury, which in turn conveys upon the jury the responsibility to defend, with its verdict, all other individual rights enumerated or implied by the U.S. Constitution, including its Amendments.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, Sarah Palin, Governor of the State of Alaska, do hereby proclaim September 5, 2007, as:
Jury Rights Day.
Via Volokh.
All the best,
David
http://www.britsattheirbest.com
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