J.A.I.L. News
Journal
______________________________________________________
Los
Angeles,
California
March
26, 2005
_____________________________________________________
Terri Schiavo
& J.A.I.L.
(By Ron Branson - National J.A.I.L.
CIC)
I have been asked to state how J.A.I.L.
could be of assistance in the Terri Schiavo case. First allow me
to state my personal opinion regarding this matter. I have heard so
many serious allegations that raise high concern with me that calls for an
immediate replacement of the means to restore hydration and nourishment to
Terri, if for no other reason than to hear the witnesses and to address all
the allegations. If anyone thinks these allegations will die with Terri, they
are kidding themselves. These witnesses will be the subject of books,
documentaries, internet chatter, and will surely gender further distrust in
government, and especially the judiciary. This latter result is
not bad, but unfortunately it will be at the expense of the life of
Terri Schiavo.
History is replete with instances where meaningful
change has come about in civilizations when governments became so abusive
and egregious so as to shock the consciences of the people and outrage the
masses.
Just a while ago I entered an electronic store where I
conducted business, and during that transaction I offered the sales clerk my www.jail4judges.org business card.
Instantly he smiled as he viewed it, and without comment from me, he centered
his attention to Judge Greer and Terri Schiavo. Perhaps the instant
question more appropriately should not be what J.A.I.L. could do for Terri
Schiavo, but rather what Terri Schiavo is doing for J.A.I.L. and for America.
Notwithstanding that fact, I have been asked to address the former question, and
so will I do.
The Terri Schiavo matter is justifiably inflamed with
emotions, but J.A.I.L. is not designed to deal with emotions, but
rather deliberate violations of black and white written laws, such as
constitutional provisions, processes and procedures, fraud and avoidance of
material issues of fact that if considered, would change the outcome of a court
decision.
Yes, yes, yes, I know many of you are ready to pounce
on this and say, "This is exactly what has happened in the Terri Schiavo case."
But since J.A.I.L. has not passed and become a constitutional amendment in the
State of Florida, these are all moot questions. As a practical matter, I
fear that Terri is doomed to die a horrible death of dehydration, and I do
not buy the line that such death is painless to her. If our system decided to
put to death Scott Peterson by capital punishment in this manor, there would be
screams of "cruel and unusual punishment," and such screams would be correct,
and the courts would surely declare such manner of death unconstitutional under
the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution. The argument that Terri did not
commit a capital offense, and therefore is not entitled to such right is
unavailing. Are the courts saying, if Terri took out a gun and killed everyone
in sight, she would be entitled to rights under the Eighth Amendment?
If we are so gracious so as to entitle murderers to a merciful death, would not
Terri also be entitled to the same degree of mercy? And what kind of precedence
are we setting in America?
Were J.A.I.L. to be passed in Florida in this next
election cycle of 2006, would it open a possible remedy to Robert Schindler
based upon fraud? Perhaps it would, but Terri would already be dead, and
J.A.I.L. cannot raise the dead to restore rights to them. The best it could do
is vindicate the Schindlers.
We have all heard the saying, "An ounce of prevention
is worth a pound of cure." How true this is! Now let us turn to "What if."
What if the People of Florida had placed J.A.I.L. on their past ballot and
passed J.A.I.L. in 2004, and it was now an amendment to the Florida
Constitution? What would be the potential scene today in the Terri Schiavo
case?
First off, it is doubtful that there would even exist a
Judge Greer on the Florida bench today, for his attitude would likely have
forced him to choose to either take an early retirement in order to avoid the
"Three Strikes and You're Out" provision of J.A.I.L., or he might
be dismissed under its provisions in disgrace. But for the moment, let's
suppose that Judge Greer was still on the bench today. Does anyone doubt
that Judge Greer would be much more considerate of the Terri Schiavo
matter if he knew he could be drawn before 25 citizens who could decide his
judicial fate? Would he risk a potential indictment by the J.A.I.L. Special
Grand Jury, and a subsequent trial that could potentially land him in prison by
a conviction and sentencing of the people? Neither you nor I could answer these
"What if," questions, but I know where my money would go on these
questions.
J.A.I.L.'s greatest benefit is the fear by judges of
being held accountable directly to twenty-five citizens in which their judicial
immunity would avail them nothing. In other words, J.A.I.L. is the "Ounce
of prevention, rather than the pound of cure," although if the judges wish to
test the teeth of the tiger, the Special Grand Jury's message will be, "Go
ahead! Make my Day!"
Our problem today is that too many people still trust
government to be "reasonable." However, this defies the foundational words of
George Washington, "Government is not reason. Government is
not eloquence. It is force; and, like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a
fearful master!" I have listened to people
time and time again who say, "But ..." and try to make a case for reasoning with
government. I ask, how many fires have been extinguished by reasoning with the
fire?
Ultimately, it is necessary, by the nature of
government, that there arise absolute showdowns between it and the people.
"Those who profess to favor
freedom, and yet depreciate agitation, are men who want crops
without
plowing up the ground. They want rain without thunder and lightning. They want
the ocean without the awful roar of its waters. This struggle may be a moral
one; or it may be a physical one; or it may be both moral and physical; but it
must be a struggle! Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did, and
it never will. Find out just what people will submit to, and you have found out
the exact amount of injustice and wrong which will be imposed upon them; and
these will continue until they are resisted with either words or blows, or with
both. The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they
oppress." --Frederick Douglass, August 4,
1857.
If is unfortunate that Terri Schiavo has to be the
focus of this confrontation, and we are likely to lose Terri, but you can rest
assured that there will be many more "Terri Schiavos" in the future, in
which we shall face near identical questions. The real question is,
"Have we learned anything from this Terri Schiavo case?" It is true that we have
a right to petition government, including the courts, for redress of
grievances! Not even the government at any level denies that, but they say, "Go
ahead and petition all you want, but we're not obligated to respond."
Notice in our Declaration of Independence,
passed unanimously by our Forefathers, it does not say, "if a long train of abuses," but rather,
"...when a long train of abuses and usurpations,
pursuing invariably the same object evinces a design to reduce them under
absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such
government, and to provide new guards for their future security."
J.A.I.L. is America's new experiment in settling
the People's confrontation with government in resisting injustices by words
rather than blows. J.A.I.L. is absolutely necessary for the future
tranquility of America as the line of conflict falls between the People and the
judges. The choice is either tranquility or tyranny -- we can't have
both.
-Ron Branson
J.A.I.L.- Judicial Accountability Initiative Law -
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J.A.I.L. at P.O. Box 207, N. Hollywood, CA 91603
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"..it does not require a majority to prevail, but rather an irate,
tireless
minority keen to set brush fires in people's minds.." - Samuel
Adams
"There are a thousand hacking at the branches of evil to one
who is
striking at the
root."
-- Henry David Thoreau
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