Justice is a Myth Today

Justice is a Myth Today

by Leon Howard

I have told the story many times: After being impaneled on a jury, I was excused because I wouldn't "accept instruction from the bench"; many friends have questioned that story but it is true - After being seated on the jury, the Benton County Superior Court Judge began asking a series of questions to ferret out prejudice but also to see if the folks impaneled were Jurors or Sheeple - Eleven were Sheeple and the judge sent me home!

I have always wanted to serve on jury duty but I am a member of Fully Informed Juror, an organization dedicated to returning Constitutionality to our courts that were lost in 1933 with the 1933 War Powers Act - An aside: Who were we, the People, at war with in 1933? We weren't; FDR and the Congress declared war on the American People and a massive circumvention of our Constitution was instituted: Gold bullion was confiscated from American homes (in exchange for Federal Reserve "Silver Certificates") and judges were sent to Scottsdale, Arizona for a "seminar" to explain how the 'new' court system was to be run.

Under the new 'rules', the courts were no longer the Peoples' Courts, they were now the Judges' courts and they, in essence became fiefdoms. They redesigned the courts to reflect the change: No longer was the court to be a 'level playing field' - the jury was placed in a box, elevated slightly above the prosecutor and defense tables; the witnesses were now placed in witness boxes, slightly above the jury box, and the judge, befitting a king in his fiefdom, was elevated above the witness box - So, instead of one level and no "boxes", we went to 4 levels, 2 "boxes" and a Throne! But that only reflects the cosmetic changes; the substantive changes were more devastating to justice. This is why they would not allow me sit on the jury!

"The jury has the right to judge both the law 
as well as the fact in controversy."


·      John Jay
(1745-1829) first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, First President of the United States - preceding George Washington, 
one of three men most responsible for the US Constitution 
Source: Georgia v. Brailsford, 1794

Not anymore! "It was too cumbersome" - "Too many of the guilty were being found innocent" - The 'reasons' were many but they were no more than excuses! Today, people wonder why we elect judges - It's in our state constitution, ratified in 1889, and judges were the court "referee"; they didn't need to be lawyers because their function was to facilitate order in the court and be certain the evidence was heard by the jury so they could render a "guilty" or "innocent" verdict - Today, juries render "guilty" or "not guilty" verdicts because "innocent" indicates the person did not commit a crime and today's "trials" are no more than "dog-and-pony" shows - Two lawyers, being as convincing as possible, and a judge deciding what evidence the jury can hear! No longer a "referee", the "judge" is more important than the defendant because he, alone, decides what is "evidence"! How many times have you heard of the judge saying, "The jury will disregard that statement or the testimony!" That is "instruction from the bench". After the Prosecution and Defense have presented their case, the judge tells the jury how the jury can find: guilty or not guilty, guilty of the crime the defendant was charged with or guilty of a lesser crime. That is instruction from the bench and you will notice, no where will the judge empower the jury to judge the constitutionality of the law the defendant was charged with!

This is the greatest robbery of Liberty ever perpetrated on the American People! Why? The Constitution is our contract with the federal government; it is our Constitution and we are to interpret the constitutionality of all laws - This has been reaffirmed three (3) times; the first of which is the quote above from John Jay, the first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. There are many other of our founders who felt this and it goes back to the Magna Carta.

But, twelve people taken randomly from the population will represent both friends and opponents of the party in power. With fully-informed juries, the government cannot exercise its powers over the people without the consent of the people. Trial by jury is trial by the people. When juries are not allowed to judge law, it becomes trial by the government.

Here are some quotes from courts, justices, and our founding fathers:

"The jury has the right to judge both the law
as well as the fact in controversy."


·      John Jay
(1745-1829) first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, First President of the United States - preceding George Washington,
one of three men most responsible for the US Constitution
Source: Georgia v. Brailsford, 1794

"If a juror feels that the statute involved in any criminal offence is unfair, or that it infringes upon the defendant's natural god-given unalienable or constitutional rights, then it is his duty to affirm that the offending statute is really no law at all and that the violation of it is no crime at all, for no one is bound to obey an unjust law."

·      Chief Justice Harlan F. Stone

“If the jury feels the law is unjust, we recognize the undisputed power of the jury to acquit, even if its verdict is contrary to the law as given by a judge, and contrary to the evidence.”

·      4th Circuit Court of Appeals, US v Moylan, 1969

“The jury has the power to bring in a verdict in the teeth of both the law and the facts.”

·      Justice Holmes, Homing v District of Columbia, 138 (1920)

"For more than six hundred years-- that is, since Magna Carta, in 1215--there has been no clearer principle of English or American constitutional law, than that, in criminal cases, it is not only the right and duty of juries to judge what are the facts, what is the law, and what was the moral intent of the accused; but that it is also their right, and their primary and paramount duty, to judge the justice of the law, and to hold all laws invalid, that are, in their opinion, unjust or oppressive, and all persons guiltless in violating, or resisting the execution of, such law."

·      Lysander Spooner, The Right of Juries

When a jury acquits a defendant even though he or she clearly appears to be guilty, the acquittal conveys significant information about community attitudes and provides a guideline for future prosecutorial discretion...Because of the high acquittal rate in prohibition cases in the 1920s and early 1930s, prohibition laws could not be enforced. The repeal of these laws is traceable to the refusal of juries to convict those accused of alcohol traffic.

·      Sheflin and Van Dyke, Law and Contemporary Problems, 43, No. 4, 1980

“It is not only the juror's right, but his duty, to find the verdict according to his own best understanding, judgment and conscience, though in direct opposition to the directions of the court.”

·      John Adams

"I consider trial by jury as the only anchor yet imagined by man, by which a government can be held to the principles of its constitution."

·      Thomas Jefferson

Further, the jury's veto power protects minorities from "the body of the people, operating by the majority against the minority."

·      James Madison, June 8, 1789

"In short, if the jury have no right to judge of the justice of a law of the government, they plainly can do nothing to protect the people against the oppressions of government; for there are no oppressions which the government may not authorize by law."

·      Lysander Spooner, "Jury Power" by L. & J. Osburn

As you can see, this right is being ignored as the powers that be want them to be! Keep the American People educated in their Constitution and these abuses are less likely to occur. I write this now so you will be provoked to learn more about the Fully Informed Juror Association and defend your COnstitution from an irresponsible government not operating in your best interest! Check FIJA at: http://fija.org/

You can share this with your email lists because both parties are creating more and more "laws" to control the American People and exempting themselves from those same laws. The best way to stop this tyranny is to nullify their unconstitutional laws from the jury box!