Obama’s New Hammer - Tim DeChristopher
▻http://www.timdechristopher.org/obama_s_new_hammer
Obama just made the lead prosecutor in my trial, the one who freaked out at the possibility of empowered citizens interfering with his marching orders from fossil fuel corporations, the new US Attorney for Utah. I commented on this yesterday on Facebook and people wanted to hear the full story. Here it is.
The most important, and for me, most enlightening, point in my entire legal case happened during the jury selection process. About halfway through the process, a juror mentioned that he had received a pamphlet from the Fully Informed Jurors Association before entering the courthouse. The judge asked the rest of the jury pool how many of them had received a similar pamphlet. About three quarters of the 70 potential jurors raised their hands.
These pamphlets said nothing about my case, but they did talk about jurors’ rights to use their consciences when making their decisions. It discussed why we have juries, which is to protect our fellow citizens from the government. It quoted the nation’s founders about juries being arbiters of fact and of the law. The evolution of our legal system has led to the minimization of the role of citizens and the concentration of power into the hands of judges and prosecutors, but the inherent, though unknown, power of juries is still intact.
The lead prosecutor immediately requested a meeting in the judge’s chambers. As soon as we entered the room, the prosecutor erupted into panicked and desperate outrage. He demanded that the judge declare a mistrial and get a whole new jury pool. He said that I should either be prosecuted or held in contempt for jury tampering. With his hands shaking and his face red, he was nearly spitting when he read from the pamphlet and said, “This…this notion of voting your conscience is out in space!”
#usa #procès #justice #peuple #écologie #énergie-fossile #activisme #répression
