Saturday evening, at 8:00 PM central time, I will be appearing as the guest on the cable TV program Live & Let Live, Austin channel 10, where I will be discussing some leading threats to our constitutional rights and what we can do about them.
Subversion of trial by jury I have just uploaded the important 1839 opinion in Stettinius v. U.S, 5 Cranch C.C. 573, 22 F. Cas. 1322. in which there is clear support for my position that the original standard for criminal jury trials was to argue all issues of law in the presence of the jury. http://www.constitution.org/usfc/fc/22/Stettinius_v_US.htm Subversion by state bars How the "integrated bar", enacted in Texas in 1939, operates to suppress criticism and reform and to protect corrupt and abusive judges. Solution involves repealing the State Bar Act, which is scheduled to be sunsetted in 2015. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_Bar_of_Texas Suppression of prerogative writs While many have heard about restrictions on petitions for writs of habeas corpus, there has long been suppression of the other remedies, the most important of which s quo warranto, which would allow any citizen to stop an official from doing unlawful things or holding an office unlawfully. http://www.constitution.org/writ/writs.htm Capture of grand juries It is now said that a prosecutor can use a grand jury to "indict a ham sandwich", but that is not how grand juries are supposed to function, and only a grand jury now called a "runaway" is functioning correctly. http://www.constitution.org/jury/gj/gj-us.htm Unlawful federal criminal prosecutions U.S. Attorneys now prosecute people for federal crimes that are alleged to be authorized by the Commerce Clause, but that clause does not authorize criminal prosecutions. http://www.constitution.org/col/02729_fed-usurp.htm Bills of attainder used to suppress firearms rights U.S. statutes make it a crime for someone convicted of a serious crime to possess a firearm even though the disablement of that right was not part of the original sentence. http://www.constitution.org/col/psrboa.htm Failure to maintain adequate militia system Constitution envisioned a militia system as the main way to defend against invasion, insurrection, and to enforce the law, and it is now needed to defend against terrorism, but Congress has failed to revive the constitutional militia. http://www.constitution.org/mil/cs_milit.htm Connect with others to celebrate Constitution Day by street demonstrations at http://www.en-gb.pledgebank.com/TwoThousandHours Pledge says: 'I, __________, will go sign waving on September 17th (Constitution Day) for six hours in support of Ron Paul, but only if 2,000 other people will do the same for at least one hour.' We need a lot more people. Please spread this message widely. -- Jon -- ---------------------------------------------------------------- Constitution Society 7793 Burnet Road #37, Austin, TX 78757 512/299-5001 www.constitution.org [EMAIL PROTECTED] ----------------------------------------------------------------
