Guy Passing Out Pamphlets In Front Of Court Indicted For 'Jury Tampering'
from the jury-nullification dept
Paul Alan Levy was the first of a few folks to send over the news that a guy named Julian Heicklen, a retired Penn State chemistry professor, has been indicted for charges of jury tampering for handing out pamphlets about jury nullification in front of courts. Just a month ago, we had a related (but different) story about a judge in Florida banning handing out such pamphlets, which raised a number of very serious First Amendment questions. In this case, it went beyond just a ban, as the guy was actually indicted by the court, leading to more serious First Amendment questions.It should be admitted that the guy appears to be... a bit of a crackpot in how he's responded to attempts to stop him from handing out these pamphlets, including collapsing to the ground and having to be taken to a hospital (and later suing the hospitals). He also apparently refused to issue any plea in this latest case, and at one point simply sat there silently looking down, leading the judge to ask if he was asleep (he was not).
That said, there are serious First Amendment issues raised by this. Jury tampering laws are designed to protect against someone tampering with specific juries, trying to influence the direct outcome. But that's not at all what was happening in either of these two stories. In both cases, it just involved people handing out pamphlets to the general population outside a courtroom, explaining the concepts of jury nullification. That should not be seen as tampering at all. I mean, it's just as easy for someone to sit at home and read about jury nullification online. Why should it be illegal to tell people about it in front of a courthouse?
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Filed Under: free speech, julian heicklen, jury nullification, jury tampering
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Hopefully this guy's jury is aware of that.
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I think every judge in that court just shit themselves....
Welcome to the legal version of the Streisand Effect, where you arrest somebody for talking about something that will then be discussed thoroughly in his trial in the place you didn't want him talking about it, potentially resulting in that very something being utilized in his own trial.
And now I've gone crosseyed....
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MORE people need to be indicted on this charge. The more the merrier in my book.
That's why I am *so* loving this. That guy has Tiger Blood coursing through his veins! Adonis DNA! He may be a whackjob, but he's *our* whackjob.
CBMHB
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There's not a chance in hell of that being allowed.
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Not sure how he can stop it without violating the rules of evidence. The pamphlet itself is evidence of the crime, and the defendant has the right to introduce it and have the jury examine it.
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* If they don't show the jury his pamphlet as evidence, they don't have a case against him.
* If they do, by their own argument, they are tampering with the jury.
Tough break for the prosecutors, but you know what John Wayne said: "Life's tough. It's tougher if you're stupid."
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Yeah, but you know what the Duke also said: "Hey, Rock Hudson, why don't you come over here and sit on my face?"
So, you know, there's that to consider....
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Aw, c'mon. Why are John Wayne fans so closed off to the possibility that he MIGHT have been gay? The dude was still a kickass actor, political activist, and all around badass. So what if he might have enjoyed twisting Rock Hudson's niblets every now and again?
Mook, I hope you were joking, but if not, it is quite telling that you consider suggesting someone was gay is "blaspheming" him....
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This line of thought brings to mind John Travolta. I mean, the knowledge that he's bi/gay or whatever just renders anything he is in unwatchable for me, because he clings to a "religion" (money-grubbing sci-fi cult) that claims homosexuality is a disease to be cured, all the while getting all the oral and anal action he can in the bath house circuit.
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Sorry 'bout that. Damn things been on the fritz since I read a bunch of Charlie Sheen quotes....
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Shouldnt be. Gay is the shit.
Oh wait, that didnt come out quite right....
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That is so beautiful....
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Gay?
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From the original New York Times article:
So the level of charge they arrested him on automatically "pre-nullified" the jury that could have kicked this out of the courtroom. Sad.
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Re: Guy Passing Out Pamphlets In Front Of Court Indicted For 'Jury Tampering'
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See, that's the problem right there. They don't want to be held to the principles of the Constitution.
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Slightly off topic
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Crackpot comment
Now, calling him a crackpot is a bit unfair in my opinion. He's participating in civil disobedience. The police come to arrest him, he does not aid them in his capture but neither does he actively resist. Of course not actively assisting is construed as resisting but that's another issue. Anyway, calling him a crackpot it seems rational to call Gandhi a crackpot as well.
Maybe I'm being nit-picky.
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It's all a matter of perspective.
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Jury nullification has been discussed here before. I think it is a tool to try to bypass the congress, the president, and the rule of law, allowing jurists to not only rule on a case as a jury, but also to try to legislate from the deliberation room. In that manner, I think it isn't so much jury nullification as much as "democracy nullification".
I am suspecting that if this becomes a real issue, there will be a move to limit the numbers of jury trials, and juries may be sequestered more often, to avoid them being exposed to what is a poisoning force in the court system.
Can you imagine jury nullification on traffic tickets?
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Because legislators always have our best interests in mind when they auction their votes to corporations.
"I am suspecting that if this becomes a real issue, there will be a move to limit the numbers of jury trials"
My GOD! Are you saying that if jurors are informed of their rights, the sixth amendment will be trampled?
"Can you imagine jury nullification on traffic tickets?"
This is utterly retarded. Nobody wants to live in a state of lawlessness. To suggest that people would go around letting people off for various infractions all willy-nilly simply because they're aware that they can reveals you to have very little faith in a jury to begin with. It is the last line of protection against the tyranny of the state. You fail at civics and American politics, and if you're an American citizen you should renounce your citizenship immediately and jump into a ravine.
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No one said democracy is perfect, but it's still democracy. Letting 12 randomly selected jurors make up the law on a case by case basis is not.
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We are not a democracy. We are a representative republic and jury nullification is an important line of defense against a tyrannical state or unjust laws. From wikipedia: "Jury nullification was practiced in the 1850s to protest the federal Fugitive Slave Act, which was part of the Compromise of 1850." Returning slaves to slavery was the law by which judges were bound. "Random jurors making up the law" were able to ignore it. The people who wrote the constitution wrote it to avoid the "tyranny of the majority" that can come with a true "democracy." They were supportive of the concept of jury nullification. Juries are not bound to convict people on unjust laws. How you construe that as a bad thing is utterly mind-blowing.
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Jury nullification can be good (e.g., fugitive slave act) or bad (e.g., acquitting whites accused of killing blacks in the South) in any particular case; that doesn't make it consistent with our system of law and government.
As for "the people who wrote the Constitution," "they" were not uniformly for or against jury nullification.
"Juries are not bound to convict people on unjust laws. How you construe that as a bad thing is utterly mind-blowing."
First, jurors swear that they will apply the law as instructed. So, to the extent someone is "bound" by their oath, they are bound to do so.
Second, why is it so "mind-blowing" that I don't think a super-minority of 1 person (because a criminal conviction requires a unanimous verdict in most cases) should get to determine what is "just" in contravention of elected representatives? THAT is tyranny!
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This is unenforceable, as jury nullification is an accepted part of our legal system. Just because judges and lawyers wish it weren't doesn't mean they can twist things around as they please, either.
If we were all sworn to 'apply the law as instructed,' there would be no point in a jury, as we could be instructed to apply the law as the judge sees fit. That isn't the judge's job OR prerogative.
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> the law on a case by case basis is not.
I'd rather have that than 535 congressmen making up the law based on which Fortune 500 company gave them the most money and whores.
Besides, it's not like a jury's decision sets precedent or anything. Jury nullficiation is not the same thing as an appellate decision invalidating a law. When the Supreme Court overturns a law, the police, prosecutors, legislators, etc. are prohibited from enforcing it any further. When a jury nullifies a law, it affects nothing but the defendant in the case over which they are presiding. Someone can be arrested and charged under the very same law the next day and it will be perfectly valid.
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That would be terrific. It would do wonders to cut down on the ridiculous police state we have, where people are robbed by the government for doing things that should be legal.
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So I guess it was the police who called the ambulance. Therefore I'm wondering if he was taken to the hospital against his wishes, or something. Hence the suing of the hospital. Perhaps, maybe, whatever. Either way somethings cracked here whether it's the guy or the details.
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I think we can all agree that Gandhi was indeed a crackpot. I mean, not eating meat? How retarded is that? Plus that dude was nearly naked like ALL The time. Seriously? You can't wear something besides a diaper once in a while?
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Also, don't dish vegetarians. They are healthier and live longer lives than carnivores.
Let's see, with a name like Dark Helmet you must be what, 12 or 13 years old?
No experience, no judgment, no brain.
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Also, get your sarcasm detector replaced. Yours has failed you. Miserably....
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Uh, what? What work did I "steal"?
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TAM
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Bravo, sir. You've made me laugh on this day when I am horribly sick....
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Nothing, but he gave me permission to use the avatar....
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And the letters that you are using, do you have documentation to prove that you have a license to use that font? How dare you.
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There is so much wrong with this statement. First, all humans are omnivores. Even if an individual eats only meat or only plants, that still doesn't make him a carnivore or an herbivore.
Secondly, every study I have ever seen that shows vegetarians are healthier or live longer always compare vegetarians with the general population, never with other people that care about what they eat as much as vegetarians do. Vegetarians usually care highly about eating healthy and rightly so, they have to or they'd be less healthy than the general population. Vegetarians need to take supplements or fortified food (vitamin b12 deficiencies for example). Vegans are in an even more precarious situation.
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This simply isn't true. Iron is probably the biggest potential issue in a vegetarian's diet, yet vegetarians don't seem to suffer any more from iron deficiency than the general population. We certainly don't need to take supplements or rely on fortified food to maintain a healthy diet. Vegans may be different.
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The general population does not care about their diet nearly as much as vegetarians/vegans do. So you take someone that isn't concerned about their diet and compare their iron intake with someone who not only is concerned but is probably specifically concerned with iron (because that should be fairly well known in the vegetarian/vegan community) and claim they suffer the same. Try comparing someone who is concerned with their diet and also eats animal products and you'll find they aren't concerned about their iron intake.
As for the vitamin b12 thing, I did a quick google search on it. The first link that mentioned vitamin b12 deficiencies was a myth was also a follower of Hulda Clark. A quick google search on her shows that she is most likely a quack. Every other vegetarian/vegan website that I ran across said that you should eat fortified foods or take a supplement.
All that being said, I'm not trying to diss vegetarians/vegans. I think anybody ought to be able to choose what they eat for whatever reason. What I do have a problem with is this very inaccurate comparison. I'd love to see research that compared vegetarian/vegan health/lifespan to similar diet-minded non-vegetarians. So far, I haven't seen it.
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I was refuting the point about supplements or fortified food. There is absolutely no need to take supplements or fortified food. The comparison was merely contributory evidence. It's your burden to prove your statement that vegetarians need to take supplements or fortified food.
"As for the vitamin b12 thing, I did a quick google search on it. The first link that mentioned vitamin b12 deficiencies was a myth"
I wasn't contesting that B12 is an issue, I was contesting the statement that vegetarians need to take supplements or fortified foods. Unless pregnant or breastfeeding then it is unlikely that a non-vegan vegetarian would need to take any B12 supplements or rely on fortified foods. Many do, rather than relying on lots of eggs or low fat yoghurt, but it's not a necessary factor in being a non-vegan vegetarian.
That said, you could rightly argue that your statement was referring to the need for pregnant or breastfeeding woman to take supplements; or that you were referring specifically to vegans, whom some consider true or total vegetarians.
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I'm vegetarian. While studies show that we tend to be healthier and live longer lives, there is little reason to believe that being vegetarian is a key factor in doing so. As well as being vegetarian I also don't smoke, have never been really poor and exercise a lot.
If you want a reason to be vegetarian then I would suggest considering the economic and ecological impact of food production as more important than any possible health benefits.
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/troll :-)
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The indictment is here: http://tyrannyfighters.com/uploads/Heicklen-Julian-Indictment.pdf
Here's the statute he's being charged under: 18 U.S.C. 1504.
It's an interesting question. I don't think he can have it both ways though. He can't argue his pamphleteering was not aimed at jurors when his actions were by design specifically targeted at jurors entering the courthouse. There's a difference between giving out information to the general public and giving out information to people who are jurors on their way into the courthouse. The former is free speech, and the latter is jury tampering.
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This guy wasn't saying what they should do, just what they can do. They can find him guilty, they can find him innocent, they can nullify the law if they believe it's unjust.
Wouldn't lying by omission be more likely to be considered jury tampering if the instructions intentionally left out the third option?
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The statute applies to "whoever attempts to influence the action or decision of any . . . juror . . . upon any issue or matter pending before such juror."
He was standing in front of the courthouse attempting to influence the actions and decisions of any juror he could, and upon any issue or matter pending before that juror. The statute does not require that he have specific knowledge of that juror's case. It applies to "any issue or matter," not only issues and matters of which he has specific knowledge. "Any issue or matter."
Anyway, it'd be interesting to see how courts have treated the issue. A quick search of Westlaw turns up 31 cases citing that statute.
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Sounds like a lot of people need to spend six months in jail.
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> attempting to influence the actions and
> decisions of any juror he could, and upon
> any issue or matter pending before that juror.
So if I put up a billboard on the highway leading into town which gave a link to www.jurynullification.com, and the tagline "Jury nullification is legal. Know the law!"
Am I guilty of jury tampering for doing that?
If your answer is yes, then Mike is right, there are some serious 1st Amendment concerns here, not the least of which is that such behavior on the part of the government would fly in the face of 200+ years of 1st Amendment jurisprudence.
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Assuming it is tampering as per the statute, why would tampering and free speech be mutually exclusive?
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They are mutually exclusive. Jury tampering is not free speech, and vice versa. Since jury tampering is per se illegal, it cannot also be free speech, since free speech is per se legal.
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Do you want a merry-go-round tune to go with that logic? What you've said is that the First Amendment is pointless because although "Congress shall make no law", speech isn't protected if there is a law against it.
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LOL! Congress makes tons of laws that take away free speech. Jury tampering is one of them. If it's jury tampering, it's not free speech. There is such thing as speech that isn't free.
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I hadn't suggested otherwise. I was calling you out on the assumption that free speech is determined by legality. You continue to cling to that flawed notion.
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How is it flawed? If it's free speech, then it's legal. That's by definition.
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Uh, in your previous comment you stated that Congress makes tons of laws that take away free speech. If free speech is by definition legal, then how would that work? Are you just writing random crap in contrary to whatever comment you're replying to?
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No, I'm trying to answer you, but you're making a conundrum out of something that is simple. Once Congress defines a law that takes away something that used to be free speech, it is no longer free speech. You're a bright dude, I don't know why this is difficult for you.
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Then what is the point of the First Amendment? If the only determination for free speech is what Congress passes as a law then the First Amendment couldn't apply to anything.
What do you even mean by free speech? The context you use it in implies it's some type of speech, rather than referring to the right to speak freely. Do you mean protected speech? Because that would make a bit more sense.
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Because if he was there distributing a flyer to everyone you can hardly say it was not to inform the public, he wasn't deliberately targeting jurors but all citizens around a public building.
I find your comment malicious.
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Of course other people enter and exit the courthouse--that doesn't matter. He positioned himself so that he was targeting actual jurors. The non-jurors he likely talked to don't matter. It's the jurors that he targeted that's the problem.
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U.S. v. Moylan, 417 F.2d 1002 C.A.Md. 1969.
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Sheeesh...would someone...anyone...explain this to me.
If there is no law prohibiting jury nullification and it's within the jury's power to do so, how then, do they not have the "right" to do so?
People have given me this example: I have the power to exceed the speed limit, but not the right. And this makes sense, my "right" to speed is restricted by law. There is nothing restricting jury nullification so that example falls short.
It seems to be labeling jury nullification as not being a "right" when in all actuality it really is.
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Wait, how can the judge kick me off the jury for this? It's legal, it's not punishable and it's defined as a necessary part of our legal system.
It still looks like jury nullification is something judges and lawyers want hidden, so they say "it's not your right" in a attempt to spin it as something I cannot do, but really I can.
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The Supreme Court has made it clear that there is no right to jury nullification. There is no debate that the right does not exist.
Don't mistake the fact the only real punishment for exercising this power is being dismissed as a juror, or perhaps having the judge throw out the verdict in a civil case. That's just a quirk of the jury system, not an indication that there is any right.
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Ummm..the simple fact that it's expressly NOT illegal, makes it legal.
It violates the oath that a juror takes.
It may violate the jurors' oath. The choice to break an oath is a personal one and I am not arguing that at all.
It violates the parties' right to a fair trial.
Really? A jury deciding that a law is unjust is somehow unfair? How so?
The Supreme Court has made it clear that there is no right to jury nullification. There is no debate that the right does not exist.
The Supreme Court weighed in on this, but it's far from clear. If I have the power and it's legal, I have a natural or implied right, no?
Don't mistake the fact the only real punishment for exercising this power is being dismissed as a juror, or perhaps having the judge throw out the verdict in a civil case.
I believe (from previous discussions on this topic) that judges are expressly forbidden to punish a jury in the cases of jury nullification.
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Yes, it's unfair. For example, say it's a civil trial with a jury. If you ignore the law and decide for the party that didn't deserve to win, then the party you wrongfully made lose did not get a fair trial.
The Supreme Court has explicitly said that there is no right to jury nullification. It is perfectly clear. It could not be any clearer. They left no ifs, ands, or buts. It is 100% unequivocal.
Look, man, what I'm telling you is fact. It is how it is. It's really simple, yet you're making it difficult.
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No, if it were legal, you would have the right to do it. You do not have that right.
If it's illegal there would be a law against it and I wouldn't have the power to do it. Supreme Court says I have the power to do it. It's an implied right, pure and simple.
Yes, it's unfair. For example, say it's a civil trial with a jury. If you ignore the law and decide for the party that didn't deserve to win, then the party you wrongfully made lose did not get a fair trial.
It's a friggin trial by their peers and the peers decided the law unjust, how much fairer can you get? So one side lost, so what, they were depending on an unjust law.
The Supreme Court has explicitly said that there is no right to jury nullification. It is perfectly clear. It could not be any clearer. They left no ifs, ands, or buts. It is 100% unequivocal.
Except for the fact that a Justice saying something isn't a right didn't remove the right. I still have it, and juries can still decide a law is unjust and vote that way.
Look, man, what I'm telling you is fact. It is how it is. It's really simple, yet you're making it difficult.
I am really not trying to be difficult here, but the facts you are telling me don't stand up to any sort of logic what so ever. It may be simple in your mind, but I tend to question the logic and not just accept facts that are placed in front of me.
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Ok. Fair enough. Quite possibly I am.
Perhaps you could be kind enough to tell me which definition of "right" the Supreme Court uses - last time I looked there were 64 different definitions of that word.
When discussing legal issues this is the one that I think of:
–noun
(Sometimes, rights.) that which is due to anyone by just claim, legal guarantees, moral principles, etc.: women's rights; freedom of speech is a right of all Americans.
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Anyone can prevent you from exercising your rights. People do it all the time, and those who are poor seem to have it done to them more than those who are rich. It is your responsibility to protect your rights, and society should strive hard to protect everyone's rights. Society needs to recognize the slippery slope they are on when they start abusing the rights of a few citizens.
People fight for their rights in court all the time, but unfortunately justice isn't completely blind and those who have money have an easier time protecting their rights than those who don't have much money.
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I don't know about anybody else, but this produces a divide by zero error in my logic circuits. Probably why I would never be able to be a lawyer.
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I don't know about anybody else, but this produces a divide by zero error in my logic circuits. Probably why I would never be able to be a lawyer.
You can be restricted from doing it if you announce to the court that that's what you're doing. Otherwise you're just getting away with something because the judge cannot read your mind. There is no right. There is only the power. It's quite simple, really. You're making it difficult.
And yes, when the Supreme Court says something is not your right, then legally speaking, that is not your right. End of story. Legally speaking. :)
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When has the Supreme Court said such a thing? I could not find any court case before the Supreme Court where the Court said that Jury Nullification was not a right, though I found two from the 1800's where they specifically said it was a right.
I've found three Appellate court decisions (U.S. v. Moylan, 417 F.2d 1002 (4th Cir.1969), United States v. Dougherty, 473 F.2d 1113 (6th Cir.1972), and U.S. v. Krzyske 857 F.2d 1089 (2nd Cir. 1988)) but no Supreme Court decisions. Please, enlighten us.
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It causes a divide by zero error in mine too. I guess only lawyers can really understand it.
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> not be able to kick you off the jury if you
> told her you intended to exercise your jury
> nullification power.
Nonsense. It's my right to be opposed to the death penalty and yet I'll still be kicked off any jury in a capital case for saying that's what I believe.
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Whether something "exists" is not the same has saying someone has a right to do it, or that it is not a violation of the juror's oath.
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jury nullification
This guy's behavior makes him a crackpot and actually damages his cause. Still, juries as a whole have certain rights and the courts seem to have a problem with informing them of those rights.
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Re: jury nullification
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If the criminal doesn't admit his guilty mind, then it has to be deduced from the facts. It's not hard to deduce that his intent was to influence jurors.
Your second sentence makes no sense. He could have handed out pamphlets to hundreds of people. If one of them was a juror, and his intent was in fact to target jurors, then that's jury tampering.
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Beyond reasonable doubt?
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It seems like the vast majority of laws are passed by special interest groups trying to impose the will of the few onto the many. A jury questioning the justice of the law seems like a much needed balance a legal system corrupted by special interests.
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Not jury tampering. Court can order stop and...
It's probably a stupid judge in bed (figurative sense) with the prosecution.
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Rockin
NMM
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Re: Rockin
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well
If I go to an advertised hotdog stand, then eat a particularly nice hotdog, I'm happier than if it was writhing in maggots....therefore the advertisement has "influenced" me for the rest of the day.........
Even if you DON'T tell the jury about nullification you are "influencing" them to one degree or another.......
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More at Volokh
http://volokh.com/2011/02/25/suppression-of-jury-nullification-advocates-speech-outside-cour thouse/
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The most interesting point I've seen so far in that discussion is the issue of discretionary powers. Some are arguing that given the discretionary powers afforded elsewhere in the system that it makes sense for jurors to be allowed to exercise discretion too.
Whatever way I consider the issue I cannot see how the right solution is to rely on keeping jurors uninformed. If knowledge of jury nullification is an issue then the system is flawed, as it cannot reasonably rely on ignorance.
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Tampering with the Constitution
It seems to me they later decided that if a jury of an accused's peers could not agree what he did was wrong, the government had no power to hold him.
The judge and prosecutor here are TAMPERING with OUR RIGHTS guaranteed by the US Constitution.
Revolt against all tyranny!
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