New Hampshire Suspends Jury Trials

[FreedomFighter8008]

The state of New Hampshire is suspending all jury trials for one month citing budget issues:

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-courts22-2008dec22,0,387609.story

If they can get away with doing this for one month, what's to stop them or any state from doing so for good? The Constititution, I know, but since when has that stopped the gov't lately?

[Agent CSL]

They're not even trying anymore, are they.

[tonesforjonesbones]

Hey..that is the ultimate goal because they know about jury Nullification...the jury has the power and the people of new hampshire should be protesting. Were are the Free State Project people? Tones

[jake]

wow, that is scary.. the budget excuse is terrible. plenty of things could be cut before the very foundation of the law of the land, the trial by jury of one's peers.

[mport1]

This is excellent. Hopefully more people move up to NH for the Free State Project (http://www.freestateproject.org) and clog their court system so it completely collapses.

[Jeremy]

Why is this a bad thing? Looks like a civil disobedience success. If everyone asks for a jury trial the government will be forced to stop accusing people of victimless crimes. Free staters ftw.


Hey..that is the ultimate goal because they know about jury Nullification...the jury has the power and the people of new hampshire should be protesting. Were are the Free State Project people? Tones

see my statement above

[ladyjade3]

Not as bad as the headline makes it sound. They are just postponing them, not denying people a jury trial altogether. Although a speedy trial would be nice.

[UtahApocalypse]

"Live Free or Die" LMAO seems if anything New Hampshire is one of the least attractive states for liberty over the last year.

[UtahApocalypse]

Sorry for a double post, missed this....



Not as bad as the headline makes it sound. They are just postponing them, not denying people a jury trial altogether. Although a speedy trial would be nice.

If I wasin jail in NH right now I would demand my constitutional right to a speedy, trial by my peers. If the state cannot, or will not comply im going home free.

[Aratus]

any suspended jury trials in tandem with martial law is obviously not good...at all
whereas the desire to move things ahead a month or so to avoid overhead costs etc.
does hint at a yankee frugality in sync with a desire to hibernate at least some of the winter.

[Anti Federalist]

From the article:


The state Supreme Court threw out two criminal cases this year because trials did not begin within six months of arraignment, the legal limit. Prosecutors fear more cases may be dismissed.

I'm on the ground here. My message is going to be clear, dismiss every non violent drug offense first. Then move on to non violent firearm and tax cases. Then DUI cases in which no party was injured.

[FreedomFighter8008]

O.k., my original post was NOT meant for all you dopers or anarchists out there. Suspending trial by jury is NOT a good thing. It's one of our basic Constitutional rights as is being tried in a timely manner. Whether or not things like marijuana should be legalized is a sparate matter and you shouldn't be so quick to give up some freedom for the sake of other freedoms (hmm . . . isn't there a quote about that somewhere . . .). These guys are testing the water to see what else they can get away with. We cannot let them take one inch.

[powerofreason]

This is what state governments do when things get tight budget-wise. They cut the most useful services first to make it appear like there really is a crisis. Complete BS, of course.

[james1906]

This is what state governments do when things get tight budget-wise. They cut the most useful services first to make it appear like there really is a crisis. Complete BS, of course.

Yeah, but it's usually a threat to shut down all the schools and/or police stations.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qh2sWSVRrmo

[mport1]

O.k., my original post was NOT meant for all you dopers or anarchists out there. Suspending trial by jury is NOT a good thing. It's one of our basic Constitutional rights as is being tried in a timely manner. Whether or not things like marijuana should be legalized is a sparate matter and you shouldn't be so quick to give up some freedom for the sake of other freedoms (hmm . . . isn't there a quote about that somewhere . . .). These guys are testing the water to see what else they can get away with. We cannot let them take one inch.

What is the use of a jury when they don't even know about jury nullification? I wouldn't expect much different results with or without a jury although there would probably be a few more convictions.

[qh4dotcom]

The state of New Hampshire is suspending all jury trials for one month citing budget issues:

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-courts22-2008dec22,0,387609.story

If they can get away with doing this for one month, what's to stop them or any state from doing so for good? The Constititution, I know, but since when has that stopped the gov't lately?

Instead of suspending jury trials, New Hampshire should end them sooner. The justice system should be quicker.

[syborius]

just wow....

[Live_Free_Or_Die]

nt

[KenInMontiMN]

In the end if it results in less enforcement to reduce the backlog, its a good thing. Limited, selective, discretionary enforcement used to be right at the center of a much smaller and more efficient justice system that stayed focused on real crime. That's been replaced by the wide-net mentality, that in scattergun fashion has sought to reel in anything and everything into the courtroom. That must end, and will end, we cannot afford to make criminals of the entire populace. We pay double when we do that- both up front in costs of an expanded justice and prison system, and of course after the fact in a thousand different ways that revolve around lost employment and broken families- simply leading more into petty crime out of desperation and increased squalor.

[FreedomFighter8008]

You guys need to watch this video and pay special attention to the trial by jury part. You're either missing the point entirely or you're trolls. At any rate, the information in this video should clear up why this is such a big issue.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6732659166933078950

[Jeremy]

You guys need to watch this video and pay special attention to the trial by jury part. You're either missing the point entirely or you're trolls. At any rate, the information in this video should clear up why this is such a big issue.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6732659166933078950

We're trolls for saying it's a good thing? What if I said you were a troll because you wanted the arresting of victimless people to continue? And yes I have seen Overview of America many times. I'm not sure how it would apply here, but if anything it proves my point. Any state that wants to erode on the civil liberties of people by inventing these victimless crimes shouldn't be able to afford to put them in jail. You, however, are saying the government should raise taxes so more peaceful people could be put in jail for doing nothing wrong?

[driller80545]

uh oh!

[FreedomFighter8008]

We're trolls for saying it's a good thing? What if I said you were a troll because you wanted the arresting of victimless people to continue? And yes I have seen Overview of America many times. I'm not sure how it would apply here, but if anything it proves my point. Any state that wants to erode on the civil liberties of people by inventing these victimless crimes shouldn't be able to afford to put them in jail. You, however, are saying the government should raise taxes so more peaceful people could be put in jail for doing nothing wrong?

Like I said, you're missing the point. There are a lot of other things in the budget that could have been cut, but they chose to cut -- albeit temporarily -- one of our basic Constitutional rights. You guys are muddying up the issue with talk of things that shouldn't be a crime, whether someone should be in jail or not, etc. Yes, I do think there is an issue there, but these things are SEPARATE issues. You don't cut off your hand just because your finger is hurting. Saying that we should give up a basic Constitutional right to "handle" some other injustice is no different.

[Jeremy]

Like I said, you're missing the point. There are a lot of other things in the budget that could have been cut, but they chose to cut -- albeit temporarily -- one of our basic Constitutional rights. You guys are muddying up the issue with talk of things that shouldn't be a crime, whether someone should be in jail or not, etc. Yes, I do think there is an issue there, but these things are SEPARATE issues. You don't cut off your hand just because your finger is hurting. Saying that we should give up a basic Constitutional right to "handle" some other injustice is no different.

No one ever said the right of a trial was being taken away. That was you....

[FreedomFighter8008]

No one ever said the right of a trial was being taken away. That was you....

Did you actually READ the article?! According to the article, the state of NH has suspended all trials by jury for at least a month. Most of you guys are the ones saying this is a good thing. The Constitution states that we have the right to a trial by jury, not just a trial. It's meant to protect us from a lot of the injustices you guys are talking about. Given the route this discussion is taking, it's no wonder that you didn't get how that part of Overview of America would apply here.

[Jeremy]

Did you actually READ the article?! According to the article, the state of NH has suspended all trials by jury for at least a month. Most of you guys are the ones saying this is a good thing. The Constitution states that we have the right to a trial by jury, not just a trial. It's meant to protect us from a lot of the injustices you guys are talking about. Given the route this discussion is taking, it's no wonder that you didn't get how that part of Overview of America would apply here.

So it means if the government is mad at you, they won't worry about it for another month.

[RP4EVER]

No; it hasnt suspended trials or decided not to prosecute people SC....its suspended trials by jury. Which means someone could still be tried; just not by a body of their peers.

[Scofield]

So much for the "Free State Project," I guess?

[OferNave]

So much for the "Free State Project," I guess?

I guess so. Yup. The NH gov did one thing you don't agree with, which means the whole project is one big failure. You hear that, my 646 fellow movers? Let's pack it up and go home to our respective states of origin.

Do you actually think before speaking, or are you just an aggregation of knee-jerk reactions?

[Scofield]

I guess so. Yup. The NH gov did one thing you don't agree with, which means the whole project is one big failure. You hear that, my 646 fellow movers? Let's pack it up and go home to our respective states of origin.

Do you actually think before speaking, or are you just an aggregation of knee-jerk reactions?

Why so defensive? It was a tongue-in-cheek post.

[OferNave]

Why so defensive? It was a tongue-in-cheek post.

....oh. Well, nevermind then. :)

Was that me, or was that ambiguous? Cause I've met countless people who actually behave like that.