Jan. 6: Pass the Fair Trial Act

 

balanced scales justiceFree the Jan. 6 political prisoners and break the rigged, corrupt deep state. Any politician or political coalition running on this plank has a real chance to win a congressional majority in 2022 and then a governing majority in 2024. The intermediate objective of breaking the deep state, and the deeper objective of restoring our constitutional republic, with its real protections against government oppression, will be advanced by a Congress exercising its constitutional authority to fundamentally reform our federal judiciary. Serious candidates and advocacy groups will press for a short, simple piece of legislation, call it the “Fair Trial Act,” abolishing the District of Columbia Circuit, dispersing the case load among federal district courts located in competitive legislative districts. This simple reform has been entirely overlooked by conservatives complaining about the stacked legal deck. Time to see more clearly and demand real reform now.

Free the Jan. 6 Political Prisoners

Despite the worst efforts of the Democrat propaganda machine (print, network, and social media), a plurality of Americans see the Americans held without bail, denied effective counsel, kept in grossly substandard conditions, and denied speedy trials as political prisoners. This should be easy for career politicians seeking to get in front of a popular position with the electorate. Yet, the silence from the Republican congressional parties in the House and Senate has been deafening. We must demand better of every primary candidate, starting with the anniversary of that infamous day.

Jan. 6, 2021, is truly infamous because of the real insurrection, the legal insurrection of the deep state carried out in likely planning, inciting, and leading the so-called attack on the U.S. Capitol. Real reporters, real journalists, have bravely excavated more and more evidence supporting this interpretation of events. It is no longer credible, if it ever was, to blame former President Donald Trump and Make America Great Again supporters. There is already too much evidence of FBI assets caught on camera, named without their true names, then not imprisoned, not pursued, not persecuted or prosecuted. The FBI and Department of Justice have too much bad history. Real, credible journalists have written in Revolver, the Federalist, American Greatness, and Real Clear Investigations.

At the same time, the treatment of ordinary Americans who entered the halls of Congress to protest, as Democrat assets have done for decades, stands in marked contrast to the treatment of leftist front groups who burned, looted, and attacked local, state, and federal officers and buildings for the whole summer of 2020. The current occupant of the office of the vice president ostentatiously contributed to a bail fund for these real criminals. Yet, the bipartisan national leadership supports the unconstitutional denial of reasonable bail for, at most, misdemeanors, and the equally unconstitutional and deeply unjust denial of a speedy trial. The left is so emboldened that the Democrat J6 vigil was organized by a left-wing activist behind violent disruptions of the Trump inauguration and assault on Sen. Rand Paul’s family.

The American people are not fooled by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell-Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer or House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. They see the gross injustice being done in their names and properly call the real victims political prisoners. Rasmussen asked the question in September 2021.

Organizers of a September 18 rally in Washington, D.C., say protesters arrested during the January 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol are being held as “political prisoners.” Do you agree or disagree?

The results defied the worst efforts of the media, McConnell-Schumer, and McCarthy-Pelosi.

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone and online survey finds that 49% of Likely U.S. Voters agree that protesters arrested during the January 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol are being held as “political prisoners,” including 30% who Strongly Agree. Forty-two percent (42%) disagree, including 33% who Strongly Disagree.

Julie Kelly and Glenn Greenwald have done the work any real journalist should have done. Together with Revolver, they have shown that the “insurrection” was most likely a “#Fedsurrection.”

Following their hard work, we see a handful of junior Republican members of Congress daring to ask the hard questions and raise the reasonable inference about the real character of the J6 event.

Break the Rigged, Corrupt Deep State

We have all witnessed the gross corruption, the weaponization of the intelligence and law enforcement apparatus, enabled by the contemptible courts, both the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act and federal district judges in the District of Columbia Circuit. We all know how the FBI and DOJ sought to prevent and then negate the election of Trump. Everybody knows the system has been highly responsive to Democrats and utterly resistant to Trump, even more so than to former President George W. Bush. The courts are no check, indeed they are enablers.

The D.C. Circuit’s geographic jurisdiction ensures that each and every jury trial will be stacked against any opponent of the left, as the jury pool comes exclusively from a population that always votes Democrat and does so overwhelmingly. Accordingly, a Republican attorney general is confronted with a huge lift to try to build any case against members of the deep state, knowing that taking a case to trial means putting the outcome in the hands of hardcore Democrat partisans. Additionally, the left has long understood that this was the most important federal circuit to stack with judicial political partisans.

A Fair Trial Act Would Even the Playing Field

Republicans should appeal to Americans’ basic belief in fairness. This is not a partisan issue. It is fundamentally American to sort through potential jurors so that the panel does not prejudge the case. The right to a jury trial is meaningless if juries are effectively rigged. There is a long-standing process by which a party may request a change in venue to get a fair jury. Yet, this cannot possibly be a routine maneuver if a particular court or circuit is to retain legitimacy.

Given the extreme politicization of our society, and the alignment of people into Team Blue and Team Red, we should look for the overlap of federal district court boundaries and competitive legislative districts, “purple” districts. The last biennial election, presidential or midterm, provides a clear map easily overlaid by federal district court geographic boundaries.

Retain or create a small administrative staff, a District of Columbia clerk, under the supervision of the U.S. Supreme Court, with the limited duty and authority to maintain a strict rotational roster, assigning cases as they come to the next eligible district court around the nation. This both limits the burden on any given jurisdiction and strips away the ability to start cultivating judges, corrupting them into complicity with the DOJ and FBI.

Given the record of the D.C. courts, the bill eliminating the circuit should also make all members ineligible for any reassignment to other circuits. If possible, and this should be pressed hard, the judges should be made to apply to Congress for approval of any pension, since they have no more assignment. Yes, there is a provision in Article 3, Section 1 of the U.S. Constitution granting life tenure “during good behavior.” Yet, the issue is unresolved whether Congress, which has the authority to create and abolish federal courts below the Supreme Court, can eliminate judges by eliminating their office. I suspect the Supreme Court would have a hard time defending lifetime paid employment for judges whose offices were eliminated. Nor do I think there would be much public sympathy for these black-robed lawyers whose comfortable, secure jobs were eliminated.

Article III, Section 1 The judicial Power of the United States, shall be vested in one supreme Court, and in such inferior Courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish. The Judges, both of the supreme and inferior Courts, shall hold their Offices during good Behaviour, and shall, at stated Times, receive for their Services, a Compensation, which shall not be diminished during their Continuance in Office.

Section 2 [ . . . ] The Trial of all Crimes, except in Cases of Impeachment, shall be by Jury; and such Trial shall be held in the State where the said Crimes shall have been committed; but when not committed within any State, the Trial shall be at such Place or Places as the Congress may by Law have directed.

The J6 political prisoners were only arrested because the FBI and DOJ knew the relevant courts are rigged in the government’s favor. The D.C. Circuit confirms this confidence daily with the continued unconstitutional abuse of these Americans. The courts must be severely disciplined. Cozy sinecures must be ended. Let George Soros, Bill Gates, and Mark Zuckerberg pick up the tab, providing the disgraced former jurists openly leftist positions in the university or nongovernmental organization world.

The J6 political prisoners are only the latest and potentially most politically potent example. Republicans cannot be allowed to continue shrugging or making empty speeches about the stacked, unfair system. Congress has the power to make and unmake courts and to regulate where cases will be heard when the matter happens outside any state, like in the District of Columbia. It is time to enact equal justice, to insist on federal courts leading with fair trials, starting with unbiased juries and judges.

Published in Domestic Policy
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  1. Rodin Member
    Rodin
    @Rodin

    “Like” a thousand times. We are living a travesty. It must end.

    • #1
  2. Kevin Schulte Member
    Kevin Schulte
    @KevinSchulte

    If only the Republicans in DC were on our team. Hell, Ted Cruz has defected. 

    Sweet meteor of death. Visit DC so we can start over. 

    • #2
  3. DonG (CAGW is a hoax) Coolidge
    DonG (CAGW is a hoax)
    @DonG

    This is a needed reform.   The DC “justice” does not comply with the Bill of Rights and is completely corrupted.   When they shut down the DC courts, they should fire those judges, not transfer them.   Their “lifetime” appointment just got transferred to the new North Slope, AK court.  Buh bye.

    • #3
  4. GrannyDude Member
    GrannyDude
    @GrannyDude

    Here’s what I wrote to my mostly-woke but not-woke-enough-for-the-left  colleagues today:

    I suppose I am expected to be pleased that Nancy Pelosi held a moment of silence for dead police officers yesterday. She read the following names: Brian Sicknick, Howard Liebengood, Jeffrey Smith and Billy Evans. All four deaths are tragic. But none of these officers were killed by 1/6 rioters.  Brian SIcknick died of a stroke the day after the riot. Howard Liebengood and Jeffrey Smith both committed suicide. I’d be willing to discuss whether the events of 1/6 contributed indirectly to the deaths of these men.  But Capitol Police Officer Billy Evans was, in fact,  murdered…. in April, 2021 when a black male named  Noah Green,  an enthusiastic follower of Nation-of-Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, deliberately rammed his vehicle into Evans and another officer at a Capitol Police barricade. He then leaped out of the car,  brandishing a knife, and was shot dead by other officers. Evans died, the other officer was hospitalized with serious injuries. Mr. Green, rather obviously, had nothing whatever to do with the Stop The Steal riots. Let me ask you: Is it credible that Pelosi’s office doesn’t know how Evans died? Or that the President (or at least his staff) didn’t know when they made their own reference to the fallen heroes of Just-As-Bad-As-9/11? How about Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker, who recited the same list—Evans was a Massachusetts native.   I’ll repeat, in case it wasn’t clear enough the first time: Democrat House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other leaders of the Democratic party yesterday honored  four dead police officers, holding a moment of silence for them as part of their memorializing of the January 6th riot. Pelosi (et al)  did not name the cause-of-death. The four officers were Brian Sicknick (stroke) Howard Liebengood (suicide) Jeffrey Smith (suicide) and Bily Evans (murdered by a Muslim four months later.)  Why did she not name the cause of death?Why did she include Billy Evans?  This is, very simply, a lie. Not a mistake. A lie.  What is the purpose of this lie?  

     

    • #4
  5. Clifford A. Brown Member
    Clifford A. Brown
    @CliffordBrown

    GrannyDude (View Comment):

    Here’s what I wrote to my mostly-woke but not-woke-enough-for-the-left colleagues today:

    I suppose I am expected to be pleased that Nancy Pelosi held a moment of silence for dead police officers yesterday. She read the following names: Brian Sicknick, Howard Liebengood, Jeffrey Smith and Billy Evans. All four deaths are tragic. But none of these officers were killed by 1/6 rioters. Brian SIcknick died of a stroke the day after the riot. Howard Liebengood and Jeffrey Smith both committed suicide. I’d be willing to discuss whether the events of 1/6 contributed indirectly to the deaths of these men. But Capitol Police Officer Billy Evans was, in fact, murdered…. in April, 2021 when a black male named Noah Green, an enthusiastic follower of Nation-of-Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, deliberately rammed his vehicle into Evans and another officer at a Capitol Police barricade. He then leaped out of the car, brandishing a knife, and was shot dead by other officers. Evans died, the other officer was hospitalized with serious injuries. Mr. Green, rather obviously, had nothing whatever to do with the Stop The Steal riots. Let me ask you: Is it credible that Pelosi’s office doesn’t know how Evans died? Or that the President (or at least his staff) didn’t know when they made their own reference to the fallen heroes of Just-As-Bad-As-9/11? How about Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker, who recited the same list—Evans was a Massachusetts native. I’ll repeat, in case it wasn’t clear enough the first time: Democrat House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other leaders of the Democratic party yesterday honored four dead police officers, holding a moment of silence for them as part of their memorializing of the January 6th riot. Pelosi (et al) did not name the cause-of-death. The four officers were Brian Sicknick (stroke) Howard Liebengood (suicide) Jeffrey Smith (suicide) and Bily Evans (murdered by a Muslim four months later.) Why did she not name the cause of death?Why did she include Billy Evans? This is, very simply, a lie. Not a mistake. A lie. What is the purpose of this lie?

     

    Well said. The purpose of the lie is permanent power over us.

    • #5
  6. Psmith Inactive
    Psmith
    @psmith

    Everyone has forgotten 1954 when four Puerto Rican nationalists went into the Capitol Building and shot and wounded five Congressmen, one seriously. They were all sent to prison, but Jimmy Carter commuted their sentences in 1978-79.

    • #6
  7. Kevin Schulte Member
    Kevin Schulte
    @KevinSchulte

    GrannyDude (View Comment):

    Here’s what I wrote to my mostly-woke but not-woke-enough-for-the-left colleagues today:

    I suppose I am expected to be pleased that Nancy Pelosi held a moment of silence for dead police officers yesterday. She read the following names: Brian Sicknick, Howard Liebengood, Jeffrey Smith and Billy Evans. All four deaths are tragic. But none of these officers were killed by 1/6 rioters. Brian SIcknick died of a stroke the day after the riot. Howard Liebengood and Jeffrey Smith both committed suicide. I’d be willing to discuss whether the events of 1/6 contributed indirectly to the deaths of these men. But Capitol Police Officer Billy Evans was, in fact, murdered…. in April, 2021 when a black male named Noah Green, an enthusiastic follower of Nation-of-Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, deliberately rammed his vehicle into Evans and another officer at a Capitol Police barricade. He then leaped out of the car, brandishing a knife, and was shot dead by other officers. Evans died, the other officer was hospitalized with serious injuries. Mr. Green, rather obviously, had nothing whatever to do with the Stop The Steal riots. Let me ask you: Is it credible that Pelosi’s office doesn’t know how Evans died? Or that the President (or at least his staff) didn’t know when they made their own reference to the fallen heroes of Just-As-Bad-As-9/11? How about Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker, who recited the same list—Evans was a Massachusetts native. I’ll repeat, in case it wasn’t clear enough the first time: Democrat House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other leaders of the Democratic party yesterday honored four dead police officers, holding a moment of silence for them as part of their memorializing of the January 6th riot. Pelosi (et al) did not name the cause-of-death. The four officers were Brian Sicknick (stroke) Howard Liebengood (suicide) Jeffrey Smith (suicide) and Bily Evans (murdered by a Muslim four months later.) Why did she not name the cause of death?Why did she include Billy Evans? This is, very simply, a lie. Not a mistake. A lie. What is the purpose of this lie?

     

    Let us know the response ? If they give you one. 

    • #7
  8. GrannyDude Member
    GrannyDude
    @GrannyDude

    Kevin, one guy is already “flipped” and red-pilled: He just wrote (in so many words) “Amen.” 

    I got this response back just now: 

    “Jesus. Even when they pray, Democrats are lying. I would express some exasperation and dismay at criticizing a prayer vigil, but it’s what most of us have learned to expect from conservatives, particularly when it comes to religion. After all, their sense of moral superiority is only exceeded by their claims to religious superiority.”

    I caught myself starting to respond to the second and third sentences…something along the lines of: “Do you have a concrete example of conservatives exhibiting moral and religious superiority while telling a lie, one that is akin to the one I’ve just given you about Democrats?” But for once I didn’t let myself get sidetracked into defending conservatives. Instead, I asked: “Okay, so why did Democrats tell his particular lie?” 

     

    • #8
  9. Western Chauvinist Member
    Western Chauvinist
    @WesternChauvinist

    I thought cruel and unusual punishment was already prohibited. . .

    • #9
  10. Jerry Giordano (Arizona Patriot) Member
    Jerry Giordano (Arizona Patriot)
    @ArizonaPatriot

    I am very skeptical of the claims about mistreated political prisoners.  I do not have time to investigate the issue.  My impression is that these claims are unreliable.  I do know, from watching the video, that there was quite a bit of real, criminal, outrageous violence perpetrated by rioters at the Capitol on January 6.  There were also many apparently peaceful protesters present.  It is complicated.

    • #10
  11. Tikhon Olmstead Inactive
    Tikhon Olmstead
    @TikhonOlmstead

    Psmith (View Comment):

    Everyone has forgotten 1954 when four Puerto Rican nationalists went into the Capitol Building and shot and wounded five Congressmen, one seriously. They were all sent to prison, but Jimmy Carter commuted their sentences in 1978-79.

    (SSShhhhhh! Doesn’t fit the narrative! Didn’t you get the memo?)

    • #11
  12. Gazpacho Grande' Coolidge
    Gazpacho Grande'
    @ChrisCampion

    Jerry Giordano (Arizona Patrio… (View Comment):

    I am very skeptical of the claims about mistreated political prisoners. I do not have time to investigate the issue. My impression is that these claims are unreliable. I do know, from watching the video, that there was quite a bit of real, criminal, outrageous violence perpetrated by rioters at the Capitol on January 6. There were also many apparently peaceful protesters present. It is complicated.

    If all of the above was true, why haven’t they been tried and sentenced yet?  Why is no one charged with insurrection, yet it keeps being called that?

    Why?

    • #12
  13. The Reticulator Member
    The Reticulator
    @TheReticulator

    Gazpacho Grande' (View Comment):

    Jerry Giordano (Arizona Patrio… (View Comment):

    I am very skeptical of the claims about mistreated political prisoners. I do not have time to investigate the issue. My impression is that these claims are unreliable. I do know, from watching the video, that there was quite a bit of real, criminal, outrageous violence perpetrated by rioters at the Capitol on January 6. There were also many apparently peaceful protesters present. It is complicated.

    If all of the above was true, why haven’t they been tried and sentenced yet? Why is no one charged with insurrection, yet it keeps being called that?

    Why?

    I am suspicious that they don’t want any trials. All the convictions so far have been done without the cases going to trial, haven’t they? I don’t trust such convictions.  

    • #13
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