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By Our readers
At the zoo-er, gun show
Re: Michael Klam's story about the Crossroads of the West gun show ["Art & Culture," May 30]. What a sickening hit piece that was. Only in California or New York would that be published. The sly tone of a visitor to the zoo was just about right.
Some years ago, a left-wing radio talk show host (Michael Jackson on KABC) did a whole show on people in Los Angeles who carried a firearm in defiance of the law. Every caller was a woman! It was hilarious. He would be horrified and try to tell them how dangerous it was to carry a gun. He even had the police chief on the show. Then the next caller would be another woman who told him she refused to be a victim. This went on for an hour. He was as clueless as you are. He was gone from the air a year or two later even though he had been on KABC for years. The times had passed him by. Just as the times are passing you by.
Michael Kennedy,
Mission Viejo
Power to the jurors
"If the exercise of constitutional rights thwarts the effectiveness of a system of law enforcement, then there is something very wrong with that system." -Escobedo v. Illinois 378 US 478, (1964)
Of course, this is the thrust of this article ["Cover Story," May 30], but it's not enough just to complain about the unfairness of the system. Since the justice system is funded by the prosecutors' employer, we aren't going to get help from the judges at any level. Look at how they have laid down for the stripping of our "inalienable" rights up to now.
The impression I got was that if one is caught, it's automatic jail time. What was conspicuously absent was any mention of just who was jailing the protesters. It was not the government; it was us. We, as jurors, deciding the fate of the accused, punish our peers, and no one is considering our role here.
Lawyers are trained to demean the status of the jury, and for more than 130 years, they have attempted to gut jury powers. Jurors are routinely misinformed and wrongfully instructed by judges, resulting in verdicts that would not have been reached had the jury been properly informed and instructed in their right to reject both law and fact and to find a verdict according to conscience.
Sounds like a magic bullet-when only one out of 12 can hang the jury and nullify bad laws. How can we take advantage of this possibility? Just look at the Fully Informed Jury Association at www.fija.org and learn all about how juries are actually the fourth branch of government. Not only that, but how to educate jurors to use their power and teach lawyers how to manage judges' resistance.
This is not new and untried. History is full of examples of juries overturning bad law by refusing to enforce it. This is exactly why the government wants to avoid jury trials and move to military tribunals. Trial by jury is the only right mentioned three times in the U.S. Constitution because of its true importance. Thomas Jefferson said: "I consider trial by jury as the only anchor ever yet imagined by man, by which a government can be held to the principles of its constitution."
Why not use the profound tools that are provided rather than try to reinvent the wheel? Violent protest is a dead end, and that is why the founders provided both trial by jury and the petition clause of the First Amendment as alternatives to violence. The government wants us to ignore these and resort to tactics that justify martial law.
Pat Palmer,
Normal Heights
The mayor and his word
On Wednesday, May 23, when CityBeat and Tony Phillips' "Because I Said So" column titled "Laws and order: E-mail exchange reveals all is not well between the homeless and the authorities" hit the newsstands, I was just getting out of the downtown jail after being locked up for three days for illegal lodging.
It was the third time I'd been arrested for Section 647j since the mayor "agreed" to discontinue arresting the homeless for illegal lodging between the hours of 9 p.m. and 6 a.m. What the police did instead was begin arresting homeless people like me on sight-anytime, anywhere-during the day. Sit down on a curb-get arrested. Sit in the park-get arrested. I not only got arrested for 647j in both those places, but they even arrested me for illegal lodging for standing on the sidewalk!
And now, as Tony Phillips' column pointed out, the cops are back again arresting anytime for illegal lodging. Last Thursday, May 31 at 5:30 a.m. the cops began rousting people-including me-at Third and Beech, saying the "old rules" apply again because there was a "complaint" and that we had to move or be taken to jail.
So, something stinks.
One thing that impresses me about my fellow homeless here in San Diego is the fact that although so many don't have much, they still have their pride-they still have a sense of honor. Unlike the mayor, their word is still good for something.
What stinks is a mayor who every day denies people like me equal treatment under the law. What stinks is the mayor closing down the downtown Neil Good Day Center, which was specifically set up for people like me and other homeless folks who need a place to clean up and do laundry. What stinks is a mayor who can't keep his word.
What stinks is Mayor Sanders-he's the bum.
Greg Sullivan,
Homeless
Editor's note: As far as we know, there are no plans to close the Neil Good Day Center.
Got something to say? E-mail us at editor@sdcitybeat.com.
Published: 06/27/2007
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