This kind of grandstanding behavior in a court is the kind of shit that would make me lose it and tell a judge something that would get the book thrown at me.
“Your purpose was not to be a tourist walking through the Capitol, was it?” Howell asked during a plea hearing for Leonard Gruppo, who pleaded guilty to the petty offense of “parading” in the Capitol. Gruppo said he was not there as a tourist. Howell then refused to accept his plea until Gruppo admitted that he was in Washington on January 6 “as part of a demonstration in support of President Trump.”
How is this anything but a farce? We call this justice? “Make the plea and statements that I tell you to, or else?”
Start working on a good quote now.
“Give me liberty, or give me death?”
“Sic Semper Tyrannis.”
“I regret that I have but one life to give to fight tyranny.”
Something cool. I will have to work on it. You know, for a fictional story I am writing.
11 Comments
Jonathan · August 16, 2022 at 11:00 pm
There are too many judges in this country who believe they are unaccountable to anyone and who do whatever they please in their courtrooms.
I’ve heard stories of judges making up offenses and crimes because they believe certain behaviors should be illegal – lawyers won’t fight them because if they do, a single complaint, of any kind, to the state bar will get their license pulled and livelihood destroyed.
Aesop · August 17, 2022 at 8:29 am
That’s how you get street-corner trail by wire rope.
And we will.
Southernborne · August 17, 2022 at 7:01 am
ephesians 6:10-18
why · August 17, 2022 at 7:07 am
There may be other “consequences” to questioning the “black robes”.
In my small town, one is usually called to jury duty every 3-4 years. My last jury summons was over 10 years ago, on what I considered a BS case against the girl (drug possession). I asked the judge about jury nullification, to hear him roar back “Son, there is NO jury nullification in Texas!” BS!! I was excused and haven’t received a jury summons since.
p · August 17, 2022 at 8:27 am
I’ve only served on a jury once out of the many jury duty summons that I’ve received. The experience of being on a jury (attempted murder trial, several groups of thugs shooting at each other in the street during a “house party” that got out of control) was disappointing mostly.
I learned some things through that which perhaps I had sort of known but not really, perhaps many of you already know it.
They (ie the judge) will not give you all of the facts you need to fairly decide.
The “experts” e.g. the crime scene investigators don’t know their ass from a hole in the ground although they parade around in their uniforms and criminology degrees. I saw that the “expert” CSI didn’t understand and got wrong several times the difference between “bullet”, “cartridge”, and “casing”. The “bullets” do NOT just “drop down out of the gun” when you shoot a semi-auto. That’s an important distinction when you’re trying to argue that jamal was standing here while shooting at daiquan over there.
Kind of makes sense when you think about it though. CSIs get a “Bachelor of Science” in an easy non-technical field. Many of them were probably C students and at best sort of kind of remember some of the science-y bits about as well as any of us remember driver’s ed facts from years ago. Keep that in mind when they start talking about fingerprints, blood spatters, DNA etc.
Kind of like this covid nonsense, it’s mostly bullshit and they’re just saying what they like and most people defer to their expertise and figure they wouldn’t say it if it wasn’t true.
A mostly disappointing experience but I think it’s still a tremendous good thing that any of us citizens still have the opportunity to serve on a jury and to put the brakes on the power of the state to take someone’s freedom and property even if nothing else will.
Each juror has to find his or her own balance between finding the guilty “guilty” and telling the state “no”. From my experience it highlighted the importance of being skeptical of what the state tells you is true, though.
p · August 17, 2022 at 8:31 am
I forgot to get to the point in the post, sorry.
You’ll pay if you make a Patrick Henry comment in court all right, the black robes won’t stand for it.
If you’re on the jury, absolutely use your power of jury nullification, but don’t breathe a hint of that reasoning to the judge.
Just say that the jury finds the defendant not guilty and move on, no matter how slam dunk the prosecution thinks the case was.
Juries are supposed to be the final defense against unjust laws, and the judges seem to hate that.
I’ll have to think about a good last-stand-in-the-courtroom quotes… you’re going to pay for them but you don’t even have shoes to throw then you’ll have to make do with throwing words.
Aesop · August 17, 2022 at 8:28 am
“I didn’t go there to begin any such insurrection, but after that sham banana republic election steal, if you’re now what passes for justice in this misbegotten remnant of a former republic now become an unrepentant full-blown tyranny, God damn me for a fool for not doing the job right when I had the opportunity!“
Chipmunk · August 17, 2022 at 5:26 pm
Now THERE’S a quote worthy of one of the founding fathers.
Jim R · August 17, 2022 at 8:31 am
I understand, your Honor, and I appreciate your providing such a perfect example of the type of behavior you warn against.
Thank you.
Grubered by the Uniparty · August 17, 2022 at 2:47 pm
They didn’t wait until season two of the J6 theater.
Wonder which Grand Old Politburo jobber undercard wrestling chair victim will step up for Dizzy Lizzy?
The CPUSA comrades seem to forget this isn’t Russia 1917-1919 and we aren’t Russians.
Big Ruckus D · August 17, 2022 at 4:20 pm
An authoritarian ideologue posing as a judge. Some surprise that is. Yet again it bears pointing out that depsite the fancy titles and costumes conferred on them, these are mere mortals who can – and should be – dealt with as such for their abuse of power.
And yet the people continue to abide bullshit proclamations and punishments handed down by those with no legitimacy except that which they have declared for themselves.
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