Reply With QuoteI can only hope that there's evidence of criminal activity not mentioned in the article that justifies this action. Note that a Grand Jury is being convened. I hope this isn't just the authorities attempting to squelch dissent.
i don't even know where to point the finger on this one, but boy does it stink...
http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories...StoryID=216707
Feds win right to war protesters' records
By RYAN J. FOLEY, Associated Press
Last updated: 9:25 p.m., Saturday, February 7, 2004
DES MOINES, Iowa -- In what may be the first subpoena of its kind in decades, a federal judge has ordered a university to turn over records about a gathering of anti-war activists.
In addition to the subpoena of Drake University, subpoenas were served this past week on four of the activists who attended a Nov. 15 forum at the school, ordering them to appear before a grand jury Tuesday, the protesters said.
Federal prosecutors refuse to comment on the subpoenas.
In addition to records about who attended the forum, the subpoena orders the university to divulge all records relating to the local chapter of the National Lawyers Guild, a New York-based legal activist organization that sponsored the forum.
I can only hope that there's evidence of criminal activity not mentioned in the article that justifies this action. Note that a Grand Jury is being convened. I hope this isn't just the authorities attempting to squelch dissent.
Welcome to the New World Order and remember our slogans:
WAR IS PEACE
FREEDOM IS SLAVERY
IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH
Brought to you by the Ministry of Truth, creators of Operation Iraqi Freedom and the FCC's Operation More Media in Fewer Hands Means More Diverse Expression.
This is something that sounds sinister but could be totally legit, so I'd wait and see what happens. For all we know, somebody at the anti-war meeting called the FBI afterwards and said the people at the meeting were planning to blow up a building. Let's wait and see what happens before we go calling the United States a dystopia.
Surprisingly, the article I found with the most background on what this was all really about was on the Fox News site.
[size=1](Surprising since Fox News typically seems to be the Pravda of the current administration...)[/size]
Denny, I think you posted the same AP story that I originally linked to...Finally found a little more info:
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2004/2/8/20217/87619
caveat: this is from an affected party, so bear that in mind. again, it's not clear what exactly is going on or if there is anything untoward, but it seems like it's a story that all americans should keep a careful eye on.
I don't pretend to know anything about grand jury investigations, but here is the part that really freaks me out:
"The proceeding will be behind closed doors. We may not have an attorney present. We have the right to plead the Fifth Amendment, refusing the answer questions that might incriminate us. The government, then, can offer us immunity from prosecution, in which case we will obliged to answer under threat of contempt of court and could be imprisoned for the length of the Grand Jury session, 18 months, should we continue to refuse to answer. This immunity would be limited to our own testimony and anything any of us say could be used against the others."
Are there any legal types in the forum who can comment?
This is how grand juries work in the US; there is nothing particularly new here.Originally Posted by chumpface
Yeah, everything the guy said was completely normal, except that he lied about not being able to have counsel. You can have counsel when you're a witness before the Grand Jury. Your lawyer just can't be in the room. But he or she can be in the hall outside, and anytime you want to you can ask for a break to consult with your attorney.
The Grand Jury is just a rubber-stamp process and prosecutorial investigative tool, which is why many states have done away with them.
Man, what a bizarre spinning of the grand jury process. It makes the offer of immunity sound like a sinister scheme by The Man.
That quote is in the tone of someone being oppressed or subjected to horrors. Hasn't that hippy seen an episode of Law and Order?
Posting Permissions