Introductions:  Dell Lawrence opened the meeting and asked the members to introduce themselves.  Of note: John Harvey emphasized the importance of introducing juries into the juvenile court system.  Carl Olsen mentioned the article on abolishing unanimous verdicts in the July Reader's Digest.  Nelda Brown said she had recently been called for jury duty.

Minutes of the May 17, 1997 meeting were adopted.  The minutes can be found on the Internet at:

    http://www.commonlink.com/~olsen/FIJA/970517.html
    http://www.calyx.com/~olsen/FIJA/970517.html

Treasurer's Report:  The treasurer, Tim Hird, reported that there was $962.98 in the treasury.  John reported that he had an additional $65, which brought the total to $1,027.98 in the treasury.  The $500 seed money that was originally provided to Iowa FIJA by the national office in Montana was mentioned, but Dell reported that Don Doig has told him not to worry about it.

Activities and Organization Report:  Dell Lawrence reported that others have joined him in writing letters to the editor regarding the jury system.  Howard Lenz and Bob Dostal both wrote letters.  It was suggested that we take advantage of free advertising in the community organization sections of our local newspapers.  It was also suggested that we begin tabling at events, possibly circulating petitions to increase juror pay, particularly at the caucuses in February.

John Hartog discussed an Open Letter that he had written as a form of informational flyer for the media and public.  John wanted to know how much responsibility we should lay on the Iowa Supreme Court and the Iowa Bar Association for the present jury instruction that requires jurors to follow the law as the judge explains it to them.   John's Open Letter was approved for submission to the media as an opinion/editorial piece.

John also mentioned a letter from Larry Dodge asking people to start a 12 by 12 plan by donating $12 to FIJA each month.

Possible activities for Jury Rights Day were discussed.  Possible media contacts were mentioned.  Jeff Greenwood at KCCI-TV Channel 8 was a member of the panel at the National Bar Association's discussion of fully informed juries in 1996.  Phil Scott at WHO-TV Channel 13 seems like a good candidate for press releases, as does Chuck Shockley at WHO Radio.  It was suggested that Carl Olsen fax them a copy of the proclamation that Governor Branstad signed in 1991.  Cable access is available from Dave Leach (Uncle Ed Show) for doing public service announcements.  John Harvey video-taped a news release which was written and announced by Carl Olsen for possible use on the Uncle Ed Show.

Next meeting:  A possible October conference was discussed.  Dick Ziebel can arrange a meeting place at the Norwoodville Elementary School.  The October conference was rejected in favor of putting more effort into the January 1998 conference, which was set for January 7, 1998 at the Des Moines Botanical Center.  John Hartog made the motion, Carl Olsen seconded, and the motion was passed on a voice vote.  A motion to change the date of the January conference to January 17, 1998 was made by Frank Brown, seconded by Lynn Schulte, and then passed on a voice vote.  The focus of the January conference will be on preparation for the February caucuses and a possible legislative questionnaire.  A possible mock trial was also discussed.  The cost of the room is $25 and the deposit is $25.  A fee of 50 cents is charged by the Botanical Center for admission.  It was also moved by Carl Olsen that no more than $100 be spent on the January conference.  The motion was seconded by Lynn Schulte and then passed on a voice vote.

Membership fees:  Membership fees were discussed.  John Hartog suggested that the $25 annual fee was too high and that a $15 annual fee would be more in our league.  The idea was deferred as it would require printing new membership forms.

Literature:  John Hartog said that we were running low on flyers.  He said that the cost for 1,000 of the red, white and blue flyers was $110, or $200 for all three flyers.  The discussion was deferred to the January meeting.  Frank Brown will do an inventory of our existing literature and make a report at the January meeting.

Matters of interest:  Jerry Davis explained his participation in his son's trial for disobeying the seat belt law.  He said that he had set up a law library in a building donated by Roberta Whitson.  The building has a meeting room, a kitchen, a conference room, and will accommodate about 50 people.  There is food and a refrigerator, as well as television and office furniture, if anyone from out of town needs to spend the night.  The focus of the library is three-fold: (1) to accumulate administrative law material regarding child custody rulings by the Department of Human Services; (2) to accumulate literature on alternative medicine; and (3) to accumulate law books such as Bovier's Law Dictionary.  Jerry explained that doctors will not promote anything that doesn't make a lot of money for the medical industry.  He also explained that Black's Law Dictionary is continually revised (for the convenience of those who wish to manipulate the law for their own benefit), and that Bovier's Law Dictionary has only been revised once (1912) since it was first published in 1872.

Jerry explained that his son's trial was taking place in Story County.  Several issues are being raised, such as whether the state has subject matter jurisdiction over sovereign citizens.  Jerry explained that administrative agencies have taken over our constitutional form of government by usurping the power of all three branches of government - agencies make laws, execute laws, and rule on their merits, all without due process.  Jerry explained that the legislature had no authority to vest its powers in these agencies, because the agencies were not elected by the people.  Trial has been set for August 28.

Ruth Kabitski gave a brief explanation of the John Birch Society.  John Birch was a military officer and chaplain who opposed communism and fascism.  The John Birch Society advocates a return to constitutional government.  In the past, Ruth has helped run a booth at the Iowa State Fair.  Some of the questions they asked of fair-goers were:  Which would you choose?  (1) Father God or Mother Earth?   (2) Abortion or Adoption?  She said that John Birch was the subject of a smear campaign and that he was the first person killed in the cold war.  She announced a meeting on Wednesday, September 17, 1997.

Signed,

Carl E. Olsen, Secretary
carl@carl-olsen.com