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Fully Informed Jury Association

Minutes of the Organizational Meeting
on May 17, 1997 at the North Side Library, Des Moines

Attending the meeting were: John Hartog, Don Burgmaier, Lynn Schulte, Harold Den Besten, Carl Olsen, Billy Allred, Wilma Den Besten, Dell Lawrence, Mike Broughton, Larry Bennett, Pearl Ziebell, Ruth Kabitzke, John Harvey, and William Allred.

Introductions:  Dell Lawrence opened the meeting and asked the members to introduce themselves.  Of note: Wilma Den Besten said that people need to be informed that nothing in the U.S. Constitution requires that a jury's verdict be unanimous; Lynn Schulte said that people need to understand that the jury is the last peaceful check in the government's system of checks and balances; Mike Broughton said that the jury is our representative who's function is to give the government permission to govern.

Treasurer's Report:  The treasurer, Tim Hird, was not present.  John Hartog presented the treasurer's report, reporting $862.98 in the treasury after paying the bill that had been outstanding to Nite Owl Printing.  Billy Allred reported that he was researching the possibility of applying for a grant from Prairie Meadows.

Legislative Report:  Dell Lawrence explained HF 139, a bill to increase jurors' pay from $10 per day to $40 per day, as a means of establishing a presence with the Iowa Legislature and keeping a focus on the importance of the jury.  It was sent to the Legislature's Fiscal Bureau for an estimate of it's cost.  The state of Iowa currently spends $1.2 million on jurors' fees, but expert witnesses are also paid out of the same fund.  Dell hopes to work with Governor Branstad to include funding for a juror pay increase in the next state budget.  Lynn Schulte explained that legislation is not always successful on the first try, but that seeds are planted which may later bear fruit.

John Hartog reported on SF 287 and HF 139, bills which would recognize a defendant's right to inform the jury of their prerogative to judge the law, as well as the evidence.  John said that the Iowa State Bar Association (ISBA) lobbied strongly against the bills.  Of the 15 members on the Senate Judiciary Committee, 6 are lawyers.  Of the 21 members of the House Judiciary Committee, 7 are lawyers.  Andy McKean, chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, appointed a three-person committee consisting of two lawyers and a freshman legislator to consider the senate bill.  John said that our efforts were sabotaged by the lawyers on the two committees and suggested a bill to limit the number of lawyers who could serve on the judiciary committees.  John said we should forget our efforts in the Legislature and concentrate on something else, like TV advertising, although he said we would continue to have bill introduced as long as legislators are willing to introduce them.  Lynn Schulte pointed out that not all lawyers are against us.  He said that two attorneys, Charles Hurley, the former chair of the House Judiciary Committee, and Jeffrey Lamberti, were on our side.

Old Business:  John Hartog asked the members present whether they wanted to spend money on more literature.  No consensus was reached and the matter was deferred to a later time.

Matters of interest:  Mike Broughton described his experiences with Judge Mott in the Jasper County District Court.  Mike recently spent 3 months in the Jasper County Jail in relation to a minor traffic citation.  He was interviewed by the Des Moines Register while he was in jail, and was quoted on the front page of the Des Moines Sunday Register as saying, "Judges think they're little gods."  He had to see Judge Mott the next day on Monday morning.  Mike explained that the gold fringe around the flag in Judge Mott's courtroom was a military flag, and that when he refused to enter the courtroom, he was found in contempt.  He pointed to the flag in our library room, which had no gold fringe, as an example of a peacetime flag.  He explained that it would be similar to seeing a foreign flag in a foreign embassy.  Whatever flag is displayed signifies the law in force within the boundaries of that area.  In the case of a foreign embassy, the United States government releases control of the ground upon which that embassy is built and it becomes a foreign country.  He went on to explain that the United States constitution allows martial law in times of emergency and that the military flag signifies such a state of emergency.  See, for example, U.S. Const., Art. 1, Sec. 9, Cl. 2 (The Privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion the public Safety may require it.).  Under a military flag, the law is whatever the Supreme Commander says it is.  President Clinton would the Supreme Commander under a military flag.  He said that judges swear an oath of allegiance to the Constitution of the United States in the presence of a peacetime flag, and that they are not bound by this oath when displaying the military flag.  He said the exchanging flags relieves them of their obligations under their oath of office.  He said that it is up to the citizen to recognize the significance of the flag which is being displayed.  He suggested carrying your own flag and insisting that the military flag be removed before entering a courtroom.  The peacetime flag is described in Title 4, section 1 of the United State Code.  The military flag, with its gold fringe, is described in 1967 Army Field Manual, section 93-23.  Mike said that we have been living under martial law since the Civil War; Lincoln declared martial law and was shot before he could suspend it.

John Harvey, a member of Victims Of Child Abuse Laws (VOCAL), explained the children are routinely removed from families in Iowa without the benefit of a jury trial.  He explained the Gestapo tactics of the state agencies which administer the CHINA (Child in Need of Assistance) provisions of the Iowa Code.  When these agents come to remove a child, they insist upon the parents' signatures under the threat that the parents may never see the child again unless they sign.  Under Iowa law, all caregivers are required to report non-accidental (John said that the proper word is "intentional") injuries.  Such mandatory reporting has resulted in a tremendous rise in the number of cases reported.  John said that there is no more child abuse, but there is now more reporting of it because of the mandatory reporting law.  Care givers are afraid of under-reporting and losing their professional licenses, so they now report everything.  It is also almost impossible to challenge such reports, because the law gives the care giver immunity for making a report and this has never been challenged.  John said it was easier for care givers to report everything than to take the risk that one out of a thousand was actually abused.  John said that another unpleasant consequence of increased child abuse reporting is that female children have to undergo a test which costs $250 and is very uncomfortable for the child.  He said that some girls are born without hymen, but under the law this is considered evidence of abuse.  John also pointed out that the standard of evidence in child abuse proceeding is a preponderance of the evidence, a standard much less than the standard in criminal court of beyond a reasonable doubt.  He said the child abuse counseling profession has become a cartel because so much money is made from counseling children at risk of being abused.  The new law allows Iowa to take control of children visiting from other states, and increases the original 3 categories of abuse (physical abuse, denial or critical care or neglect, and sexual abuse) to 6 or 7 categories.  He said that whenever illegal drugs are found, this is considered automatic evidence of child abuse.  He said that the level of drugs tolerated in employees who staff the military's nuclear launch facility in Omaha, Nebraska is 300 nanograms, but if a parent has a level of 150 nanograms they lose their child.  He said that the increase in the number of things being considered as child abuse, and the immunity for child abuse reporters, has encouraged irresponsibility and unprofessional behavior.  The taxpayer is paying for all of these court proceedings.  Dr. Randall Alexander, a clinical pediatrician, has made 84 court appearances at $2,000 each.  The state has spent $1.2 million for a few hours of training for 200 social workers.  Other states have begun to restrain child abuse proceedings.  Missouri, for example, now requires probably cause for establishing a child abuse proceeding.  In contrast, Iowa requires only a whim.

Carl Olsen talked about a recent murder trial in Des Moines in which the jury foreman told the Des Moines Register that he had just sent an innocent man to prison for the rest of his life.  The trial judge, Judge Blane, wrote a letter to the jurors criticizing the jury foreman for disregarding an oath of secrecy made by the jurors during their deliberations.  Carl wrote a letter (signed as a member of the Fully Informed Jury Association) to the Des Moines Register criticizing the judge for official interference with the jury foreman's freedom of speech, and asking the voters to remove him from office at the next election.  Carl explained that juries and judges are public servants and that the proper function of the press is to keep the citizens informed.  The Des Moines Register ran an editorial saying the same thing a few days before it ran Carl's letter.

New Business:  Lynn Schulte suggested that an op-ed (opinion/editorial) be prepared for Jury Rights Day on September 5.

Carl Olsen asked for Internet e-mail addresses from any members who have them.  Please let us know how to get in touch.  There's also an international FIJA e-mail list (fija@teleport.com).  To subscribe to the international FIJA list, send a message to Majordomo@teleport.com and in the body of the message, type: subscribe fija (your e-mail address).

The next meeting was scheduled for 10:00 a.m., Saturday, August 23, 1997 at the North Side Library, Des, Moines, Iowa.

Signed,

 

Carl E. Olsen, Secretary

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