Free Republic

The Ins and Outs of Jury Nullificationby Jean F. Drew If a juror accepts as the law that which the judge states then that juror has accepted the exercise of absolute authority of a government employee and has surrendered a power and right that once was the citizen’s safeguard of liberty, -- for the saddest epitaph which can be carved in the memory of a vanished liberty is that it was lost because its possessors failed to stretch forth a saving hand while yet there was time. -- Thomas Jefferson The Framers of the Constitution of the United States were...

This article, perhaps more than any other, explains the true foundations of our liberties. NOT FOR SALE!!! Religious liberty was at stake! The judges were furious and William Penn faced life imprisonment! Hungry, thirsty and dirty the GENTLEMEN OF THE JURY decided to sit until death. A corps of turnkeys spread over the streets of London on orders of the King, sending luckier citizens scurrying from sight, and taking into custody the unfortunates who were too surprised to move. Clerks were pulled from their stools, carriages were stopped and passengers forcibly requisitioned. Sixty or seventy Englishmen were collared in swift...

Over the years, I have written a lot on the subject of "Boxing Liberty." Heck, I'm on my "soap box" nearly every week and often write about the ballot box and the cartridge box. Few, however, including me, ever write about our responsibility in the jury box. Let's forget, for a moment, what today's over-zealous and omnipotent judges, prosecutors and lawyers tell us. Instead, let's take a look back at how our law was intended to be administrated and what the roll the citizen was intended to play. In The Federalist Papers No. 62, James Madison admonishes: "It will be...

Except that there's something rather different about this rural corner of England. These riverside fields at Runnymede are reputed to be the setting for one of the most significant moments in UK democratic and constitutional history. The National Trust labels it "the birthplace of modern democracy," while an impressive monument commemorates a "symbol of freedom under law." It was here, of course, that the Magna Carta is said to have been sealed on June 15, 1215 under the title of the "Great Charter."

The anniversary of the signing of the document that established the seeds of Freedom for the individual is this June 15th. It happened in 1215 at Runnymede. All freedom loving people need to honor this August occasion for being the seminal point in the history of the World. Great article. (No linkie because I don't know how to...) It's entitled "Eight Centuries of Liberty"

A peace treaty sealed in Runnymede in 1215, signalling the end of a conflict between King John and barons who were in revolt, has once again got passions running high in Surrey. ...a debate is raging on what to do in the place where the charter -- hailed by some as the foundation of English democracy -- was sealed. Plans to build an £8m visitor centre in Runnymede as a legacy of the anniversary were dropped earlier this year because of lack of funds. Surrey County Council, Runnymede Borough Council and the National Trust have all said they are now...

Henricus Dei gratia rex Anglie, dominus Hibernie, dux Normannie, Aquitanie, et comes Andegavie, archiepiscopis, episcopis, abbatibus, prioribus, comitibus, baronibus, vicecomitibus, prepositis, ministris et omnibus ballivis et fidelibus suis presentem cartam inspecturis, salutem. Sciatis quod nos, intuitu Dei et pro salute anime nostre et animarum antecessorum et successorum nostrorum, ad exaltationem sancte ecclesie et emendationem regni nostri, spontanea et bona voluntate nostra, dedimus et concessimus archiepiscopis, episcopis, abbatibus, prioribus, comitibus, baronibus et omnibus de regno nostro has libertates subscriptas tenendas in regno nostro Anglie in perpetuum. Henry, by the Grace Of God, King of England, Lord of Ireland, Duke of Normandy...

Restored, rare document will go on public display later this month. Starting next week, anyone visiting the U.S. National Archives can gaze at the only original Magna Carta in the United States, thanks, in part, to the work of Iowans. Nestled perfectly beneath the 700-year-old legal document is a sheet of pure white cotton paper, specially made by the University of Iowa’s Center for the Book. “Anyone from the state of Iowa can now go to the National Archives rotunda, get in line, wait your turn, and you can literally lean down your face a foot away from [the documents],”...

Washington (CNN) -- The only original copy of the Magna Carta in private hands worldwide has a fancy new display case at the National Archives, where the document goes on display next month. "This 700-year-old document looks better than ever," said David Ferriero, the archivist of the United States. He said Thursday that the handwritten, fragile parchment will be unveiled February 17. The owner of the display copy was also at Thursday's preview. David Rubenstein, co-founder of the Carlyle Group investment company, said, "it is my privilege as an American to be able to give this back to the Archives...

No freeman is to be taken or imprisoned or disseised of his free tenement or of his liberties or free customs, or outlawed or exiled or in any way ruined, nor will we go against such a man or send against him save by lawful judgement of his peers or by the law of the land. To no-one will we sell or deny of delay right or justice.

Paso Robles, CA -- Their political party lines maybe different but one thing United States presidents could share is their family line. A young girl in California has put together a Presidential Family Tree. Twelve-year-old BridgeAnne d'Avignon found that all the presidents but one are related to King John of England through a common ancestor. "They are all cousins and all grandsons of John Lackland," BridgeAnne told KCOY News. The girl searched more than a half million names for months. She started with George Washington, then traced both the male and female family lines to make the connection. KCOY reports...

During the despotic eras of Norman and Plantagenet England, the Crown declared one third of the land area of Southern England to be the royal forest, the exclusive preserve of the monarch, his forestry officials and his favored aristocrats. The people of Britain were forbidden access to and enjoyment of these forests under harsh penalties. This exclusionary system became so despised by the people that in 1215, five clauses of the Magna Carta were devoted to redress of grievances that are hauntingly similar to those that are now flooding my office. The Royal Forests House Chamber, Washington, D.C. January...

With all due respect to that Iron Lady, former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, a woman I truly admire, human rights did not begin with the Magna Carta as she is quoted in yesterday's commemoration of the anniversary of the document by Robert Morrison. A few thousand years before England's King John signed the Magna Carta against his will and the English were just another group of lawless, warring tribes, the Jews, former slaves who fled Egypt on their way to the Promised Land of Israel, willingly received the Torah at Sinai. Codified and interpreted by generations of rabbis,...

A US worker came within seconds of destroying Lincoln's copy of the Magna Carta after nearly spraying it with a chemical cleaner. The 800-year-old document is currently on display in New York, but almost met a sticky end thanks to an overzealous cleaner. Lincoln Cathedral's archive conservation consultant Chris Woods accompanied the document, spending hours making sure the inked sheepskin which contains the charter of freedom, was placed correctly into a £42,000 vacuum-sealed display case to keep it safe from the elements. And it was, until a lock briefly malfunctioned just as a workman tried to give it a last...

The Magna Carta(The Great Charter)Preamble: John, by the grace of God, king of England, lord of Ireland, duke of Normandy and Aquitaine, and count of Anjou, to the archbishop, bishops, abbots, earls, barons, justiciaries, foresters, sheriffs, stewards, servants, and to all his bailiffs and liege subjects, greetings. Know that, having regard to God and for the salvation of our soul, and those of all our ancestors and heirs, and unto the honor of God and the advancement of his holy Church and for the rectifying of our realm, we have granted as underwritten by advice of our venerable fathers, Stephen,...

NEW YORK -- A rare 710-year-old copy of the Magna Carta, among the most important historical documents ever to hit the auction block, sold for US$21.3 million Tuesday at Sotheby's. The document was bought by a Washington businessman who said he was determined to see it remain in the United States, where it has been on display at the National Archives and Records Administration since 1988. The last remaining copy in the United States and the last in private hands, the Magna Carta, one of 17 known to exist, was sold by The Perot Foundation, created by billionaire former U.S....

The 1297 copy of the Magna Carta is the only one in private ownership A rare copy of the Magna Carta has been sold for £10.6m ($21.3m) in an auction at Sotheby's in New York.The copy dating from 1297, one of only 17 still in existence, was bought by US businessman David Rubenstein. The auction item had been owned by American billionaire Ross Perot's Perot Foundation since 1984 and was on view at the National Archives in Washington. The original Magna Carta was sealed by King John of England in 1215 and enshrined civil rights in English law. 'Temporary...

A 13th-century copy of the Magna Carta, a milestone of English freedom, will be offered for sale in New York in December, Sotheby's auction house said Tuesday. The vellum manuscript owned by the Perot Foundation is estimated to sell for $20 million to $30 million, Sotheby's said. The document was on display at the National Archives in Washington for more than 20 years until last Thursday. King John was forced by barons to agree to the charter in 1215. It guaranteed that freemen would not be imprisoned or deprived of property without due process, including a right to a speedy...

Preamble: John, by the grace of God, king of England, lord of Ireland, duke of Normandy and Aquitaine, and count of Anjou, to the archbishop, bishops, abbots, earls, barons, justiciaries, foresters, sheriffs, stewards, servants, and to all his bailiffs and liege subjects, greetings. Know that, having regard to God and for the salvation of our soul, and those of all our ancestors and heirs, and unto the honor of God and the advancement of his holy Church and for the rectifying of our realm, we have granted as underwritten by advice of our venerable fathers, Stephen, archbishop of Canterbury, primate...