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To: concretebob; ilovesarah2012
My limited understanding of the Grand Jury process leads me to believe that any citizen in good standing can ask for a Grand Jury to be convened to hear evidence.

Citizens have always had the right to convene a grand jury since the Bill of Rights was enacted in 1791. The Bill of rights are the powers vested to the people. The 5th Amendment specifically references the grand jury but is not referenced in the body of the Constitution where the powers for the three branches of government are detailed. The founding fathers purposely cited the grand jury only in the Bill of Rights to give the people a check and balance against a runaway, corrupt government as we are currently experiencing.

In 1946 the judicial branch attempted to usurp the power of the citizen grand jury by adopting its own set of rules known as the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure. It essentially tried to render the Citizen's grand jury obsolete. Since this time people are under the false impression only a court can convene a grand jury when in fact the opposite is true. Only citizens can convene a grand jury per the 5th Amendment.
3,275 posted on 03/07/2010 4:52:45 PM PST by Man50D (Fair Tax, you earn it, you keep it! www.FairTaxNation.com)
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To: Man50D

When was the last time citizens convened a grand jury?


3,433 posted on 03/08/2010 6:17:22 AM PST by ilovesarah2012
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