Friday Open Thread

15 thoughts on “Friday Open Thread”

1. 'Tis brilliq.

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   1. Yeah…but I ain't seen a slithey tove all morning.

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2. AP News reported on the "We Build the Wall" trial.  Jury deliberations appear to be … unusual.

   Earlier Thursday, 11 jurors said in a note to the judge that they were unanimously requesting that one juror be replaced by an alternate juror because the juror had shown anti-government bias and had accused all the others of being liberals.

   In their lengthy note, the jurors told Torres that the juror had said things such as “government witch hunt” and accused the government of bringing the case in New York City because it “knew people here vote differently.” The note said the juror added that the trial “should have been tried in a southern state.”

   The jurors also accused the juror of saying: "[Defendent] Tim Shea is a good man. He doesn’t beat his wife.”

   So, what's a little jury nullification in the civic space of America?  And I'm wondering just how widespread the conservative's "good man" standard is.

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   1. I don't think this qualifies as "jury nullification".

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      1. No, nor is it likely to reach nullification if there are 11 jurors who want to convict.

         Probably a mistrial with much more careful jury selection next time.

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      2. Well, there is the "Fully Informed Jury Association," an advocacy group which describes it funciton as: "FIJA empowers jurors to uphold individual rights and liberty by instilling in them a rich understanding of their protective role, including jurors’ right to refuse to enforce unjust law." Their website explains: 

         In what can be said to be a milder form of jury nullification, some of the jurors, or even just one in most cases, can hang the jury by maintaining a Not Guilty verdict even though they believe the defendant broke the law. There is no requirement that jurors must come to a unanimous verdict. If the jury cannot unanimously agree on a verdict of either Guilty or Not Guilty, this is known as a hung jury. When further deliberation clearly will be unproductive, the judge will declare a mistrial. The prosecution may or may not retry the case in the future, but the law has at least been nullified in the trial at hand.

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   2. Alternate juror #1, please report back to the court room!

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3. Lock her him up!! Lock her him up!! 
    

   Former Trump adviser Peter Navarro indicted on contempt of Congress charges

    

   Navarro, 72, was indicted by a federal grand jury on Thursday for contempt after snubbing a subpoena from the House committee investigating Jan. 6 seeking testimony and documents.

   Court documents indicate that the government requested that Navarro’s indictment be sealed until his “arrest operation is executed.” The U.S. Attorney’s Office told NBC News that Navarro “is in custody pending the court appearance” later Friday.

    

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   1. Sadly, not any time soon…..

      Another day, another contempt citation. Put this one in the stack with all of the others referred to the DOJ for prosecution. Someday, perhaps, Merrick Garland will get around to it.

      Unfortunately, come January, the new House will vote to rescind all the contempt citations and probably vote to give each cited individual a medal or a cash prize.

      Why don’t they just vote on a direct contempt and have the House sergeant at arms take Navarro into custody and put him in the House jail.

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      1. This *is* the DOJ acting. Navarro was arrested and is in jail awaiting a bond hearing.

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         1. Sweet! Mug shot or perp walk video, please!

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            1. Sorry … I've not been able to find any release of video or even images of the actual arrest.   But there is an amusing account at Talking Points Memo

               And, as a bonus, apparently Mr. Navarro represented himself in court today, and a couple of stories I read said he is planning to represent himself throughout the matter's further steps.

               Fun closing sentence at TPM:  "After his release, Navarro continued the rant outside the courthouse for the TV cameras.  MSNBC cut away, with a host saying he could only take so much “bug eyed gibberish.”"

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         2. OK, but isn't Bannon also being prosecuted by the DOJ? And when is Bannon's trial scheduled for?

            Question:  Hypothetically, if the House were to vote to rescind the contempt citation in January, does the DOJ prosecution go away?

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            1. Bannon's trial for contempt is now set for July 2022. 

               I'm not an attorney … but it seems to me that the actions of the current House cannot simply be erased by the next.  With a referral to the DoJ, the decision becomes a matter for the DoJ to determine. 

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      2. There is some question about the extent of jurisdiction of the Sergeant at Arms.  And even if the arrest was made, since there is no House jail, it would be difficult to put him there.

         Since Inherent contempt has not been used for 80-plus years, prior to legislation establishing procedures for civil and criminal contempt, no one seems certain what the courts would do when someone was grabbed and then there was a habeas corpus petition. 

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