The Free Thought Project – by John Vibes
Eau Claire County, Wisconsin – According to multiple recent media reports, Eau Claire County police officers were sent out onto the street to select people at random and forcibly take them in for jury duty.
Ironically, after these people were threatened and had their day wasted, the judge in the case decided that the jury was unfit and dismissed all of them!
“We did talk about cases like this where a number of people have to go out and get people summoned to the jury,” Eau Claire County Sherriff Ron Cramer told reporters.
Susan Schaffer, Eau Claire County Clerk of Courts was the official who gave the orders, saying that the Wisconsin Statute on “Insufficient Jurors” allows them to forcibly pull people off the street to serve in juries.
“It’s something that doesn’t happen very often. It just so happened that today was a day that we just needed more. The court can order the Sheriff to get people right off the street,” Schaffer said.
According to WEAU, that is exactly what Eau Claire County police officers did. The officers reportedly aproached people at random on the street, asked them their age, if they were a resident of the town, and if they had a felony conviction. Depending on the answers they gave the officer, they were told that they had no choice but to go to the court house and serve on a jury.
The Sheriff’s Department was instructed to “physically” bring in people for jury duty, unless they gave the officers their information and promised to drive themselves to the court house themselves.
“I gave a couple of them rides home, and they thought that it was a very interesting process they’ve never heard of the before, but the judge did explain why they were taken off of the street so they could move on with the trial,” Sheriff Cramer said.
After all of that frustration and bullying the jurors weren’t even selected, and the entire situation proved completely pointless.
John Vibes is an author, researcher and investigative journalist who takes a special interest in the counter culture and the drug war. In addition to his writing and activist work he is also the owner of a successful music promotion company. In 2013, he became one of the organizers of the Free Your Mind Conference, which features top caliber speakers and whistle-blowers from all over the world. You can contact him and stay connected to his work at his Facebook page. You can find his 65 chapter Book entitled “Alchemy of the Timeless Renaissance” at bookpatch.com.
Read more at http://thefreethoughtproject.com/cops-randomly-pick-people-street-force-serve-jury/#I3QsVDcYpg8zmRbI.99
If this were to happen to me , I would definitely not be on the courts side in any case
In fact I would be sure to be the only hold out
I live less than 30 miles from Eau Claire, WI. It’s a good thing I didn’t decide to go get groceries in Eau Claire last week.
In the old days this would have been considered impressment or in the more common vernacular “shang-hied”. Seems a poor way to impress people with their civic duty. I’ve served on Grand Juries and had I known then what I know now i’d have refused. The courts as screwed up as the rest of the system and I, personally, no longer feel any sense of duty towards them.
Id nullify any case in this situation.
REMEMBER
YOU are NOT required to answer questions. When these cops approached and asked people these questions they did not require a reply. These people consented to being interrogated and thusly conscripted into service for the court. NOT the defendant. The court.
I live in Morganton, NC. Went to the Post Office about 2 months ago and there were 4 Burke County Sheriff vehicles there. I ask a person on the way out WTH. He told me that the cops were handing out notice to appear for jury duty and told the people, if you do not show up, we will be arrested. FUNNY thing, they did not take names or address of the people they handed the notices to, I wonder how many took the treath and showed up.