The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), won a case against Jammie Thomas, a Minnesota resident, Ojiibwa tribe native and mother of two. The fine of $220,000 plus legal fees made Ms. Thomas not only the first individual in the U.S. convicted in trial of music piracy, but a striking reminder of how justice can be perverted when large corporations seek to make an example of individual citizens with less means to defend themselves. Is the 8th Amendmend of the United States Constiutution ignored in today's legal system? It reads:
"Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted."
As much as the Jena 6, this case brought attention to unequal prosecution in America, the Jammie Thomas case shows our courts are increasingly neither fair, or just. The freedoms we hold dear are in peril, and it can only be hoped this is appealed on 8th Amendment grounds, to the U.S. Supreme Court if needed. Towards that end, we encourage donations at http://freejammie.com.
Sunday, October 07, 2007
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Free Speech and the Taser Incident
Sentator Kerry's website invites comments on this topic, but doesn't post any of them. Therefore, I submit my post to the Senator here:
One website expressed a view I've heard over and over as the incident becomes a free speech debate. The view was that intervening -- telling the officers to STOP isn't something a politician would do, but it's what a man would do. I do not know what kind of man you are, sir, but I voted for you in 2004. I wasn't naive to think of you as some sort of hero, but I believed you had the courage of your convictions, and would do more to safeguard the Consitutional freedoms we hold so dear. I was deeply troubled that none of that courage surfaced when it was tested by this seemingly innocuous event. I remember Kent State. This was not it, but you saw the face of Fascism only a few feet away, and blithly turned away.
One website expressed a view I've heard over and over as the incident becomes a free speech debate. The view was that intervening -- telling the officers to STOP isn't something a politician would do, but it's what a man would do. I do not know what kind of man you are, sir, but I voted for you in 2004. I wasn't naive to think of you as some sort of hero, but I believed you had the courage of your convictions, and would do more to safeguard the Consitutional freedoms we hold so dear. I was deeply troubled that none of that courage surfaced when it was tested by this seemingly innocuous event. I remember Kent State. This was not it, but you saw the face of Fascism only a few feet away, and blithly turned away.
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