"I do not pretend to understand the moral universe; the arc is a long one, my eyes reaches but little ways; I cannot calculate the curve and complete the figure by the experience of sight; I can divine it by conscience. And from what I see I am sure it bends towards justice." - Theodore Parker (1853)
This force is now expanding exponentially and is being applied at an ever-increasing and alarming tempo. (America currently enjoys the distinction of having the highest per-capita incarceration rate of any country in the world. At the end of 1999 one of every 110 men and of every 1,695 women were incarcerated. One in every 32 adults in the United States was behind bars or on probation or parole by the end of 2001, according to a government report that found a record 6.6 million people in the nation's correctional system. Growing at a rate of about 900 inmates each week between mid-2003 and mid-2004, the nation's prisons and jails held 2.1 million people, or one in every 138 U.S. residents. Hundreds of new laws are being passed every year by city, county, state, and federal governmental institutions and we are told that ignorance of these laws is no excuse.
Many a person in our country has found himself
or herself arbitrarily, wrongfully, and unjustly accused and prosecuted for a violation of some statutory law where there has been no injurious harm to the life, liberty, or property of another person. For too many their first encounter with the "just-ice" system is an eye-opening and frightening experience where the dollar reigns, corruption is rampant, and real justice is all too often denied.
Those who are not able to afford justice and/or fight the corruption often find themselves imprisoned and deprived of their God-given Liberty and Freedom. Looking for a way out of their unjust confinement and personal hell, a few have been fortunate to find a fellow prisoner who, out of necessity and the unlawful imprisonment of their own person, have taken it upon themselves to research and become acquainted with law, legal procedure and the rights of free individuals. You can find these prisoners who are well read and versed in law, criminal court procedure, and the rights of the accused, in almost every jail, prison, and courtroom in our land. Often they can be found in their "cells" spending themselves in reading what legal materials and related books they have managed to gather and drafting and writing motions, writs and other legal documents, in an effort to appeal their unjust and illegal convictions. They are not spending themselves for greed or profit as most of their counterparts that are taught in one of the many bar-approved law schools. They are intensely involved in a much higher pursuit. Theirs is a personal pursuit for Liberty and Justice and oftentimes not only for themselves but others as well. In jails, prisons and courtrooms all over this land you may chance to meet one of these Legal Knights. They are well known on both side of the bars as the jailhouse lawyer.
To obtain a video tape of
THE JAILHOUSE LAWYER'S 4 hour Seminar ($125) or a copy of THE JAILHOUSE LAWYER'S Criminal Self Defense Manual ($145) please send a postal money order only to: Scott Thurston, C/o P.O. Box 373, Juliaetta, Idaho 83535. THE JAILHOUSE LAWYER'S Seminar Video
and THE JAILHOUSE LAWYER'S Criminal Self Defense Manual will give Pro Se litigants and legal laymen valuable and useful knowledge that will help equip them to do strategic battle in the courts. Learn how to demand your rights and defend yourself when you are falsley and/or wrongfully accused.
LIBERTY - (Lat. liber, free; libertas, freedom, liberty). Freedom from restraint. The faculty of willing, and the power of doing what has been willed, without influence from without. - Bouvier's Law Dictionary (1856)
liberty, n. {OFr.liberte; L. libertas (-atis),
freedom, from liber, free.}
1. freedom or release from slavery, imprisonment,
captivity, or any other form of arbitrary control. - Webster's New Twentieth Century
Dictionary 2nd Ed. (1993)
Natural liberty is the right which nature gives to all mankind of disposing of their persons and property after the manner they judge most consistent with their happiness, on condition of their acting within the limits of the law of nature and so as not to interfere with an equal exercise of the same rights by other men.1 Bla.Com.125. - Ibid.
"The natural liberty of man is to be free from any superior power on Earth, and not to be under the will or legislative authority of man, but only to have the law of nature for his rule." - Samuel Adams
"Rightful liberty is unobstructed action according to our will within limits drawn around us by the equal rights of others. I do not add 'within the limits of the law' because law is often but the tyrant's will, and always so when it violates the rights of the individual." - Thomas Jefferson
Personal liberty consists in the power of locomotion, of changing situation, of removing one's person to whatever place one's inclination may direct, without imprisonment or restraint unless by due course of law. 1 Blackstone's Commentaries 134 ; Hare, Constitution__. 777; Bouvier's Law Dictionary, 1914 ed., Black's Law Dictionary, 5th ed.
Civil Liberty is defined by Sir William Blackstone to be "that of a member of society, and is no other than natural liberty so far restrained by human laws (and no further) as is necessary and expedient for the general advantage of the public."
"We the People of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America."
Proclaim Liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof. - Leviticus 25:10
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, Liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, that whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness."
"Experience should teach us to be most on our guard to protect Liberty when the Government's purposes are benificient....The greatest dangers to Liberty lurk in insidious encroachment by men of zeal, well-mening but without understanding." - Justice Brandeis in Olmstead v. U.S., 277 US 438, 479 (1927)
"Where the spirit of the Lord is, there is Liberty". - (2 Cor. 3:17)
"Those who framed our Constitution and the Bill of Rights were ever aware of subtle encroachments on individual Liberty. They knew that 'illegitimate and unconstitutional practices get their first footing.... by silent approaches and slight deviations from legal modes of procedure.'"
"The history of Liberty has largely been the history of the observence of procedural safeguards." - Justice Felix Frankfurter in McNabb v. U.S., 318 US 332, 347 (1943)
"Procedural fairness and regularity are of the indespensible essence of Liberty." - Justice Robert Jackson in Shaughnesy v. U.S.,345 US 206, 224
(These last three quotations from our U.S. Supreme Court explain why most of the Bill of Rights are procedural in character. They protect society, as well as the accused, against law enforcement excesses that taint the government. - TJL)
"Whatever 'Liberty' may mean today, the Liberty guaranteed by our bill of rights is a reservation to the individual of certain fundamental reasonable expectations involved in life in civilized society and a freedom from arbitrary and unreasonable exercise of the power and authority of those who are designated or chosen in a politically organized society to adjust relations and order conduct, and so are able to apply the force of that society to individuals. Liberty under law implies a systematic and orderly application of that force so that it is uniform, equal, and predictable, and proceeds from reason and upon understood grounds rather from caprice or impulse or without full and fair hearing of all affected and understanding of the facts on which official action is taken." Roscoe Pound - "The Development of Constitutional Guarantees of Liberty", (Pg. 1)
"They that can give up essential Liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither Liberty nor safety."
"Those who won our independence believed thAt the final end of the State was to make men free to develop their faculties; and that in its government the deliberative forces should prevail over the arbitrary. They valued Liberty both as an end and as a means. They believed Liberty to be the secret of happiness and courage to be the secret of Liberty .
There's a clear cause-and-effect here that is as neat and predictable as a law of physics: As government expands, Liberty contracts.
"Educate and inform the whole mass of the people... They are the only sure reliance for the preservation of our Liberty ."
" Liberty , when it begins to take root, is a plant of rapid growth"
JUSTICE - The constant and perpetual disposition to render every man his due. Justinian, Inst. b. 1, tit. 1; Co. 2d Inst. 56. - Bouvier's Law Dictionary (1856)
"Justice is the end of government. It is the end of civil society. It ever has been, and ever will be pursued, until it be obtained, or until Liberty be lost in the pursuit."
"The best antidote for crime is Justice. The irony we often fail to appreciate is that the more Justice people enjoy, the fewer crimes they commit. Crime is the natural offspring of an unjust society."
"That no free Government, or the blessing of Liberty, can be preserved to any people but by a firm adherence to Justice..."
"To no one will we sell, to no one will we refuse or delay right or Justice."
"Justice will not be served until those who are unaffected are as outraged as those who are."
THE JAILHOUSE LAWYER'S FAVORITE LEGAL QUOTATIONS
FROM THE UNITED STATES SUPREME COURT
MORE QUOTATIONS FROM THE JAILHOUSE LAWYER
THE JAILHOUSE LAWYER'S CASELAW COLLECTION
[ This page is currently under construction. Please check back from time to time as I will be posting more cases periodically. - (TJL) ]
BRIEFLY ABOUT BUILDING PERMITS
Is a person required by law to contract with a political subdivision (county) and open their door for an inspection of their private dwelling? (See Appeal Issue No 4)
THE JAILHOUSE
LAWYER'S BOOKSHELF
[These are some books I have read and highly recommend. - TJL]
JUDICIAL IMMUNITY REVISITED
Originally a letter from THE JAILHOUSE LAWYER to Ron Branson. Ron is the founder of the nationwide organization know as "JAIL4judges" THE JAILHOUSE LAWYER discusses the issue of judicial immunity and the need to return the Judicial branch of government to the original constraints as outlined in the Federal Constitution.
NETWAR (From the November 2002 Idaho Observer)
THE NATURAL CURES WEBSITE THEY DON'T WANT YOU TO KNOW ABOUT
"ONE NATION UNDER GOD" ???
A letter from THE JAILHOUSE LAWYER to a local newspaper editor. A stinging commentary regarding the notion that we are "ONE NATION UNDER GOD".
"Marbury v. Madison Celebrates 200 Years as the Law of the Land"
(March 2003) - "Marbury V. Madison celebrates its 200th Birthday this year and has received little to no attention. I believe the words written by this nations highest court in this landmark case are worthy of our attention and consideration." - TJL
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Retired Arizona Judge Reveals Corruption in Legal System Judge Molloy wrote a book that was published in 2004 a few years before he died in 2008. He was apparently suffering from cancer at the time, and perhaps knew his remaining time on earth was short. The title of the book is: The Fraternity: Lawyers and Judges in Collusion, published by Paragon House. It is an amazing expose on just how corrupt the American Judicial System is today.
THE WOLF IS AT THE DOOR !
An excerpt from the best-selling book entitled: "From Freedom to Slavery" written by America's most successful trial attorney,Gerry Spence.
[ If you are the least bit concerned about the erosion of rights in this country, I urge you to read this most relevant commentary regarding the times in which we live. - TJL ]
THE
JUST DEFENCE OF John Lilburne
THE BATTLE FOR LIBERTY - (An awesome picture!)
Shelli Jones Baker of Oklahoma painted a vision she received on July 4, 1987. Beginning on July 9, she spent 1500 hours painting acrylic on four canvas panels totaling 4 by 8 feet.
"But the fundamental rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, considered as individual possessions are secured by those maxims of constitutional law which are the monuments showing the victorious progress of the race in securing to men the blessings of civilization under the reign of just and equal laws, so that, in the famous language of the Massachusets Bill of Rights, the government of the commonwealth 'may be a government of laws and not of men.' For, the very idea that one man may be compelled to hold his life, or the means of living, or any material right essential to the enjoyment of life, at the mere will of another, seems to be intolerable in any country where freedom prevails, as being the essence of slavery itself."
"The erosion of a nation's concern for life and for individual rights, has always preceded the intrusion of tyranny."
"I believe there are more instances of the abridgement of the rights of the people by the gradual & silent encroachments of those in power than by violent & sudden usurpations."
"And yet the same revolutionary beliefs for which our forebears fought are still at issue around the globe--the belief that the rights of man come not from the generosity of the state, but from the hand of God."
"For the principal aim of society is to protect individuals in the enjoyment of those absolute rights, which were vested in them by the immutable laws of nature; but which could not be preserved in peace without the mutual assistance and intercourse, which is gained by the institution of friendly and social communities. Hence it follows, thay the first and primary end of human laws is to maintain and regulate these absolute rights of individuals."
"By the absolute rights of individuals we mean those which are so in their primary and strictest sense; such as would belong to their persons merely in a state of nature, and which every man is entitled to enjoy whether out of society or in it." - Ibid.
"The sacred rights of mankind are not to be rummaged for, among old parchments, or musty records. They are written, as with a sun beam, in the whole volume of human nature, by the hand of the divinity itself; and can never be erased or obscured by mortal power."
free, a.; {ME. free, freo; AS. freo, frio, frig,
free.}
1. (a) not under the control of some other
person or some arbitrary power; able to act or think
without compulsion or arbitrary restriction; having
liberty; independent;
(b) characterized by or resulting from
liberty.
2. (a) having, or existing under a government that does
not impose arbitrary restrictions on the right to speak,
assemble, petition, vote, etc.; having political liberty;
as a free people; (b) not under control of a
foreign government.
3. able to move in any direction; not held, as in chains,
etc.; not kept from motion; loose.
4. not held or confined by a court, the police, etc.; acquitted.
5. not held or burdened by obligations, debts, discomforts,
etc.; unhindered; unhampered.
6. not confined to the usual rules or patterns; not limited
by convention or tradition...... - Webster's New Twentieth Century Dictionary 2nd Ed.
(1983)
(We are not free; when over 50% of our hard earned money is stolen by fraud, via income taxes (freedom from excessive taxation) to support a central government bureaucracy gone mad; when we can't travel on "free-ways" or public roads and streets (freedom of mobility) without a drivers license, vehicle registration and insururace.(freedom of contract); when the nation's police are more of a threat to life, liberty and property than so-called "common criminals". (freedom from fear and arbitrary oppression) - TJL)
"If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, go home from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains set lightly upon you, and may posterity forget ye were our countrymen."
"The only freedom which deserves the name is that of pursuing our own good in our own way, so long as we do not attempt to deprive others, or impede their efforts to obtain it. Each is the proper guardian of his own health whether bodily, mental, or spiritual. Mankind are greater gainers by suffering each other to live as seems good to the rest."
"I want for our country enough laws to restrain me from injuring others, so that these laws will also restrain others from injuring me. I want enough government, with enough constitutional safeguards, so that this necessary minimum of laws will be applied equitably to everybody, and will be binding on the rulers as well as those ruled. Beyond that I want neither laws nor government to be imposed on our people as a means or with the excuse of protecting us from catching cold, or of seeing that we raise the right kind of crops, or of forcing us to live in the right kind of houses or neighborhoods, or of compelling us to save money or to spend it, or of telling us when or whether we can pray. I do not want government or laws designed for any other form of welfarism or paternalism, based on the premise that government knows best and can run our lives better than we can run them ourselves. And my concept of freedom, and of its overwhelming importance, is implicit in these aspirations and ideals."
"Find out just what the people will submit to and you have found out the exact amount of injustice and wrong, which will be imposed upon them; and these will continue until they are resisted with either words or blows, or with both. The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppress."
