http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/02/27/grand-jury-refusers-katherine-olejnik-and-matthew-duran-are-free Comments On: Grand Jury Refusers Katherine Olejnik and Matthew Duran Are Free by Brendan Kiley en-us Copyright 2013 The Stranger. All rights reserved. This RSS file is offered to individuals, The Stranger readers, and non-commercial organizations only. Any commercial websites wishing to use this RSS file, please contact The Stranger. webmaster@thestranger.com (The Stranger Webmaster) Thu, 23 May 2013 00:00:01 -0700 Thu, 23 May 2013 17:30:00 -0700 Foundation http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss
What the state has no business doing is holding people indefinitely without charge, trial, or sentence. That's unacceptable for any crime, be it murder, drug trafficking, and, yes, even crimes so foul, grotesque, and unspeakable as ...refusing to say whether or not you know a guy who knows a guy who reads the same books as a guy who threw a brick at a window once.

Anything allowing the state to do so, legally and legitimately, is an unfortunate kink in our legal system that needs to be fixed. In any case, their incarceration is a waste of resources AT BEST.

For those of us who aren't that perfect mix of 2 parts idiot + 1 part asshole, this isn't exactly rocket science.

For the rest of you, I hope someday you'll pull your heads out of your asses and start requiring some actual standards for a system that's supposed to be tasked with prioritizing the prosecution of criminal activity.


Posted by Bonefish]]> Sun, 03 Mar 2013 19:43:42 -0800 The Stranger
And yet they are free.

How did that happen?
Posted by robotslave]]> Sat, 02 Mar 2013 23:20:19 -0800 The Stranger Since any review (and what happened to get them out is nothing more than a review and is NOT a trial) takes place AFTER the incarceration it doesn't affect what I typed. They were not charged in any formal sense and there was absolutely NO trial before they were incarcerated. The prosecutors were pissed that these people were not cooperating with their witch-hunt and the judge went along with them. They were not being questioned about the broken glass incident. They were being questioned about the beliefs of people that MAY have been involved in the broken glass incident along with questions about their own political beliefs.
Posted by Romial]]> Sat, 02 Mar 2013 21:07:20 -0800 The Stranger
Ease up, man, comparisons like that make you look bloodthirsty.

I do agree with those who say solitary confinement was excessively cruel* in this case, and is also cruel generally, even though I tend not to agree with any of the arguments they strap onto those observations.

* and probably counterproductive, given the refusers' apparent thirst for grandstanding.
Posted by robotslave]]> Sat, 02 Mar 2013 14:16:57 -0800 The Stranger Posted by guest42351]]> Sat, 02 Mar 2013 10:07:25 -0800 The Stranger
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9wnlK2nRK…
Posted by Ken Mehlman]]> Sat, 02 Mar 2013 09:09:04 -0800 The Stranger
And yet the Grand Jury refusers are free. How did that happen?

Surely it must have been due to something outside the Amerikkkan legal system, yes? It couldn't possibly have been brought about by lawyers and evil judges following a bunch of horrible stupid fascist rules and procedures and laws, could it?
Posted by robotslave]]> Fri, 01 Mar 2013 23:22:13 -0800 The Stranger
Gee... last time people got that fried for stuff like that the hearings were held by senator joe mccartney. You know, the guy that called everyone a communist and got them blackballed in every industry he could. He would have been proud of the judge and the federal prosecutors in this case. Hell the judges in the Salem witch trials would be proud of this case.
Posted by Romial]]> Fri, 01 Mar 2013 21:33:26 -0800 The Stranger But our federal system has a wrinkle that allows it to imprison people (for long periods of time) who haven't been charged with a crime.

Right. That "wrinkle" entails charging those who refuse their obligation to testify with civil contempt. If that charge is upheld in court, they are imprisoned. If not, they aren't.

That's the process by which witnesses are compelled to testify. That's what happened here.
Posted by seandr]]> Fri, 01 Mar 2013 15:39:00 -0800 The Stranger
Yes, and given that, I must say it's difficult to imagine Maddie Pfeiffer referring to themselves with any pronoun other than "we."
Posted by robotslave]]> Fri, 01 Mar 2013 07:33:59 -0800 The Stranger Posted by Brendan Kiley]]> Fri, 01 Mar 2013 00:56:00 -0800 The Stranger Posted by The English Language]]> Thu, 28 Feb 2013 19:07:10 -0800 The Stranger Posted by Brendan Kiley]]> Thu, 28 Feb 2013 18:00:23 -0800 The Stranger
Each time I read the comments, I get so upset about how many people here (in Seattle, no less) just want people to suffer. I moved here from Florida 6 years ago to get away from that kind of ignorance and insanity, and still, even here, people care more about punishment and status quo than about people or the world or, like, a chance of even having a world that doesn't suck.

I guess there's something to say for online comments not being the best representation of people, though.
Posted by vegancookies]]> Thu, 28 Feb 2013 17:36:40 -0800 The Stranger Posted by rockabillykitten]]> Thu, 28 Feb 2013 14:46:14 -0800 The Stranger
e.g. "The third grand jury refuser, Maddie Pfeiffer, is still in prison, but their attorney did not join the motion to file for their release."
Posted by respectful]]> Thu, 28 Feb 2013 14:15:59 -0800 The Stranger Posted by giffy]]> Thu, 28 Feb 2013 13:19:17 -0800 The Stranger Posted by bhowie]]> Thu, 28 Feb 2013 13:11:30 -0800 The Stranger
Ah, so you're speaking of the "actual likelihood" of mainstream liberals establishing a totalitarian dictatorship in the US.

Glad we cleared that up.
Posted by robotslave]]> Thu, 28 Feb 2013 13:04:27 -0800 The Stranger
Now let's argue about the impending coup led by Bob Avakian--just as relevant.
Posted by bhowie]]> Thu, 28 Feb 2013 12:57:34 -0800 The Stranger
The question as pertains to dictatorship is whether or not a given subculture has decided that such cadres should be considered a legitimate component of a properly functioning society.

Your own affinity group might not tolerate the ninja-suited goofballs, but there are at least some left-radical affinity groups out there that do tolerate or even celebrate this secret-cadre-based, erm, "morality encouragement."
Posted by robotslave]]> Thu, 28 Feb 2013 12:42:30 -0800 The Stranger
Yes, they are real too. All five of them. They are pathetic and if you actually see them as any kind of real threat to you then you are just as pathetic.


Posted by bhowie]]> Thu, 28 Feb 2013 12:32:05 -0800 The Stranger actually seen a liberal! Totally different, then.

I guess those uniformed, anonymous paramilitary cadres meting out punishment for perceived immoral behavior, and accountable to no-one but themselves, are just some sort of digital video trickery, then.

Special effects and vague stereotypes, that's what they are. That's why I've never heard mention of them in a General Assembly, I reckon.

Posted by robotslave]]> Thu, 28 Feb 2013 12:28:27 -0800 The Stranger Posted by bhowie]]> Thu, 28 Feb 2013 12:21:26 -0800 The Stranger Posted by robotslave]]> Thu, 28 Feb 2013 12:20:07 -0800 The Stranger