FIGHT BACK!
THE TOP METHODS OF REASSERTING YOUR FREEDOM

(Illustration below)



1. Exercise your power to judge the facts and the law: serve on a jury whenever you can
   "Justice may depend upon your being chosen to serve, so here are some 'words to the wise' about how to make it through voir dire, the jury selection process: You may feel that answering some of the questions asked of you would compromise your right to privacy. If you refuse to answer them, it will probably cost you your chance to serve. Likewise, if you 'talk too much'--especially if you admit to knowing your rights and powers as a juror, as explained below, or that you have qualms about the law itself in the case at hand, or reveal that you're bright, educated, or are interested in serving! So, from voir dire to verdict, let your conscience be your guide.

   Nothing in the U.S. Constitution or in any Supreme Court decision requires jurors to take an oath to follow the law as the judge explains it or, for that matter, authorizes the judge to 'instruct' the jury at all. Judges provide their interpretation of the law, but you may also do your own thinking. Keep in mind that no juror's oath is enforceable, and that you may regard all 'instructions' as advice."
   
   
   RELATED INFORMATION
   

2. Jurors have the power to ignore a judge's instructions and vote their conscience
   "... That is why very few lawyers or law professors, only some judges, and practically no school teachers know about jury veto power: it's 'not part of the curriculum'. Few history books give juries the credit they're due--for stopping the Salem witch trials, for overturning slavery in state after state before the Civil War, and for ending Prohibition--all by refusing to convict because they thought the law itself was wrong. *** "

   "Yet to this day, trial jurors retain the right to veto, or 'nullify' bad laws, though they are rarely told this by the courts. Prosecutors and judges try to exclude people from serving on juries who admit knowing they can judge the law, or who have doubts about the justice of the law. This destroys the protections jurors were supposed to be able to invoke on behalf of fellow citizens against unjust prosecutions: how can our right to a trial by an impartial jury be met if those with any qualms about the law are excluded from serving?"
   
   
   RELATED INFORMATION
   

3. Bureaucrats and judges try to extinguish right to jury trials
   "The authors of the United States Constitution considered the right to trial by jury -- more accurately, the prohibition on government taking away a citizen's life, liberty or property without the unanimous consent of a randomly chosen citizen jury -- so important that it's the only right to which they devoted two of the first 10 amendments."
   
   
   
4. Outraged by police brutality? Exercise your 1st Amendment rights and demonstrate at the officer's house! (And bring a videocamera and lots of witnesses!)
   "'...we are out here doing what we think we need to do," said Nathaniel Livingston Jr., a leader of the group. 'We feel like [the officer] should not be able to run away and hide in his suburban apartment. There has to be some type of consequences, even if it is something like public protest.' *** Several members of the Woodlawn Police Department, including Chief Walter Davis, watched Saturday's protest. *** Officers directed traffic around the marchers, forced to protest in the street because there is no public sidewalk in front of Officer Depodesta's home."
   
   
   
5. COPWATCH.COM GRAFITTI
   Perhaps the most effective means of addressing the problem of bad cops is to focus public attention on this site. In an apparent effort to accomplish this objective, various unknown parties have initiated an underground movement to create "COPWATCH.COM" graffiti in a wide variety of public spaces. Although the ubiquity of such graffiti may prove very beneficial in reducing the frequency of police misconduct, we have been advised by our legal department that we cannot recommend this activity to anyone, because the creation of graffiti is a crime in most jurisdictions. Please don't engage in this activity.
   
   
   
6. TWO WOMEN SHOW HOW TO BEAT THE "DENVER BOOT"
   "Within minutes they had deflated the tyre, changed the wheel for a spare and driven off into the South Gosforth sunset without paying a penny - and still in full possession of the clamp."
   
   
   
   Illustration courtesy of "Maryland Speedster".
   We count ourselves extremely fortunate to be the beneficiaries of this magnanimous artist.
   
   

7. FORCE the police department to answer your questions, even if they don't want to!
   An automatic, fill-in-the-blank public-records request generator
   One of the most effective means of obtaining relevant information from police departments (including, for example, information regarding disciplinary procedures, statistics, and etc), is to submit a public records disclosure request. Such a request forces the agency to respond, and provides legal sanctions (including the awarding of attorney's fees and monetary damages), for failure to comply.

   The best example of how this technique can be used to force accountability upon the police is found on the website Justicefiles.org. This site contains a wide variety of "personal" information regarding hundreds of police officers in the Puget Sound region of Washington State. All of this information was obtained via the Washington State public disclosure law, (supplemented with data purchased from commercial information brokers). It goes without saying that the cops are infuriated by this website.

   Most police departments are loath to release documents which may embarrass or incriminate them, and often attempt to improperly resist disclosure. Even the submission of a completely innocuous public records disclosure request often causes a police department a great degree of agitation and concern.

   Utilize this "automatic letter generator" to create a properly phrased and formatted request for public records held by a state or local agency. The form prompts you to input the appropriate information in the appropriate context, and generates an authoritative and professional request.

   Unless you have a good reason to do otherwise, address your request to the head of the department or agency (e.g. the Chief of Police, the County Sheriff, etc.). They will then ensure that the request is routed to the proper individual.

   You MUST send the letter via certified mail, return-receipt-requested. It is absolutely crucial to send the letter in this manner. (Be sure to save the certified mail receipt and the return receipt in a safe place).

   Alternatively, you may hand-deliver it (but if you do, you MUST bring two copies and have them both receipt-date-stamped by the receptionist: give them one copy, and keep the other yourself). ALWAYS keep a copy for yourself, because you will have to prove what you delivered, and when you delivered it.

   If you do not hear back from the agency within the time specified by the letter, contact an attorney.
   
   

COPWATCH.com

Help copwatch fight police brutality. Bad cops must be prosecuted. Police corruption is a major problem- copwatch will root it out. Dirty cops threaten the criminal justice system. Police misconduct is an epidemic. Police abuse innocent citizens all too often. Police harassment is a frequent occurrence. The blue wall of silence protects bad cops, and police culture must be reformed. Deviant cops must be fired. Police deviance cannot be tolerated. Last year saw a bad cop arrested for rape, a dirty cop charged with extortion, police corruption involving drug distribution, a criminal cop jailed for brutality, a disgraced police chief sentenced for domestic abuse, a convicted sheriff guilty of theft, moonlighting police disciplined for misconduct, convicted cops fired for sexual assault, a guilty cop suspended for harassment, a discredited cop charged with perjury, and a law enforcement officer suspended from duty for being on the take. Police corruption is common across the country. Such activities are a disgrace to the badge, and dishonor the uniform, so the offending cop was forced to turn in his badge. Subsequent reports revealed a state patrol officer investigated for arson, a highway patrol officer indicted for fraud, a state trooper jailed for assault, a top cop ousted for brandishing his weapon, a Police Sgt. fired for bribery, (while another Police Sergeant quit the force), a Police Lt. pressured to resign (the Lieutenant is accused of murder), child-molesting police, and a Police Commander crashed his squad car in a high speed pursuit. The police department engaged in a coverup to hide evidence of misconduct, refusing to release relevant public records and public documents, despite the open records law and the submission of a public disclosure request. Finally, Serpico breaks ranks. As the bad cops close ranks, good police put their lives on the line, while an overzealous county mounty (or mountie) is an embarrassment to the force. An ex-cop turns in his gun. Learn how to prevent police brutality. The Police Benevolent Fund manufactures support for the police department- a department under fire amid accusations of misconduct. The Police Guild negotiates a new contract for its members. The Police Union demands raise in overtime pay. Funds are increased with the seizure of drug money. Forfeiture proceedings are instituted, and the police seize the property of alleged drug dealers, including cars, homes, planes, real estate, guns, and drugs. At the same time, police raise funds for charity and participate in public service programs. Community policing resulted in ride-along programs for local citizens, and increased participation in police Explorer programs. But the broken-window, zero-tolerance program is difficult to evaluate. A gun-buyback program was successful, with cops collecting a variety of firearms, including assault rifles, handguns, Saturday night specials, automatic weapons, shotguns, tec-9, glocks, taurus, S&W, .45 caliber, .44 caliber, .357 caliber, 9mm, all military style. The guns were auctioned off or melted down. BATF agents were investigating the sale of handguns. The FBI conducted a background check, so citizens interested in the militia movement attended gun shows, where they were able to purchase handguns from vendors. Issuance of a concealed weapons permit was allowed, and this gun permit allowed the man to use his handgun for concealed carry in a shoulder holster. The national law enforcement memorial fund is a beautiful tribute to the boys in blue who have made the ultimate sacrifice. To serve and protect is their honorable motto. Duty and honor is another. The LAPD scandal tarnishes public perception of police officers. Police brutality is a major issue in minority neighborhoods. Neighborhood watch programs were quite effective in reducing crime statistics and increasing neighborhood safety. Cops shoot suspect, and then the cops shoot suspect again. The suspect is wounded, and then the suspect dies in police custody. This pattern is called custody death syndrome. Positional asphyxiation is often blamed for the death of prisoners, after the prisoners are pepper-sprayed, maced, beaten, handcuffed, and thrown in the back of a police car. Suicide by cop is another term that is becoming popular, as police seek to blame the victim and excuse their unprofessional behavior. These police cover-ups are ineffective, and police brutality is found to be the cause of death. Cops and robbers is a nice game, but when the cops kill or fatally wound a suspected robber, the circumstances are often suspicious. Many cops are drug abusers, some police are drug addicts, many officers are alcoholics. Cops on steroids often exhibit roid rage. Police brutality and racial profiling are two issues that often arise at major metropolitan police departments. Bill Sheehan created a website revealing the social security numbers, home addresses, and home telephone numbers of Kirkland Police Department (KPD) officers. SPD info was scheduled to go live on April 1st. Civil rights abuses probed. Officer convicted of drunk driving. Man killed in police raid. At the N30 demonstrations, cops without nametags beat nonviolent protestors without provocation. The direct action network, DAN for short, was created in response. During the Mardi Gras or Fat Tuesday celebrations in Seattle, a roving gang of black thugs beat Kris Kime to death as he was attempting to assist an injured women, and the police stood by and did nothing. This murder is on the hands of Mayor Paul Schell, who refuses to prosecute the perpetrators for hate crimes. Some people have argued that a database of bad cops should be developed. Many authoritative academic studies examine the psychological profile of police officers. There are many deviant police officers. Some police departments foster a culture of police deviance. Where is a free punk music concert? Kids like to thrash on their skateboard. Snowboarding, or boarding, is enjoyed by straightedge skinheads. RATM is phat. The swat team, equipped with military gear, broke down the door and swarmed into the apartment with guns drawn. Dynamic entry police raids are dangerous to citizens. Police brutality is a growing problem.