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19/5/09
For
refusing to sell his soul to the devil animal advocate Jordan Halliday was
jailed for contempt, now they're holding him for knowing his legal rights!
Life on the front line for a young campaigner seeking changes in the way
people treat animals and each other.
Today was Jordan Halliday's hearing regarding his Grumbles motion. In a
nutshell and in simplified terms, a Grumbles motion states that someone
being held in civil contempt of court for not testifying will never testify,
no matter what, so continuing to hold them serves no legitimate purpose
for the court. Civil contempt detention can never be punitive - meaning
we're doing this simply as a tit for tat punishment - but rather only coercive,
to induce testimony. If the inducement of testimony is apparently impossible,
then the person must be release.
First,
Jordan 's mother took the stand. She testified to the fact that Jordan is
a deeply principled person who has been vegan since age 12 despite her pleadings.
She characterized him as firm and at times stubborn, but always on his deep
philosophical beliefs. She said that she has no doubt that Jordan will not
testify, and said
that even she tried to change his mind on this.
Then
Jordan took the stand. Jordan has had pretty inadequate nutrition for over
two months in jail now and he looked rather pale. It was very emotional
for all of us to see him in this shape. He was chained and shackled - like
a full-blown terrorist. His hands were cuffed and then chained to his shackled
ankles. He was in his prison clothes. As though he's a violent maniac.
To cut to the chase: The judge ruled against Jordan in his Grumbles motion
and expressed willingness to hold him for the statutory maximum term (18
months). Jordan, his friends, and his family are all now coming to grips
with the very real possibility that Jordan will be held in jail until September
13, 2010. Jordan , predictably,
is still holding firm against this shameful pillar of tyranny in our "democratic"
nation.
Here was the judge's reasoning, by the way. Through internet records and
text messages (obtained through national security wiretaps, by the way),
the prosecution showed that Jordan did prior research on grand juries upon
receiving his subpoena, including going to the No Compromise website and
their info on grand jury proceedings. It also showed that he knew of the
"Grumbles" motion in advance, long before he was ever found in
contempt. Judge Campbell basically stated that she believes that since he
always knew he might get out on a Grumbles motion, that the government hasn't
exercised its full coercive power. So she is going to take it to the fullest
extent and extinguish any hope that he get out on a Grumbles motion. So,
in other words, Jordan 's prior legal research and his knowledge of his
own legal rights was used against him in court. The fact that he knew the
legal process, knew his rights, and knew that there was a possibility that
Grumbles would release him demonstrated that he wasn't yet fully coerced
into testifying.
Nothing will change with Judge Cambell's decision today - he will surely
continue to take a principled stand against the government's abuse of power
and disruption of social justice movements that try to disrupt the status
quo. Jordan is truly an incredibly stand up person and I'd encourage any
animal activist out there to write him
letters in jail to continue voicing support for his stance and do whatever
they can to show that he has support from the animal rights movement. See
the POW section for Jordan 's address.
Jeremy