WHAT IS THE TRUE MEANING OF THE FIFTH AMENDMENT?
by Sharon Rondeau
(Jul. 9, 2013) — The Editor of The Post & Email will be a guest on the Wiley Drake radio show at 8:45 p.m. EDT/5:45 PDT on Tuesday evening to speak about citizens’ access to grand juries.
Grand juries were once an investigative body which would gather and examine evidence to decide whether or not a presentment should be issued to charge a person with a crime. Their examinations included the conduct of elected and appointed government officials.
Today’s grand juries, however, bear very little resemblance to those of the Colonial era through the early 20th century. In 1946, Congress amended the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure to declare grand jury presentments “obsolete.” While unable to amend or abolish the Fifth Amendment where grand juries are referenced, the congressional change acted as a damper on citizen involvement in the criminal justice system and diluted the once-powerful grand jury to an arm of the government.
CDR Walter Francis Fitzpatrick, III has requested an audience in front of one of the federal grand juries in Knoxville and Chattanooga, TN, in the area where he resides. U.S. Attorney William C. Killian, who controls access to the grand juries, has denied Fitzpatrick’s request. The only other avenue to access the grand jury is through Judge Thomas Varlan, whose clerk has received requests on behalf of Fitzpatrick today.
“Grand juries are what make us a republic,” Fitzpatrick has stated. The email address where members of the public can send requests on Fitzpatrick’s behalf is varlan_chambers@tnet.uscourts.gov.
The call-in number to listen to Pastor Drake’s broadcast is 1-800-839-3002 or listen online live. The show begins at 8:00 p.m. EDT/5:00 p.m. PDT. A podcast is available after the live broadcast.
Update, 8:26 p.m. EDT: Walter Fitzpatrick is on live now, telling the audience about his attempt to gain a hearing with a federal grand jury.