I fought the law and the law.. LOST

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, 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.

That, my friends, is the Preamble of the Constitution of the United States - the supreme law of this nation, the United States of America. Excuse the verbosity. In my opinion, it's the most important, yet overlooked and underrated part of the Constitution. It defines the architects of the supreme law of the land - we, the people, that is, the citizens of this nation!

So, it pains me to see when our rights are constantly and consistently eroded for the benefit of this faceless fascist ideal to control the people as if we're all a bunch of children. And, I have to blame the very same people because we don't take the opportunities that we do have under the law to maintain our own rights. Police officers stop us in the street and we allow them to illegally search us, without question, because we don't know our rights. The president illegally wiretaps us and we take years to react because we don't exercise our rights.

And yes, it is easy to talk about. But, I can't do anything about it by myself. The preamble says, "We the people..." not "You, by yourself...." So, I will continue to talk about it and hopefully motivate people to action. Join these political action networks that bring people together and inform you specifically about the issues that affect you. Get to know your assemblyman. Do you even want that person in office? Does your district even have an assemblyman? For example, there are three districts in the State of New York that are UNSEATED - 40th (Brooklyn), 86th (Bronx), and 118th (North NY). Who is going to fill these seats besides one of "we, the people."

Beyond that, two of the most powerful tools we have at our disposal, as common citizens, are the right to vote which is tied into the other tool, the duty of all citizens to serve on the jury. The right to vote is obvious. We know all about it even if too many of us don't make the effort to exercise it. I have some problems with our right to vote but I'll save that topic for another day. Individually, we need to REGISTER TO VOTE and actually go vote.

It's the duty of service on the jury that concerns me greatly. In fact, jury nullification is more along the lines of what I truly wanted to discuss. Let's get a grasp of it from the almighty Wikipedia:

Jury nullification means making a law void by jury decision, in other words "the process whereby a jury in a criminal case effectively nullifies a law by acquitting a defendant regardless of the weight of evidence against him or her."

Jury nullification is more specifically any rendering of a verdict by a trial jury, acquitting a criminal defendant despite the defendant's violation of the letter of the law. This verdict need not disagree with the instructions by the judge concerning what the law is, but may disagree with an instruction, if given by the judge, that the jury is required to apply the law to the defendant if certain facts are found.

Although a jury's refusal relates only to the particular case before it, if a pattern of such verdicts develops in response to repeated attempts to prosecute a statutory offense, it can have the practical effect of disabling the enforcement of the statute. "Jury nullification" is thus a means for the people to express opposition to an unpopular legislative enactment.

The jury system was established because it was felt that a panel of citizens, drawn at random from the community, and serving for too short a time to be corrupted, would be more likely to render a just verdict, through judging both the accused and the law, than officials who may be unduly influenced to follow merely the established law. Jury nullification is a reminder that the right to trial by one's peers affords the public an opportunity to take a dissenting view about the justness of a statute or official practices.

Despite perceived righteous applications of jury nullification, this verdict anomaly can also occur simply as a device to absolve a defendant of culpability. Sympathy, bias or prejudice can influence some jurors to wholly disregard evidence and instruction in favor of a sort of "jury forgiveness."

So, once again we find ourselves, "we, the people", in a position of power to do more than just be a victim of a system that, I find, is being turned against us. Laws are being enacted, and carried out, without any consideration for the rights of the people. But, the great thing about the Constitution is that it provides way to fight unjust laws and those of tyrants.

Remember the Declaration of Independence and the US Constitution were written, at least partially, in response to the tyranny of (not so) Great Britain. This is why the 2nd Amendment is important. Our forefathers expect that people bestowed with great power will at some point become corrupted. The people have a right to fight back. But, we have so many ways to fight back before we grab arms and have another bloody Civil War.

"I consider trial by jury as the only anchor yet imagined by man by which a government can be held to the principles of its constitution. ”

-Thomas Jefferson

“The jury has the right to judge both the law as well as the fact in controversy. ”

-John Jay