Memorandum of Law

Rule Number 1: "It's not 'Rape' unless you yell 'Rape' and physically attempt to escape."

Rule Number 2: "You have no civil or legal rights unless you are willing to assert them and fight for them."

Rule Number 3: "Ignorance of the law is no excuse."

"In the First Amendment the Founding Fathers gave free press the protection it must have to fulfill its essential role in our democracy, the press was to serve the governed, not the governors. The Government's power to censor was abolished so that the press would remain forever free to censure the Government."
–US Supreme Court, New York Times Company vs United States (1971), (authorizing publication of the historical Pentagon Papers)

"The FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force is attempting to identify criminal activities with domestic terrorists. Dometic terrorism is defined as: Groups or individuals operating entirely inside the US, attempting to influence the US government or population to affect political or social change by engaging in criminal activity. If you encounter any of the following, Call the Joint Terrorism Task Force:

  • Defenders of the US Constitution against federal government
  • Request authority for a traffic stop by police
  • Make numerous references to the US Constitution
  • Attempt to "police the police"
  • Lone Individuals
  • Rebels
  • Christian identity
  • Animal rights
  • Eco-terrorism
    —FBI Flyer to US law enforcement agencies, October 2001 (no mention of Islamic Fundamentalists) [ front I back ]

"I was a lieutenant in the United States Army, serving in the 132 Infantry of Americal Division. I had an almost unbelievably lucky brush with a Japanese sniper only two days before. I saw the Japanese bullet had ripped into my poncho, through my knapsack, and had been stopped only by a can of tuna fish. Suddenly the Japanese opened up again with their damned 20mm cannon tracers. I felt an excrutiating pain in my foot, in my legs and in my spine. I had been hit by phosphorus and shrapnel. Almost immediately afterwards, the Japanese attacked with one of their justly feared banzai attacks. Our men fought back even harder, and through the whole night I couold hear the screams of men on both sides who had been shot. I recall hearing grown men sobbing. As a judge, and as an American, I have a virtual obsession with law and order. This country is great in large part because it follows law instead of followingthe vagaries of human nature, and because it provides an orderly arena for men and women to work, play, take care of their families and themselves, and make progress. But for me, as for anyone who knows the history of this country, 'law and order' begins with everyone following the Constitution—and I mean everyone, from policemen to presidents. Under the Constitution, the citizens of America are guaranteed certain vital rights as free people. These are not empty words. They tell America that no one, not police or FBI or anyone, can can lawfully disturb their peace or security except when there is probable cause to believe that a crime has been committed."
—Judge Joseph Wapner, "The People's Court", A View from the Bench, 1987

"The President, Vice-President, and all civil officers of the United States, shall be removed from office on impeachment for, and conviction of, treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors."
—Constitution of the United States

Violent crimes in aid of racketeering activity
(a) Whoever, as consideration for the receipt of, or as consideration for a promise or agreement to pay, anything of pecuniary value from an enterprise engaged in racketeering activity, or for the purpose of gaining entrance to or maintaining or increasing position in an enterprise engaged in racketeering activity, murders, kidnaps, maims, assaults with a dangerous weapon, commits assault resulting in serious bodily injury upon, or threatens to commit a crime of violence against any individual in violation of the laws of any State or the United States, or attempts or conspires so to do, shall be punished - (1) for murder, by death or life imprisonment, or a fine under this title, or both; and for kidnapping, by imprisonment for any term of years or for life, or a fine under this title, or both;
—Organized Crime and Racketeering, 18 USC §1959 (RICO Act)

(1) ''Racketeering activity'' means (A) any act or threat involving murder, kidnapping, gambling, arson, robbery, bribery, extortion, dealing in obscene matter, or dealing in a controlled substance or listed chemical (as defined in section 102 of the Controlled Substances Act), which is chargeable under State law and punishable by imprisonment for more than one year;
—Organized Crime and Racketeering, 18 USC §1961 (RICO Act)

"Enterprise" means any individual, sole proprietorship, partnership, corporation, business trust, union chartered under the laws of this state, or other legal entity, or any unchartered union, association or group of individuals associated in fact although not a legal entity, and it includes illicit as well as licit enterprises, and governmental, as well as other, entities."
—Organized Crime and Racketeering— 39 TCA §12-203 (State RICO Act in Tennessee)

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2001/09/20010912-14.html
For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
September 12, 2001
Presidential Determination
September 12, 2001
Presidential Determination
No. 2001-26
Memorandum for the Secretary of State the Secretary of the Treasury

SUBJECT: Continuation of the Exercise of Certain Authorities Under the Trading With the Enemy Act

Under section 101(b) of Public Law 95-223 (91 Stat. 1625; 50 U.S.C. App. 5(b) note), and a previous determination on September 12, 2000 (65 Fed. Reg. 55883), the exercise of certain authorities under the Trading With the Enemy Act is scheduled to terminate on September 14, 2001. I hereby determine that the continuation for 1 year of the exercise of those authorities with respect to the applicable countries is in the national interest of the United States. Therefore, pursuant to the authority vested in me by section 101(b) of Public Law 95-223, I continue for 1 year, until September 14, 2002, the exercise of those authorities with respect to countries affected by:
(1) the Foreign Assets Control Regulations, 31 C.F.R. part 500;
(2) the Transaction Control Regulations, 31 C.F.R. part 505; and
(3) the Cuban Assets Control Regulations, 31 C.F.R. part 515.
The Secretary of the Treasury is authorized and directed to publish this determination in the Federal Register.
--GEORGE W. BUSH


"In Germany the Nazis came first for the Communists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Communist. Then they came for the Jews, but I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew. Then they came for the trade unionists, but I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist. Then they came for the Catholics, but I didn't speak up because I was a Protestant. Then they came for me, but by that time there was no one left to speak for me."
–Pastor Martin Neomoller, leader of Underground Resistance in Nazi France

"The wrongs which we seek to condemn and punish have been so calculated, so malignant and so devastating that civilization cannot tolerate their being ignored because it cannot survive their being repeated. If we cannot eliminate the causes and prevent the repetition of these barbaric events, it is not an irresponsible prophecy to say that this twentieth century may yet succeed in bringing the doom of civilization."
—Justice Robert Jackson, U.S. Supreme Court, U.S. Chief Prosecutor at International Military Tribunal (IMT), Nuremberg, Germany, November 1945 [ 1 I 2 I 3 I 4 I 5 I 6 I 7 I 8 I 9 ]

"No person may restrict a member of the armed forces in communicating with a Member of Congress or an Inspector General. . . . No person may take (or threaten to take) an unfavorable personnel action, or withhold (or threaten to withhold) a favorable personnel action, as a reprisal against a member of the armed forces for making . . . a communication to a Member of Congress or an Inspector General. . . . A communication . . . [is one that] makes a complaint or discloses information that the member reasonably believes constitutes evidence of a violation of law or regulation; or mismanagement, a gross waste of funds, an abuse of authority, or a substantial or specific danger to public health or safety."
10 UCMJ §1034 (Uniform Code of Military Justice)


HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY
STP 21-1-SMCT

SOLDIER'S MANUAL
OF COMMON TASKS

DISTRIBUTION RESTRICTION: Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited



page 724

CONDUCT COMBAT OPERATIONS ACCORDING TO THE LAW OF WAR
181-906-1505

CONDITIONS

Given a combat situation and you are faced with the following:
7. Observing a member of your force about to perform an illegal action.
8. Receiving an order to perform an illegal action.
STANDARDS

1. Perform combat operations using lawful weapons and tactics, and engaging only lawful targets.
2. Treat all captives, civilians, and their property saccording to the law of war.
3. Take appropriate action when faced with violations of the law of war or illegal orders.
TRAINING AND EVALUATION

1. Perform your combat mission using lawful weapons and tactics, and attack only lawful targets.
(b) Unlawful tactics include... using enemy marked vehicles and uniforms during combat, and booby trapping dead or wounded personnel.
(c) Attack only combat targets. Use the firepower necessary to accomplish your mission but avoid needless destruction.
(2) Undefended civilian buildings are not combat targets.
2. Treat captives, civilians, and property on the battlefield according to the law of war.
(a) Allow enemy soldiers to surrender.
(1) Protect them from acts of violence, intimidation and sexual abuse. (2) Safeguard captives from the violence of cambat. Captives may not be used as shileds, screens, to claer mines or booby traps, or as hostages.
(b) Treat all civilians humanely. Treat them as you would want to be treated.
(1) Do not use physical force or mental coercion on civilians. Protect them from acts of violence, intimidation and sexual abuse.
3. Identify violations of law or illegal orders and try to stop them. Report all violations by friendly or enemy troops.
(a) Violations of law of war are criminal acts. They are punishable under the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ).
(b) If you believe the law of war is being violated, do your best to stop it.
(1) Clarify unclear orders by repeating what you believe to be your correct orders.
(2) State that you disagree with the act.
(3) Use moral arguements.
(4) Threaten to report the act.
(5) Ask the senior soldier to stop the act.
(6) Refuse to obey an order to commit a criminal act.
(c) If the act is done or the criminal order is not withdrawn, immediately report the act or order through your chain of command. If the chain of command is not appropriate (such as when a member of the chain of command is suspected of committing a criminal act), report it to the Inspector General (IG), provost marshall, chaplan, or a Judge Advocate General Corps (JAG) officer. You must report all war crimes no matter who commits them. Crimes committed by the enemy must also be reported.


Policing the police

As some of you may know, I had a ticket to go to the adjoining auditorium on closed circuit TV at the University of Massachusettes to watch the first debate which is in another auditorium on the same campus in early October [2000]. And I got off the bus and there waiting for me, and me only, was the security representative of the debate commission with the guru who prompted him into this role in the shadows [crowd laughs]. Flanked by a state trooper and two police of the University of Massachusettes. And the gentleman who is the security consultant refused at first to identify himself when I asked him to, and he finally did. He said, "Whether or not you have a ticket I have bad news, prompted by the Debate Commission, to ask you to leave. To which I said, in my own mind, Archi Bunker style, "Well, la-de-da!" [crowd laughs]. So, this utter expression of disbelief that I was in the cradle of American Revolution, this state trooper steps forward, and he says, "Mr. Nader, if you do not leave, I'm going to have to arrest you!" [crowd hollers]. To which I said, in my mind, "What the hell is going on?!" [crowd laughs] "I'll see you guys in court!" And since I always prefer to be a plaintiff rather than a defendant [crowd laughs] I went back on the bus, and a week later, hauled him into federal court in Boston. Including the Debate Commission, which we're going to take apart in the next two years. [loud cheers and clapping] Which is a private corporation created by the two parties in 1988 to throw off the League of Women Voters from sponsoring presidential debate, and they decide the rules and the number of debates for the two parties, who asks them the questions, and they fund it with Ford, ATT, Anhauser Busch money. Someone said, "Are you going to go to the St. Louis Anhauser Busch Ford Debate?" [crowd laughs] So, we also sued the security consultant, and then we sued the state trooper. And I was asked in the deposition, "Why did you sue the state trooper? He was only doing his job?" I said, "Because I told the state trooper at the time, 'Sergeant, you are being given an unlawful political order by a private corporation, utilizing public property.'" And he refused to listen. State troopers are not automatons. They've got minds of their own. They've got to be able to decide that they are not going to execute an illegal order. I was not charged with being disruptive, with throwing rocks, with anything. There was no evidence of that. They wanted to exclude me for one reason only: "They didn't like me." So now we are teaching him a civics lesson, he's got to hire his lawyer. [crowd laughs] I'm sure other state troopers will become a little more "independent minded" in the future. I can't say I didn't warn him. [loud cheers]
—Ralph Nader, University of Tennessee Knoxville, 12 November 2001


"It is a defense to any offense that the accused was acting pursuant to orders unless the accused knew the orders to be unlawful."
–Rule 916, UCMJ

"We knew we had something really hot, some very damaging evidence of an atrocity. . . . Something could have happened if they knew we had ratted, broke the story. Something could have happened to one of the people in our office. Their lives would be in danger, easily disposed of, it's called 'fragging.'"
–Ronald Haeberle, photographer, US Army, Public Information Detatchment, after photographing war crimes of rape, torture and slaughter of 500 civilians as they were being committed by US troops at My Lai, Vietnam

"Open up on 'em - blow 'em away."
–Lt. Hugh Thompson, US Army helicopter pilot (and funeral-home director) at My Lai, South Vietnam, ordering his M60-gunners to massacre US soldiers before they could rape, torture and slaughter any more innocent civilians (US troops massacred over 500 US Allies in My Lai hamlet that day, according to the US Army's Peers Commission Report and Courts Martial)


New authority to immediately arrest Georges Bush, et al.:

H.R.3162

Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism (USA PATRIOT ACT) Act of 2001 (Congress not allowed to read it and forced to sign it under threat of anthrax from US Army Biowarfare Division)

SEC. 802. DEFINITION OF DOMESTIC TERRORISM.

    (a) DOMESTIC TERRORISM DEFINED- Section 2331 of title 18, United States Code, is amended--

      `(5) the term `domestic terrorism' means activities that--

        `(A) involve acts dangerous to human life that are a violation of the criminal laws of the United States or of any State;

        `(B) appear to be intended--

          `(i) to intimidate or coerce a civilian population;

          `(ii) to influence the policy of a government by intimidation or coercion; or

          `(iii) to affect the conduct of a government by mass destruction, assassination, or kidnapping; and

        `(C) occur primarily within the territorial jurisdiction of the United States.'.

    (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT- Section 3077(1) of title 18, United States Code, is amended to read as follows:

      `(1) `act of terrorism' means an act of domestic or international terrorism as defined in section 2331;'.

SEC. 803. PROHIBITION AGAINST HARBORING TERRORISTS.

    (a) IN GENERAL- Chapter 113B of title 18, United States Code, is amended by adding after section 2338 the following new section:

`Sec. 2339. Harboring or concealing terrorists

    `(a) Whoever harbors or conceals any person who he knows, or has reasonable grounds to believe, has committed, or is about to commit, an offense under section 32 (relating to destruction of aircraft or aircraft facilities), section 175 (relating to biological weapons), section 229 (relating to chemical weapons), section 831 (relating to nuclear materials), paragraph (2) or (3) of section 844(f) (relating to arson and bombing of government property risking or causing injury or death), section 1366(a) (relating to the destruction of an energy facility), section 2280 (relating to violence against maritime navigation), section 2332a (relating to weapons of mass destruction), or section 2332b (relating to acts of terrorism transcending national boundaries) of this title, section 236(a) (relating to sabotage of nuclear facilities or fuel) of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (42 U.S.C. 2284(a)), or section 46502 (relating to aircraft piracy) of title 49, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both.'.

    `(b) A violation of this section may be prosecuted in any Federal judicial district in which the underlying offense was committed, or in any other Federal judicial district as provided by law.'.


Additional legal resources:

    How to:
  1. Defend the US Constitution against federal government
  2. Request authority for a traffic stop by police
  3. Make numerous references to the US Constitution
  4. "Police the police"
  5. Be a Rebel
  6. Defend Religious Civil Rights
  7. Defend Animal Rights
  8. Attack a US government for Eco-terrorism
  9. Sue a RICO lawsuit against a corrupt US government

Paralegal and Paralawyer links


The trouble with law is government trial lawyers

"I always figured that being a good robber was like being a good lawyer."
—Willie Sutton, US bank robber

"A man who never graduated from school might steal from a frieght car. But a man who attends college and graduates as a lawyer might steal a whole railroad."
—President Theodore Roosevelt

"If it weren't for the lawyers we wouldn't need them."
—William Jennings Bryan

"Lawyers: persons who write a ten-thousand-word document and call it a 'brief'."
—Franz Kafka

"If law school is so hard to get through, why are there so many lawyers?"
—Ambrose Bierce

"When the judge's mule dies, everyone goes to the funeral. When the judge himself dies, nobody goes."
—Arabic Proverb





© 2000, 2001
John Lee and Winners Web Design
Difficile est saturam non scribere
All rights reserved