Sunday, August 24, 2008

Fifth and Sixth Amendments.


Amendment V (1791)


No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia, when in actual service in time of war or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.

This means that no person can be charged with murder unless a panel of people called a Grand jury see’s that there is enough evidence to allow it. It helps avoid false charges.

This is the amendment that protects you from having to testify for or against yourself. Most lawyers tell you to use it, whether you are guilty or not. The reason being that, you might inadvertently say something that might make you look guilty, and you might not get a fair trial because of it.

"nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation. "

This part was superseded by the fourteenth amendment. Discussion. Which was superseded by George Bush.
Quote: "...for the purpose of benefiting the general public and not merely for the purpose of advancing the economic interest of private parties to be given ownership or use of the property taken."

Amendment VI (1791)

In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the state and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the assistance of counsel for his defense.

This amendment is pretty straight forward, and has not been changed much, if at all.

5 comments:

Ernie Branscomb said...

This is really eerie. I published this post six times before I could get the Goerge Bush quote to stay in the post!

Anonymous said...

Hey Ernie,ever since da passing of fisa, i've noticed a lot of wierdness on my computer. Though ever since the crowning GW I've believed we've been spied upon,phones etc.

spyrock said...

"nor shall private property be taken for public use without just compensation" I guess none of this applied to the Indians for a very long time. I asked my cousin Sharon what the name of the Indians that lived at Spyrock was and she said, "diggers." Things really haven't changed that much since the 15 years before the end of the civil war when most of the original inhabitants died of disease, starvation, and gunshot.

"The original Ghost Dance began on the Walker Lake Reservation in Nevada, in 1870. It was initiated by Wodziwob (Gray Hair), a Northern Paiute Indian, as a result of his visionary experiences in the late 1860s. He told of having traveled, in a trance, to another world, where he was informed that an Indian renaissance was at hand, and declared that Indians could create a new paradise by performing a series of rituals.

In order to hasten those auspicious events, Indians were instructed to perform certain round dances at night. Wodziwob’s vision said that tribal Indian life would soon return, that the dead would come back to life, and that the animals the Indians had traditionally hunted — importantly, the buffalo — would be restored.


Wodziwob's teachings soon spread westward among Indian groups living in California and Oregon, among them the Klamath, Miwok, Modoc, and Yurok. Each group adapted the ritual to fit within its own traditions. As the movement spread it evolved; the Earth Lodge religion and the Big Head religion were among the offshoots."

In 1870, the Modocs left the Klamath Reservation and went back to their lands and raided settlers farms as far south as Long Valley.
I think it was Modocs that killed my ancestor back in 1870 and ended my family's time in Cahto/Laytonville.
Eminent Domain they call it. They took Uncle Archie's 2000 acres and made it a national park in Stinson Beach. They took Armond Trutman's ranch near Olema and made him tear down his picnic area near the creek because of rare salamanders. With all the pot growers buying up the rest of the land, maybe that's what you need up there. Not a Burning Man or a Reggae Man, but a good old fashioned Ghost Dance.

Anonymous said...

Well, well, well, Spyrock, you have been doing some serious reading. I suspect you have found Cora Dubois' "The Ghost Dance of 1870." The Spy Rock Indians were a band of Yuki called Ta'No-M. I'm looking at some myths dictated by a woman in Round Valley named Nancy Dobey. She was Ta'No-M. One of these days I'll transcribe them so that they are easier to read. My wife is a Spy Rock gal from the back to the land days around 1970. She tells of walking home ten miles up that hill without a single vehicle passing her. Her neighbor wrested her land from her and burned down her hand built house as it was in his viewscape. There were some greedy folks in the hills even in the beginning when it was all supposed to be love and peace. Interestingly, they have prospered. The Shoshone medicine man Corbin Harney practiced a modern version of the Ghost Dance. Sadly, he has passed away and we have lost a great soul. In the dance, the circle turns to the right which is anti-sunwise. This turns back time.
Ernie, what an important topic you are running here. Thanks.

Ernie Branscomb said...

Spyrock has added a few new dimensions to my life also.

I either had not heard, or did not remember that the Modocs got as far as Long Valley. (Laytonville, Cato)

I was trying to research it but haven't had time.

I do know that the North-West corner of the Round Valley (Covelo) Indian reservation is at Spy Rock on the Eel River. The Indians had a trail to the ocean that went passed where the Indian Writing rock is.

There are other rocks in the South end of the Long Valley that also have writing on them.