Pop Quiz, hot shot!

Name the five guarantees provided by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.

I know what you are thinking... "Whoa, since when do I take orders from Trevor's blog, or from any blog, for that matter?" But recently I have become a little concerned about rights erosion in the United States and it scares me that some people don't know what our rights are. Anyway, I thought rather than whining about it, I could at least do my part to remind everyone of their high school civics classes.

OK, without further ado, the text of the First Amendment:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

So, what are the five (maybe six, depending on how you count, but a group of five is easier to keep track of, so we will go with that):

1. Freedom of religion
2. Freedom of speech
3. Freedom of the press
4. Freedom to assemble
5. Freedom to petition the government

Remember those five rights, they might come in handy some day.

Mailbox surprise

I just recently changed my DMV record to reflect my San Diego address. This may or may not have been due to the fact that I was issued a citation for not having the correct address on my license somewhat recently. (Talk about a victim-less crime...) Anyway, good thing I made the change, otherwise I might not have received the jury summons that I got in the mail today.

The one thing most people would consider worse than an unexpected bill is the dreaded jury summons. I actually would not mind doing my "civic-duty;" being on a jury is actually pretty intriguing to me.

I am concerned about something, however. On the back of the summons it reads:

The right of a trial by jury is the privilege of every peson in the United States. This right is guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution and the California Constitution, which provides, "the right of trial by jury shall be secured to all, and remain inviolate."

It goes on to say that in order to make the system work that people need to be willing to serve on juries. But the Superior Court of San Diego seems to be misinformed, or maybe they just printed their summons forms before President Bush signed into law legislation allowing the Executive Branch to decide if you get a jury trial or not.

This makes me wonder if there is such a thing as a conscientious objector status (or something equivalent) for jury duty.

The reason that the Superior Court system gives for fulfilling your civic duty is because each one of us is guaranteed a jury trial. However, I am now asking myself, should I fulfill my end of the covenant, serving on jury, when our government is no longer willing to fulfill their part of the deal?

300,000,000

Sometime tomorrow morning a milestone will occur - the population of the United States will reach three hundred million. This is calculated using the US Census Bureau's PopClock which estimates the current population using the following data: a birth every 7 seconds, a death every 13 seconds, and a immigrant (net) every 31 seconds.

Thoughts on 300,000,000:
The United States is the 172nd most dense country in the world (out of 230) with approximately 50 people per square mile. That works out to 12 acres for every man, woman, and child - yep, even the undocumented ones. I am not making any claims about the environmental impacts or social consequences of population growth. However, when China (a slightly smaller land mass than the US) has 1.3 billion people, I hardly think the gentleman driving on I-8 today with "The United States is full" pasted on the rear window of his pickup was an authority on the matter.

Demographers say that the three hundred millionth person in the United States will most likely be a baby born to Caucasian parents in the suburban South or Latino parents in the suburban West. The baby will likely live to around 85 or 90 and has a slightly better chance of being a male. One thing is for sure, however, the three hundred millionth person in the United States will be born on a great day.

Did you know?

California's 4th District is currently heavily contested, the candidates:
Incumbent John Doolittle(R) v. Charlie Brown(D).
Yes, that is correct, a guy named do-little is challenged by Charlie Brown for congress. If those two names were proposed for a comic book, the editor would make the author change them because they were too cliche and possibly violated a copyright or two...

The hassles of jury duty may soon be a distant memory...

The newly passed legislation regulating the treatment of terrorism suspects also takes away your right to a trial by jury.

NPR Story: Yoo Defends Detainee Measures as 'Rules of War'

Windows Media Audio

This was an interesting news story I heard this morning while getting ready for work. Listen to it if you get a chance...

The part that is most upsetting to me is that if the government decides (for any reason, including donating to the wrong charity) that you, an American Citizen, are an "enemy combatant" then you no longer have the right to a trial. The government can imprison you for as long as they want, they can take away your freedom, and they can do it without a trial. You get one Habeas Corpus review where you can plea for a jury to hear your case, but if that fails you can be held indefinitely. After that: no trial, no jury, no lawyers, no judge -- just you and a prison cell.

It is even worse for a non-citizen living in the United States or anywhere else - they don't even get the right to a Habeas Corpus review.

Once you are a detained enemy combatant and (in the case of a US citizen) you have lost your Habeas Corpus review, your only chance for a jury trial is if the President of the United States decides you get one. I would assume that the President will only hold trials that the government thinks they can win... so if you have a good case for your freedom, (for example: you are innocent) get used to those prison walls.

This war against terror is billed as one to defend our rights. But, if we have to give up those rights to win this war, what will we have left when we win?