You may as well toss the Bill of Rights in the trash because it isn't worth the paper it is printed on these days. The opposition (i.e the state and federal government) will attempt to feed you a line of crap that police or judicial designated free speech zones are constitutional, but it is exactly that: a line of crap, especially in the context used in the case of Mark Schmidter of Orlando. Schmidter dared to pass out pamphlets on public property.
The only connection of Schmidter's case to the Casey Anthony fiasco is that an administrative order from Judge Belvin Perry in the Anthony case regarding a free speech zone was applied to anyone in or around the courthouse. The pamphlets that Mark Schmidter handed out outside of the Orange County courthouse had nothing whatsoever to do with Anthony's case and he had previously passed out the same pamphlets at the same location long before her trial. Don't believe it when they tell you this is related to the Anthony fiasco in any way, shape, or form.
So what are these pamphlets about? Jury nullification.
The pamphlets advised possible or potential jurors of their rights as jurors. The corrupt system representatives do not want jurors to know that they have any rights at all, but indeed they do. Mark Schmidter is actively involved in an organization called Florida Fully Informed Jury Association and frequently spends his own time passing out these pamphlets at courthouses across the State of Florida. Read the actual pamphlet (PDF) HERE.
The truth is that judges like Perry do not want jurors to know that they have any rights at all and in this respect, Schmidter was a disruption to the corrupt system in place. Jury nullification is term that describes a juror's right to refuse to enforce bad laws and bad prosecutions. The pamphlets explain the juror's right to judge the facts of the case and the law itself. Many have stated that I was a beneficiary of jury nullification, though only the jurors in my trial could know for sure.
Today Judge Belvin Perry held a trial without jurors, commonly referred to as trial by judge. The defendant was Mark Schmidter and Judge Perry convicted him on both counts of “indirect criminal contempt” for violating two administrative orders that he issued pertaining to the Casey Anthony case. Injustice was swift in this case – Schmidter was only arrested on June 29, 2011, and he sure didn't get his right to trial by jury. He lost (go figure) and was sentenced to 151 days on one count and 141 days on the other, to be served concurrently (simultaneously or at the same time).
So this man will spend around 151 days in the lousy Orange County jail for handing out pamphlets on the Orange County courthouse steps – something he and many have done for years at courthouses across the State of Florida. Schmidter's attorney, Adam Sudbury, will be filing the appeal on his behalf and working to get him an appeal bond so that he can get out of the Orange County hellhole.
One significant difference between this case and any that have passed judicial scrutiny in regards to free speech zones is that this was not a captive audience, though there is caselaw to back-up cases in which the recipients of the “speech” were indeed a captive audience. I believe that Schmidter will find justice outside of Orange County, either in the appeals court or if not then in US Supreme Court, as he did have the right to be heard by his desired audience: Schmidter was within his First Amendment right to persuade possible or potential jurors to know their rights as jurors.
While Belvin Perry somehow managed to give Casey Anthony a fair trial, he also managed to stomp on the Bill of Rights for anyone that was anywhere near the fiasco. Read the Orlando Sentinelarticle: Judge Perry sends man with pamphlets to jail
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