Comments

2
From the link, she sounds like a first-rate nutcase. The feds probably didn't want to have to pay for her electroshock treatments for the the rest of her life.
3
@2 and highly qualified to run for elective office, therefore.
4
I have as much sympathy for them as I do people refusing to pay their taxes.

Testifying is one of those obligations of citizenship.

They only have themselves to blame for being in jail.
5
@4 What about the fifth amendment?
6
@4 I distinctly do NOT remember Testifying as being one of the obligations of citizenship.

I do remember it in Catechism tho.

Are you confused, and think we live in a Theocracy?
7
@4

This was never a fifth amendment issue; these kids didn't take the stand and refuse to answer questions on fifth amendment grounds, they refused to be sworn in as witnesses at all.

Or at least the two men did; going by the note Brendan linked to, it seems pretty likely that Plante made some sort of deal with the grand jury.
8
@5 The fifth amendment provides a limited exception to the general duty. There are some others such as attorney-client and other privlages.

If there was no ability of the courts to compel testimony then there would be no need to craft out exceptions.
9
@2: she's very young.

she gets to be as wierd as she wants to be - the pursuit of happiness, remember?
10
@2: But at least she's not the variety of Seattle "progressive" that riles your bile so much.
So there's that.
11
Thank you, Brendan, for keeping up on this story. It's nice to see someone not only covering it, but also not just telling the state's side of the story.
12
@8 that's what we have drones for.
13
I'm pretty sure that refusing to be sworn in or to testify befor a grand jury is contempt, and therefore they are not being held without charge. The question of why they were called, and the question of how dumb and weird this girl is, are completely separate. The 5th provides protection from self-incrimination, but I don't think it provides any protection from incriminating others.. right?

Also- if you are knowingly engaging in an act of civil disobedience with a likely outcome of detention, announcing that your mental health is poor after less than a week of detention probably indicates that you chose the wrong course of action. Does anyone remember a time when there were some hard motherfuckers on the left?
14
The edit to my post didn't take, for some reason- I asked if 'charge' was being used as a technical term, and contempt is technically not considered a charge, but a 'citation' or some such other thing. In the common understanding of the word, it seems as though it was suggested they were being held without 'cause', but contempt is clearly a cause, regardless of how valid the reason for them being there may or may not be.
15
@14

Grand jury refusal is treated as civil contempt, not criminal contempt*. So if we're going to split this particular hair, then there's no criminal charge, but there is cause.

Thus we can correctly if somewhat misleadingly say that Plante was held "without charge," but we can not correctly say she was held "without cause."

 

* however, a grand jury refuser might additionally be charged with criminal contempt, depending on the nature of the refusal, but this will only happen after the grand jury is dissolved.
16
#9, how much you wanna bet she was discharged to a rubber room?
17
@15- thanks- see, we all learned something.
18
giffy you should probably go down to the police station to make sure they dont need your testimony on anything, just to make sure you shouldnt be in prison. i know how much it would eat you up inside to know that youre just walking free when you might have commited some kind of crime of thought. its scary. giffy. please please go get in your cage. its safer for everyone. calm now. get in your cage.
19
@18

If you think your ideology isn't a cage, then you're definitely not the smartest chimp in the monkey house.
20
Poor #18. So much angst, so little time.
21
Please remember Matt and KteeO continue to be held in solitary for failure to cooperate with the grand jury. They need and deserve your support. For free and inexpensive ways to to help them go to http://funologist.org/2012/10/16/who-is-…
22
Please continue to support Matt and KteeO who remain in solitary without charge for refusing to cooperate with the grand jury. For details on how to support them please see http://funologist.org/2012/10/16/who-is-…
23
Sorry, but they don't deserve any support.
24
Looks like the Free Leah tumblr that Brendan linked to has gone password-only before posting the promised further information.

I wonder if that counts as panic?
25
Matt and KteeO are still in prison, though they have been moved to general populaation from solitary, which is a very good thing. You can find out how to inexpensively or freely support them at{

http://funologist.org/2012/10/23/who-are…

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