Student fights weapons charge, wins

A grand jury in Randall County, Texas resisted the Columbine hysteria by exonerating an Amarillo High school student charged with possessing components of explosives. The student, James Weston Pankratz, 18, was charged with the third-degree felony in April.

Pankratz’s government school also charged him with making a terrorist threat and possession of marijuana under two ounces in a drug free zone. These charges, which are only misdemeanors, are still pending.

Pankratz pleaded innocent to the explosive charges and then convinced the jury that there was not enough evidence to support the indictment. The jury in the case viewed him as a typical American citizen rather than as a homicidal student. Pankratz and the jury showed the school, the judge, and the police that in the court of law, American citizens can still rely on their fellow Americans.

Like government schoolteachers who tell students that they do not have rights, judges often treat jury members in the same fashion. Many judges mislead juries by telling them that they cannot judge the law and that they must only judge the innocence of a defendant based on the law. Juries actually have the power to “veto” a law by freeing a defendant. For example, a jury that disagrees with the “so-called” drug war could exonerate a drug dealer.

The Fully Informed Jury Association raves about the power of juries. “In a Constitutional system of justice, such as ours, there is a judicial body with more power than Congress, the President, or even the Supreme Court. Yes, the trial jury protected under our Constitution has more power than all these government officials. This is because it has the final veto power over all “acts of the legislature” that may come to be called ‘laws’.”

A government request to be on a jury is actually an invitation to fight back against government oppression. You are given the opportunity to ignore unjust laws and give people, like Pankratz, the freedom they deserve.