To every man his due; The right to notice

Reader as doll the faults here in Dot's spy I pray thee to correct them with I pin the author is close prisoner knows not why and shall have liberty but knows not when. But if he falls as he has lived he dies. I'll faithful martyr for our liberties. John little burn freedom fighter with a flare and leather lungs three hundred years ago outraged about the state of his government raged about the way others were treated outraged about the way he was treated. Resentful loved put upon disturbed wounded beaten furious. A turbulent spirit if there ever was one. Just listen to him. Yet considering how vehemently at present my life is sought after and that those who so earnestly desire my blood have by their politic agents field almost every man's mouth with clamorous against me saying that I have ever been and continue a man of a turbulent spirit always opposing and flying in the faces of all authorities never satisfied who ever is

uppermost and that therefore it is very requisite to be taken off and that otherwise England must never look to rest long in peace. You see so turbulent that if there were not I'm in the world but John little boon rather than want one to strive with all John would certainly quarrel with LUMEN. Rare and priceless man John Byrne. And no bag of wind he. This is the close to a long track called Legal fundamental liberties written while a prisoner in the Tower of London. An honest and true bred free Englishman that never in his life feared a tyrant nor loved an oppressor. From my close unjust and causeless captivity in the Taler of London this eighth of June 16 49 the first year of England's declared freedom by the lying and false pretended conservatives thereof that never intended it.

John who are the lying and false pretended conservators his captors of course the very people who had him in their power. John little brain was no card. Once after having been marched from his home by several hundred soldiers to appear before the most powerful consul in England. After carefully considering the matter of his hat the wearing of hats in the presence of the high and mighty was a matter of importance to little burn. He took his hat off in this case because they were members of parliament present. After having wagged his tongue across the council delivered the following defiant statement. But now sir with your favor one would more to mind you again of what I said before in reference to my military imprisonment. And Truly sir I must tell you circumstantial of my liberty at this time I shall not much dispute. But for essentials of them I shall die. I am now in the soldier's custody where to continue in silence and patience is absolutely to betray my liberty for they have

no thing to do with me nor the meanest free man of England in this case. And besides they have no rules to walk by but their wills and their swords which are too dangerous things it may be I am may be hasty and choleric temperate and not able nor willing to bear affronts. And they may be as willing to put them upon me as I am unwilling to bail them. And for you in this case to put fire and tinder together to burn up one another will not be much commendable nor tend much to the accomplishment of your rank. And these are brave words from one unarmed man surrounded by several hundred soldiers. But he's not finished. But if for all of this you shall send me back to the military sword again either to Whitehall or any other like Garrison place in England. I do solemnly protest before the eternal God of heaven and earth. I would.

Fire it. Burn it down to the ground if possibly I can also live be burnt to ashes with the flames there ought. To have been in and out of prison a good many times had been flogged once to the tune of 500 lashes. And he said he'd seen his blood spilled in punishment three other times as well. He knew what he was facing but he was a man of principle. He said so too in signing another tract signed John that never yet changed his principles from better to worse nor could never be frightened out of them nor quoted from them written from the Tower of London. Free born John they called him today they called the character weird. Controversial a trouble maker a do gooder kind of egghead. But the hard boiled kind he was in fact a man whose principles were more than words. He staked his family his possessions and his body for them

not with a weary shattered mind of a fighting soldier. He was sharply conscious of distant implications of nuances. Without him and others like him who fought for principle in the past and fight for it today none of us would be born free. And one thing more about free born John. It could have been squashed like a cracker on the floor had it not been for the fact that he had support at his treason trial he said. I call upon you the jury to know your Consider your duty to God to me to your. And to your country. The verdict not guilty. To every man his due s a series of radio programs about the

principles of justice to every man his due is produced by radio station WAGA of the University of Wisconsin under a grant from the National Educational Television and Radio Center. In cooperation with the National Association of educational broadcasts. The right. To move his. Lieutenant Colonel John Byrne for a board job. Poor upstart John that trouble maker John Byrne rode out his days in England which beheaded a king and bored a military dictator and then another king his England was torn by faction dispute. Civil war. There were the Royalists the seekers the Catholics the Presbyterians the fifth monarchists the Ranters the levelers the Quakers the Baptists the Anabaptists to name a few. Principle opposed principle and the raw force had its

day. Little Burns principles and those of his followers the levelers were the principles that underlie our own form of government and he practiced his principles demanded his rights in times of dictatorship. Select any principle from the Constitution and the odds are strong that Lilburne acted it out in the face of a dictator select any right from the Bill of Rights. Little burn very probably demanded it and lived it out at his own cost consider the rights and principles that stand between free men and prison or execution on Wednesday the twenty eighth of March sixteen forty nine about four or five o'clock in the morning. My lodging at Winchester House was be set. Well why do you knock at my door at this hour of the night so I have columns. What would you have your own sir. I have come to take your present. Oh true we you and all these soldiers with you. Truly I will see your warrant for my arrest you

all well come with me and also I will see your warrant before I come with you. You will see my warrant after you will come with me if you walk by the rules of justice. You will have brought your warrant with you and you will have shown it to me and you will have given me time to copy it out that I may defend myself. You have not been théo fish but you know that would you frighten my wife and children. Com I will go with you. You have force enough here all sin foot to capture a small city and I one man. Was joined by two other prisoners and the three were marched off under a guard of almost two hundred infantry income so all the way through the streets the AAM victors carried us like three conquered slaves making us the home by the way. Then so the men might draw up in good order to encounter with an

army of butterflies. They were carried before the Council of State. The most powerful body in England where little burn protested. I do hear before you all protest your power and jurisdiction over me. In the case in controversy and you also protest your warrant issued out to apprehend me and against all your military and hostile acts committed against me as illegal unjust tyrannical. And in no way in law to be justified after legal combat with the council of state prisoners were marched off to the tower. Now it's true that along the way to the hearing little Byrne managed to talk the soldiers into releasing two of the prisoners. Others had been added and that along the way to the tower after the hearing he managed to talk his captors into letting him return home for a few hours. These were acts of kindness and common sense. But the point is

that the prisoners ended up locked in the Tower of London after having tried a very short path. Indeed the Council of states sat spider in its web its arms were military force at the center of the web prison and the executioners block. The passage from home to prison was swift and sure one sweeping motion by one organism. By contrast a prisoner in our system of justice arrives at pretrial confinement by bucket brigade passed from hand to hand with pauses along the way for examination of the legal contents of the bucket. In all federal cases after arrest perhaps on a warrant signed by a second party the prisoner is carried to a third party. A federal commissioner or magistrate who examines the evidence and informs

the prisoner of his rights. If the charge against him is serious the prisoner's case may then be brought before a grand jury of 12 to 23 persons who will decide whether there is sufficient evidence to warrant bringing him to trial. If the grand jury thinks that the evidence available to the prosecution if true would support a conviction it files charges which are known as an indictment. Or if the offense is less serious his case will be examined by a federal prosecutor who may draw up formal charges in a document known as a bill of information. Each motion along the bucket brigade is a step away from the emotion that attended the original arrest and a step toward reason and no single organism controls the prisoner. In most western states and arrested person is given a preliminary hearing after the preliminary hearing and information is filed by the

prosecutor. Most other states still use the grand jury for most offenses. The remaining states fall somewhere in between. No railroad runs from arrest to trial. It's a bucket brigade. John Lilburne at another time another case another point of human rights called before the House of Lords. My lobes. I will not submit to any judgment of this house against me in a criminal polls. But would I rather undergo all dance and miseries which the weight of man can devise for his. Oh all right. The matter of proper jurisdiction was of great importance to a man dedicated to laws that came from the people and not from the Lords of all creation. Free born John protested the jurisdiction of the House of Lords on June 11th.

Sixteen forty six and was led off to prison for his pains. He was returned to the House of Lords as a delinquent on June 23rd. At the bar. I will not reveal who must Nero of the link but must kneel at the bar. I will not meet you. You will kneel I tell you so I will not yield at this time and for this reason because of this. The. Charges were drawn against little burn charges of high crimes and misdemeanors. He was returned to the House of Lords on July 10th to hear the charges read against him. And on that day free born John pointed up the significance of proper notice by one of the most extraordinary procedures yet met within the law. Read the challenge. Read the charges that he may hear it then make his defense.

I will not hear it Milo but you will hear it. If we cannot make you a meal. You cannot make yourself death that you do not hear the sobs. Read the jobs. Good lord indeed. Slowly to the astonishment of all three born John raised his hands from his sides and with great deliberation thrust a finger into each ear. They're. Free born John was removed again returned the order to keep his fingers out of his ears and listened as the charge against him. He stuck his fingers in his ears nonetheless and was removed again. Made a problem proper notice is so important to the processes of justice that no court wishing to maintain even a semblance of justice can afford to ignore it. And the

House of Lords wish to maintain a semblance of justice. It made a problem. The Lords pondered and reached a solution. For one thing little Byrne had shown high contempt for the honor and dignity of the house. No one could argue with that. Then too it was decided that one thing or in each year constituted an admission of the offense charged little burning went off to that familiar place. The tower with a seven year term. 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 where in 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. The sixth amendment to the Constitution of the United States. The phrase. And to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation is an indispensable requirement. It's such a requirement because our system of justice is based on a search for facts for the truth of a case long experience with the foibles of mankind has shown that the defense will do a better job of bringing in defensive truths in presenting a defensive case than will the prosecution. The defense can't search out the truth if it does not have the specific charge in hand long before going to court. If a man is charged with having committed a particular murder on the night of July 22nd and if he knows the charge ahead of time he may prove that he was a thousand miles away from the scene of the crime at the time of the crime. The same charge brought with

surprise into a trial might leave no time to prove anything. Proper notice includes adequate time for preparation. It is obviously essential to justice and there is another element included in the requirement of proper notice. Take John little burn in his home away from home. The Tower of London the author is close. Prison and knows not why. From my close unjust and causeless captivity this was not the case of little Burton and the House of Lords. It was the case of and the arrest by soldiers. He was he claimed suffering from causeless captivity he knew not why. This was the order that sent him to the tower. These are the will and require you to receive here with him to your custody the person of Lieutenant Colonel John Wilbur. I had him safely to keep in your prison of the taller of London until you receive father order he being

committed to you upon suspicion of high treason. Now how can a man defend himself against that. I arrest you know an officer might say I arrest you on suspicion of murder. I am the preliminary magistrate who presides at hearings preliminary. I'm listening. Speak your evidence your honor I suspect this man of murder. Has there been a medal lately. Why of your honor. That's good solid evidence. Facts are facts and must be considered when where they committed this year's story and in this city. Oh horrors. Murder will out you know. And why this man only found knives in his kitchen. Poison in his garage. A gun in his closet and water enough in his bath to drown anyone. Further he was in a city at the time all year. Waaa. You had a rope in a trunk of his car and a jack handle and enough glass in his windows which you have ground would ruin our regiment. Besides look say that the way wrings his

hands that crafty smile the look of his eyes saw a space shadowed Dawk suspicion. But what of motive. Right he's been heard to say and I quote I cannot stand people who talk to my suspicion of suspicion. They were all capable of talking those poor victims lock him up. But you were on assignments take him to the prosecutor. I am the prosecutor. You understand I understand. I am going to prosecute you on suspicion of murder. I shall draw up the information with skill and daring with accuracy and precision exactly. And I want you to understand exactly that. If you had been before a grand jury and it had found the evidence against you that would have been up resentment. Do you understand. I do. And if you had been charged by a grand jury on the basis of evidence presented by me that would have been an indictment. Do you understand. Am I not precise. Exactly. However we do not have a grand

jury indictment in this state more's the pity. So I have filed an information against you. Is that specific quite charging you with murder. Is that not exact. Not quite. Which murder you all find out. Where did it take place. Oh it was somewhere around the sitting. When. Oh this year how low. You'll see. Prepared to defend yourself what. Who did I murder. My dear fellow if you don't know why should I tell you. Oh God. An accused must have proper notice adequate time to prepare his case and a specific accusation which makes it possible to prepare a case. You watch all of it with high crimes and misdemeanors so I may as well if left my fingers in

my ears. You'll see things go with no good to be there can be no fair trial in this country unless it follows at a decent distance behind a concrete specific accusation which makes it possible to prepare a case which is understandable to the accused and which outlines a case which would be understandable to a jury. The same principle applies to the laws themselves. A law which doesn't give citizens their notice that a certain act is a crime is no law at all. This for example it's against the law to be bad. Well. And you'll be hanged for being bad. Bad is. A law which declared it a crime to be bad in this country would be struck down immediately by our courts as void void for vagueness. Citizens simply can't follow and obey laws which do not specify which

particular piece of behavior is against the law. That principle applies in general around the world wherever courts operate in a civilized fashion. Dictators and tyrants of all sorts around the world and through history have had a difficult time of it in gaining power where courts and citizens followed their own procedures of justice and no tyrant of any sort can stay in power where courts are places of justice. Consequently most tyrants of followed the happy device hit upon by. How so. Well look where he's posted the laws. Caligula a Roman emperor. One of the most tyrannical and mad so named for the rough soldier's boots he always wore which symbolized his rule posted his laws according to legend. Up there up there in the highest place written in the

smallest possible way so that no one can read them. Good lord we could be breaking the law standing here and trying to read the law. And that was the purpose. If no one knew the law ahead of time anyone might break the law any time a good tyrant can get rid of almost anyone that way. But modern minds don't tolerate such crude stuff. Consequently in 1926 the communists in Russia produced a refinement. It is a crime to indulge in socially dangerous conduct any one at any time of course might be picked up for conducting themselves socially dangerously. Hitler added the refinement on his own in 1935. In Germany it is a crime to conduct oneself in a fashion contrary to the sound feelings of the people. That was a good one. The sound feelings of the people has the power of a good

positive thought to it. A good sound sense of public relations in this country such laws would be struck down void for vagueness. Or to put it another way in this country there can be no criminal act unless that act breaks the law. We walk in freedom in this country because we know that a few specific acts are criminal under the law and that beyond them any behavior is safe and free. An act may be objectionable. Wrong. Bad socially dangerous or contrary to the sound feelings of the people. But unless the law calls it a crime it is not a crime. One point more remains in England before they beheaded the king. It was against the law.

It was treason to think treason murder to imagine killing the king. Killing would have enjoyed that one when men can be punished for their thoughts. Who shall name the facts of the case who bear witness who proved beyond reasonable doubt a treasonable plot was thought no one such a law sets everyone within the unrestricted power of the people in authority. Consequently in this country it is a rule. It is a rule that men may be punished for behavior for acts but not for thoughts. No law punishing thought would stand up in American courts under the Constitution. Such a law would belong with laws hung too high to be read to veg to avoid and with accusations too vague to make a case. Our courts stand squarely in the path of tyranny. The right to notice guided by the courts is indeed a bulwark of freedom. But one more notice is needed here perhaps because a few thousand bench weary judges and a few thousand lawyers can hardly oppose

a tyrannical juggernaut. The notice from leather lungs John 3 born on the turbulence. But did a countryman ask them what evil I have done and they can show you none. No my great and only fault is that. I will never brook whilst I live to see and beside. The laws and rights of the nation trod under foot. For what is done to anyone may be done to everyone. Besides being all members of one body the Commonwealth. One man should not suffer wrongly but all should be sensible and endeavor his preservation otherwise they give way to an inlet of the sea of will and power. Upon their laws and liberty which are the boundaries to keep out tyranny and oppression. And who assists not in such cases betrays his own rights and

is overrun and of a free man made a slave when he thinks not of it or Regards it not. And so is shunning the same sure of. Turbulence incurs the guilt of treachery to the present and future generations. To every man his due is produced by a radio station WAGA of the University of Wisconsin under a grant from the National Educational Television and Radio center and distributed by the National Association of educational broadcasters script by Milburn and Elizabeth Carlson content consultant David film and music by Don vaguely. Production by Carl Schmidt. This is the N.A. E.B. Radio Network.