By Harold Pease, Ph.D.
The indefinite detention of the January 6, 2021 participants is the most egregious violation of Bill of Rights Amendments V, VI, and VIII in U.S. History. Regardless of where readers stand on detainees’ guilt or innocence, no political party, president, or congress can justify the length of detainment without bail or trial gave January 6, detainees. None can say they follow the Constitution!! The presumption of innocence as the base of our judicial system has been shattered by the political party presently in power. Worse, the inhumane treatment of suspects, THOSE NOT CONVICTED OF ANYTHING, could become the precedent for the rest of society. Indefinite detention without trial is now designed to punish before guilt is established.
Consider the Amendments noted above beginning with Amendment V. No persons may “be deprived of…liberty…without due process of law.” Due process of law mandates completion of a process—accused, arrested, and sometimes detained for a short time, tried, guilt or innocence established, then freedom or incarceration—each a part of due process. Never is infinite detainment, and/or punishment while detained, without due process acceptable.
Amendment VI is essentially removed from the Bill of Rights. “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 wherein the crime shall have been committed.” After nearly two years of confinement, no one can argue that this was speedy. It also violated the Speedy Trial Act of 1974 and, as amended, August 2, 1979, which placed time limits defining speedy trial on the prosecution. These too were ignored by the Joe Biden government. In this case, the accused is denied a trial at all. When a public trial is convened, if ever, the amendment requires that the accused “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.”
From the start legal necessities for a prisoner’s defense became tools of punishment and control. January 6 detainees have, “No Access to Discovery,” “No Legal Support such as laptops, printers, and copiers,” No “Legal Mentors,” and they lack “Legal Documentation on Tablets.” Also, guards prevented them “from attending court dates.” How can any prisoner believe that those confining him will take seriously his “compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the assistance of counsel for his defense?”. (“34 US Political Prisoners in DC Gulag Demand Transfer to Guantanamo Bay,” By Harold Pease, Ph.D., LibertyUnderFire.com).
But Amendment VIII may be the most violated. “Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.” We know of no bail or fines implemented for any of the remaining 34 January 6 detainees. Respecting cruel and unusual punishment, certainly the seven paged letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland by the 34 remaining Jan. 6 detainees, noting 70 abhorrent violations of human rights in their nearly two-year imprisonment without bail or trial, testifies of such. Their treatment was so bad that they unanimously requested a transfer to Guantanamo and argue that non-citizens, those who killed nearly 3,000 Americans on 9-11, received better treatment than they in the DC Gulag.
Detainees believe their confinement and torturous treatment is largely punishment for their support of Trump in the Electoral College vote count—that is why they were in the House chambers. They believe themselves American political prisoners. Indeed, MAGA supporters are subject to reeducation (brainwashing) through education tablets, these filled with C.R.T. propaganda and racial biased media. Guards, mostly black, routinely racially profile detainees, mostly white, and prisoners who are “repeatedly mocked and or insulted for our skin color or ‘religious’ documentation.” These are threatened, maced, physically harassed, beaten, invaded in the middle of the night, assaulted politically, mocked by staff, and verbally assaulted being compared to beasts, dogs, and hogs by the guards. Remember DC. guards are decidedly far left, as is the DC environment from which they came, thus they view their MAGA detainees as enemies.
Those able to get messages “out to the public tell of their long-term solitary confinement without cause, sleep deprivation techniques, beatings at the hands of guards while in restraints, and threats of harsher treatment for speaking to the media (“Ignore the Dissidents of Our Time at Your Peril,” by Sarah Corridor, Homefront Crusade, October 13, 2021).
Nathan DeGraves, one of the 34 demanding to be sent to Guantanamo, after four months in the Gulag was able to smuggle out a description of the conditions he suffered. “The conditions here are inhumane,” he wrote, “DC’s Gitmo January Sixers experienced daily lockdowns for 23 to 24 hours before being allowed to leave our small 120 square-foot cells. The physical and mental anguish that results from this kind of severe isolation has caused many people to go on a rapid mental decline. As a result, a large percentage of us are heavily medicated with anti-anxiety and anti-depressant drugs, which help to cope with the psychological and mental abuse we endure. Many times the little recreation we do receive is stripped away if our cell isn’t up to the standards of the guard on duty. This changes from day to day.” All this is both cruel and unusual punishment.
“January Sixers have lost recreation time, and out-of-cell activity time, for any news interviews about the jail when they are aired on TV, when people speak up about our conditions, or rallies are held in our name. We’ll probably have a lockdown upon the publishing of this letter. So I have already warned those I know in advance” (Nathan DeGraves: “An American Political Prisoner,” By Harold Pease, Ph.D., LibertyUnderFire.com).
If we do not stop the injustices and human suffering surrounding us, someday we too may suffer the same.
Dr. Harold Pease is a syndicated columnist and an expert on the United States Constitution. He has dedicated his career to studying the writings of the Founding Fathers and applying that knowledge to current events. He taught history and political science from this perspective for over 30 years at Taft College. Newspapers have permission to publish this column. To read more of his weekly articles, please visit www. www.LibertyUnderFire.org Column # 691.
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