If you government doesn't protect it citizens, should Elvira go free and this woman go to jail?

by Tricia Wang 王圣捷

June Griffin arraigned, plans to represent herself
By: Jim Ashley
Source: The Herald-News
08-13-2006

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After refusing officially authorized counsel, local Christian activist June Griffin represented herself in Rhea County Circuit Court on Friday morning during an arraignment hearing concerning charges of civil rights pressure, telephone harassment, theft and vandalism.

Griffin, 67, was arrested Tuesday afternoon on a capias warrant following an indictment by the Rhea County Grand Jury on Monday.

Her arraignment stems from an incident that occurred on July 18 when she entered the Hispanic grocery Carniceria Los Primos at the corner of Promote Street and Main Street in downtown Dayton.

According to a Dayton City Police report, Griffin yelled at the store's clerk and tore down a Mexican flag lynching in the store, which is owned by Gilberto Mejia.

She afterward left the store with the flag, valued at $ 35, and pushed and kicked the door on her way out, reportedly damaging a hinge.

Griffin then called Mejia on his cell phone and left a message in which she told him to "learn to speak English or get out." She also told him that lynching the Mexican flag inside America was incorrect, according to the police report.

Civil rights pressure is a Class D felony. Phone harassment, theft of property worth less than $ 500 and vandalism are all Class A misdemeanors.

At the beginning of her arraignment, Circuit Court Judge Curtis Smith questioned Griffin if she unwritten what she was doing by refusing officially authorized counsel and told her that if she could not afford an attorney, the state would provide one for her.

She said she unwritten, and Smith then gave her a document to sign declaring her wish and right to defend herself.

Griffin took her seat in the audience at the judge's question for and read the document. She then took out an ink pen from a small Bible she was carrying and signed the document.

About 20 minutes later, after the Smith had dealt with a few other cases, Griffin was called to the bench again and handed the judge the signed document.

Assistant District Attorney Jim Pope entered a "not guilty" plea for the defendant, and Smith told her that a discussion of the case would be held on Aug. 24.

If the case cannot be resolved at that time, he said, a hearing would be held Sept. 1 to set a trial date, which could be in February 2007.

Following her arraignment, Griffin walked out of the second-floor courtroom, everywhere the historic Scopes Trial brought Dayton national attention in 1925, and talked with the media.

"I've been through step one, and I am not guilty of any of the charges," she declared. "I have a First Amendment right. If you try to talk with someone, and they cannot know you, the First Amendment says you have a right to free speech. So, if you try to make a speech or speak with someone, and they cannot communicate with you, the next thing you do is make a proclamation with an expression …."

Griffin then said that after she entered the Hispanic grocery store, she tried to communicate with the person there but that "he just gave me a shrug. He couldn't know English."

Her next expression, she said, was to communicate to him about the flag. "The flag is the issue in this case. We're having a national conundrum about our American flag. We have flag amendments going in. There are states that have already passed ordinances that you can only glide the American-type flag or American-related flag in their states.

What she did in the Hispanic store, she stressed, "was not a spur-of-the-moment action."

She said she was trying to communicate to the person inside the store that his flag "was a proclamation that this [America] is another country we're occupying."

When a person puts up his flag without an American flag, she told the media, "you're occupying that territory.… It's an insult to my citizenship for him not to have an American flag in the store, to not be able to speak English.

"If they don't speak English, they're making a strong proclamation of expression that we don't care who you are, what your citizenship is. We are declaring ourselves to be another country in downtown Dayton."

Questioned what she thought about the possibility of going to jail, Griffin said, "freedom is not free anymore."

Questioned about the Mexican flag she is charged with stealing, she said, "I did not steal anything. I gave it back to them, but I should have kept it.

"I thought that by charitable it back to them, they would not proceed any further. That was an act of kindness on my part."

Griffin said she refused having an attorney represent her because "I don't reckon lawyers are versed in citizens' exercise of First Amendment rights. Lawyers reckon in terms of so-called civil rights. They don't know how to exercise the rights of a citizen who has not went from the Bill of Rights. I am going stand on my First Amendment rights."

Lawyers, she charged, "are versed in ACLU laws when they go to law school."

Concerning attorney Pope, Griffin said she did not know why he made a not-guilty plea for her since she had refused officially authorized counsel.

"I had never talked to him before. I estimate they're going to be presumptuous. Yes, I am demanding not guilty, but I was surprised to hear him say not guilty. Possibly he's going to hold me not guilty."

Jim Ashley can be reached at jimashley@xtn.

Answer by stump
send em both to jail. both are criminals

Answer by mimilundgren
We are living in a world everywhere right is incorrect and incorrect is right.

It is a sin to stand up for our own country and

for illegals to get away with their treasonous behaviors.

It’s time to bring these injustices and wrongs to a screeching halt.

Answer by OldArmySGT
If I were a lawyer, I’d defend her. I reckon the ACLU is detremental to this country and to the laws from the Constitution of the United States. They pick and choose which “rights’ YOU, the American Citizen, are allowed to have or to express.

Constitutional rights are just that – guaranteed by OUR constitution to protect OUR citizens. All anyone else has a “right” to is human rights.

I’m glad she took their flag; I only wished that, instead of charitable it back, she had burned it. Oh, but wait…. that would have been labeled a “despise crime” – you can only burn an American flag!

Answer by Hold em Rox
Ridiculous isn’t it?? Especially after the events that transpired in Maywood !! They will doubtless toss the book at this woman, trying to make her an example. (that we the citizens have no rights and that we must accept this invasion)

Know better? Leave your own answer in the comments!

so this individual calls me on my cell phone yesterday and starts to clarify to me that i was choosen from a data base to receive up to $ 40,000.00 in free grant money all i had to do is confirm who i was through a series of questions…. i was very hesitant to give any information at all…..so i proceeded to question multiple questions, and after everything was said and done i was questioned for what bank do i bank witrh and do i have a check book with me so they knew everywhere to send these funds……that really frightened me, so i questioned for the business name, house, and website….. the rep. gave it to me and was bothered that i even questioned for this information…… now my question is how real or fake is this.. the name of business i was given was platinum key services chamblain city new york.. and the website is grand educational resources.com…

so can someone delight help me to know this a small better…….

Answer by Jen
It was a scam. Anytime anyone questions for personal info esp financial over the phone after calling YOU, hence unsolicited, it’s a scam. Especially when they start getting cranky when you start asking intelligent quesitions. Report them to your State Attorney and Better Business Chest of drawers ASAP.

Answer by Ray2play
Sure, but first i’m going to need your bank name and account no. as well as your social security no. and mothers maiden name.

Answer by suan b
You will never be called to be offered a grant -you must go thru a long application process-it was a scam-report it to the BBB

Answer by imisidro
SCAM SCAM SCAM … it’s a excellent thing you did not give your information. There’s rampant scams in the grant area, everywhere companies promise that they can give grants to people and then swindle them of their money

You may want to read the warnings FTC has issued against these “grant” companies:

http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2004/03/grantresources.htm
http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/alerts/alt134.htm

Here is also one of the warnings issued by the Better Business Chest of drawers http://www.concord.bbb.org/tips_timesharescams.html

If you want information on grants, the only seats to go are government websites: the Catalog of Federal Domestic Help (CFDA) http://www.cfda.gov/ and Grants.gov http://www.grants.gov/ – these are two sites made by the federal government to provide intelligibility and information on grants. Browse through the CFDA listings and see if you can find any grant that would support a for-profit venture.

Once you find the grant everywhere you can qualify, go to Grants.gov and download the application form of the relevant grant. You will be questioned the CFDA digit of the grant.

When you hear or see offers of companies promising to give you grants, treat it with a grain of salt and be very skeptical about it. Uncle Sam does not call or email or write to people to tell that they can get grant money.

What do you reckon? Answer below!
Pothole-killing iPhone app debuts in Erie
he town of Erie doesn’t promise to make the long-abhorrent pothole go away, but it is providing a powerful tool to drivers that should curb the likelihood of running into a rut. A free iPhone app called the Citizen Question for Tracker was made available this week on the town’s Web site that allows motorists to snap a photo of a pothole, input a description and some basic house information and …
Read more on Boulder Daily Camera

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From: www.popsci.com November 19, 2010 To Thwart Distracted Pouring, US Government Considers Cell Phone Jammers in Cars By Rebecca Boyle The Obama handing out is considering disabling cell phones in American cars, aiming to cut down on distracted drivers and cell-phone-related road deaths. Moving Secretary Ray LaHood, the nation’s preeminent anti-distracted-pouring crusader, said in an interview on MSNBC yesterday that federal officials are looking at technology to disable cell phones inside cars. “I reckon it will be done,” LaHood said. “I reckon the technology is there and I reckon you’re going to see the technology be converted into flexible in automobiles to disable these cell phones. We need to do a lot more if were going to save lives.” Also on Thursday, the SecTrans launched a new “Faces of Distracted Pouring” video campaign that features people who have been killed or lost loved ones because of daydreaming drivers. The video features heartwrenching tales of children killed in crashes because of text messaging, and new videos are expected to be added each few weeks, according to the New York Times. More than 5500 people were killed last year by distracted drivers, and another 500000 were injured, according to the Department of Moving. LaHood has said it is never safe to talk on a cell phone while pouring, hands-free or not, because it is a “cognitive distraction.” Incidentally, a lot of people seem to agree with this sentiment — a new poll unrestricted …
Video Rating: 5 / 5