September 23, 2004
Update:
We The People v.
United States
What a difference 60 days makes: from 6 to 2,000 Plaintiffs.
Thousands of Americans are now learning
the meaning of the last ten words of the First Amendment and are exercising
their Right to Petition the government for Redress of Grievances relating
to:
-
The war powers
clauses of the Constitution and the Iraq Resolution.
-
The “privacy”
and due process clauses and the USA Patriot Act.
-
The taxing
clauses and the direct, un-apportioned tax on labor.
-
The money and
“debt” clauses and the Federal Reserve System.
On July 19, 2004, four People and
two organizations filed a Complaint in the District Court for the District
of Columbia. The Complaint seeks an Order (quote):
“Granting declaratory relief to the Plaintiffs by constraining the
defendants to meet their obligations under the law and relevant rules by
entering into good faith exchanges with the Plaintiffs and to provide to
the Plaintiffs documented and specific answers to the reasonable questions
asked of them by the Plaintiffs and to address in their respective
official capacities each of the issues raised by the Plaintiffs in their
Petitions to representatives of the United States Government, namely:
grievances relating to violations of the U.S. Constitution’s war powers,
taxing, money, and ‘privacy’ and due process clauses.”
On September 16, 2004, the
Complaint was amended.
(1 MB right-click to donwload)
Nearly 2,000 people from every state in the Union have now been added to the
list of named plaintiffs.
The caption of the Complaint is now 64 pages in length.
No Longer a
“Class Action”
Rather than potentially wait the
many months it would take for the Court to identify and formally certify a
“plaintiff-class,” or worse yet, be dependent upon the discretion of the
Court to certify a plaintiff-class, we have decided to make the action a
“class-action-like” lawsuit, by dropping the “Class Action” designation and
by greatly expanding the list of named plaintiffs.
Because of this shift in legal strategy, all of our supporters that
previously signed up intending to become members of the plaintiff
“class-action” aspect of the case are now strongly encouraged to join the
rapidly growing list of formally “named” Plaintiffs. All “named”
Plaintiffs are eligible for the protections that the court may possibly
order, if any, in the future as a result of the amended Complaint.
See the note below on how to join.
From 2,000 to
20,000
It has been said that when the People are up
against unjust and uncivil government, they can achieve the reform they are
entitled to only if they are pro-active, non-violent and have a
mass-movement.
Therefore, we intend to amend the complaint again, by increasing the number
of named Plaintiffs tenfold – to 20,000.
Then,
if possible, we would like to amend the complaint with another ten-fold
increase in the number of named plaintiffs.
We intend to make it as difficult as
possible for the government, including the courts, not to take this matter
seriously.
While only one person should be able
to go to the court for a declaration of his or her Rights under the Petition
Clause of the First Amendment, we know what is at stake for the government
and how politicized the matter may become. Numbers DO count.
In any event, we need to let the
government know that we, the People, are serious in our effort to get honest
responses to our Petitions for Redress of these Grievances.
PLEASE, do all you can to help us
achieve our next goal of 20,000 named plaintiffs.
PLEASE, join the action (if you are
not already on the list of named plaintiffs).
PLEASE contact your friends and associates with a request that they join the
lawsuit. If your friends and associates would like more information about
the We The People organization and the Right To Petition lawsuit, they
should send an e-mail to
Bob@GiveMeLiberty.org,
along with a mailing addresses. We will respond promptly.
Become A Named Plaintiff
To be added to the list of Plaintiffs, one must do three things.
First, read and sign one or more of the four
Petitions for
Redress. Second, send us a notarized Affidavit. Third, submit the on-line
Contact Information form. Please go to the
Lawsuit Information Center
for all the details about joining the lawsuit.
It’s Free
There is no charge to join the Right
To Petition lawsuit.
Mark Lane is the attorney. His fees
are being paid by solely through donations and contributions from the public
at large.
Anyone wishing to contribute to the lawsuit can do so by clicking here to
donate or by mailing their
donation to We The People Foundation, 2458 Ridge Road, Queensbury, NY 12804.
Donations to the Foundation are tax-deductible and can be made on a one-time
or schedulable, monthly basis.
An Apology
We apologize for the fact that many are having difficulties getting our
website to properly respond to their on-line information processing
requests. First, our primary technical resource was unexpectedly forced to
depart from us leaving us with significant operational
and recovery issues. Then our Internet Service Provider committed a
significant technical mistake while servicing our dedicated server resulting
in the destruction of the primary components of our e-mail software system.
We are actively working to cure the
problems. Thank you for your patience.
Dick Simkanin
Many people have asked us how Dick
Simkanin is doing.
The good news is he was moved to the
federal “camp” at Texarkana, Texas. Dick tells us the facility is far better
than the one he was at in Fort Worth. Not only are the inmates those who
have been convicted of “white collar” crimes, there are no fences, bars,
barbed wire, etc. Dick is spending some of his time as a GED instructor,
teaching math, science and related subjects to inmates.
Everyone is urged to continue
writing letters to Dick Simkanin. He really depends on your letters to keep
his spirits up. His new address is:
Richard Michael Simkanin
30383-177 Unit F
FEDERAL CORRECTIONAL INSTITUTION
P.O. BOX 7000
TEXARKANA, TX 75505-7000
Even though our organization has contributed significantly to Dick’s Legal
Defense Fund, we are unable to report on the progress of Dick’s appeal.
Unfortunately, the Foundation has not been kept informed about the specific
progress and details of the appeal by his legal team which consists of
attorneys Peter Goldberger and Robert Bernhoff, and paralegal Tom Selgas.
As soon as we hear something newsworthy, we will pass it on.
Join the
RTP lawsuit and learn about the Right to Petition
Click
Here for Lane's 7/04 Letter to Plaintiffs and to see how lawsuit
kick-off began in DC this July
Become a
local or state Coordinator.
Donate –
one time or monthly.
Join the WTP
Congress.
-
To Join the RTP class action lawsuit, GO TO THE
Lawsuit Information Center
-
Click Here to
donate and help finance this vital project to protect the
Constitution.
-
Read and sign the
Petitions for Redress of Grievances
regarding the Government's
abuse of its limited war-making, taxing, and monetary powers and its ongoing
assault
on the Bill of Rights.
-
Click Here to obtain a copy of the
Give Me Liberty 2004
conference record. 26+ Hours
of "must-see"
freedom video -- the leading voices on reclaiming our Republic &
the
Right to Petition...On (4) VHS tapes or (8) CD-ROMs.
|
