Why You Must Know Your Rights
Read the articles below and Overstand why you must learn your rights!
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Courtroom Yawner Jailed for Six Months
AOL News
posted: 4 HOURS 44 MINUTES AGO
comments: 2303
filed under: National News, Weird News
Aug. 10) — As Clifton Williams sat in the courtroom in Joliet, Ill., awaiting his cousin’s sentencing on drug charges, little did he know he would soon be the one in jail.
As Judge Daniel Rozak sentenced Williams’ cousin to two years probation, Williams yawned, an act that earned him six months in jail on contempt charges, the Chicago Tribune reported.
Williams’ father said he was “flabbergasted” by the sentence, the maximum issued for a contempt charge without a jury trial. “It seems to me like a yawn is an involuntary action,” Clifton Williams Sr. told the newspaper.
The court disagreed. While Rozak did not comment on the charges, a state’s attorney’s office spokesman, Chuck Pelkie, said Williams did not let out a “simple” yawn. “It was a loud and boisterous attempt to disrupt the proceedings,” he said.
According to the Tribune, Rozak is particularly fierce on courtroom decorum, issuing contempt-of-court charges at the highest rate of any judge in the county. The broad discretion of judges to control their courts has prompted Rozak to file contempt charges against people for everything from swearing to not silencing their cell phones.
However, some of the people Rozak assigned harsh sentences to were shown leniency if they apologized.
Williams will have to serve as least 21 days, the Tribune reported, and he has been locked up since July 23. In a letter to his family, Williams wrote, “I really can’t believe I’m in jail.”
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83 Days in Jail for Skipping Jury Duty
AP
posted: 10 HOURS 24 MINUTES AGO
comments: 196
filed under: Crime News, National News
McKINNEY, Texas (May 9) – A man arrested for allegedly failing to appear for jury duty was released Saturday after spending 83 days in jail, a length of detention that a judge called “unacceptable.”
Douglas Maupin was released a day after The Dallas Morning News brought his plight to the attention of a Collin County judge.
Maupin, a masonry contractor, was arrested Feb. 15 after police pulled him over for speeding. Police then detained him on a 2003 warrant for failure to appear for jury duty.
He wrote a letter to the newspaper about his lengthy jail stay, then said in a jailhouse interview that he, his friends and family could not afford his $1,500 bail.
He said his attempt to get a public defender was rebuffed by a jail clerk.
District Judge Chris Oldner said he was unaware of Maupin’s detention until Friday, even though the case was assigned to his court. The judge who signed the original 2003 warrant had retired, and officials said the case was assigned to the court of his replacement but the offense didn’t fall under that court’s responsibility.
“He should not have spent that much time. This is unacceptable,” Oldner told the Morning News. “I don’t know why the process failed to notify us.”
Oldner also said that Maupin should have been allowed to apply for a public defender.
Maupin, 34, said he just wanted his day in court.
“I do know I have the right to due process and a speedy trial,” he said. “I’ve had neither. It’s not right.”
The judge said he was “disappointed this has happened,” and promised to investigate.
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Jailed for life in Mississippi over an $11 armed robbery, two sisters weren’t scheduled for possible release until 2014.
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Uh, okay?? What are their rights??
Uh, okay. What are their rights??