Update on Grand Jury Resister Jordan Halliday
Jordan Halliday
What follows is an account from an attendee of grand jury resister Jordan Halliday’s recent court hearing. Jordan is being held in contempt for refusing to testify before a grand jury investigating mink releases from farms in Utah. Jordan remains in jail.
Background info, news on Jordan’s imprisonment, and the jail address to write him can be found at:
Court date report from an activist in Utah:
“Today I and around 20 other activists attended Jordan Halliday’s
hearing regarding his Grumbles motion.
In a nutshell and in simplified terms, a Grumbles motion states
that someone being held in civil comtempt of court for not
testifying will never testify, no matter what, so continuing to
hold them serves no legitimate purpose for the court. Civil
contempt detention can never be punitive – meaning we’re doing this
simply as a tit for tat punishment – but rather only coercive, to
induce testimony. If the inducement of testimony is apparently
impossible, then the person must be release.
First, Jordan’s mother took the stand. She testified to the fact
that Jordan is a deeply principled person who has been vegan since
age 12 despite her pleadings. She characterized him as firm and at
times stubborn, but always on his deep philosophical beliefs. She
said that she has no doubt that Jordan will not testify, and said
that even she tried to change his mind on this.
Then Jordan took the stand. Jordan has had pretty inadequate
nutrition for over two months in jail now and he looked rather
pale. It was very emotional for all of us to see him in this shape.
He was chained and shackled – like a full-blown terrorist. His
hands were cuffed and then chained to his shackled ankles. He was
in his prison clothes. As though he’s a violent maniac.
To cut to the chase: The judge ruled against Jordan in his Grumbles
motion and expressed willingness to hold him for the statutory
maximum term (18 months). Jordan, his friends, and his family are
all now coming to grips with the very real possibility that Jordan
will be held in jail until September 13, 2010. Jordan, predictably,
is still holding firm against this shameful pillar of tyranny in
our “democratic” nation.
Here was the judge’s reasoning, by the way. Through internet
records and text messages (obtained through national security
wiretaps, by the way), the prosecution showed that Jordan did prior
research on grand juries upon receiving his subpoena, including
going to the No Compromise website and their info on grand jury
proceedings. It also showed that he knew of the “Grumbles” motion
in advance, long before he was ever found in contempt. Judge
Campbell basically stated that she believes that since he always
knew he might get out on a Grumbles motion, that the government
hasn’t exercised its full coercive power. So she is going to take
it to the fullest extent and extinguish any hope that he get out on
a Grumbles motion. So, in other words, Jordan’s prior legal
research and his knowledge of his own legal rights was used against
him in court. The fact that he knew the legal process, knew his
rights, and knew that there was a possibility that Grumbles would
release him demonstrated that he wasn’t yet fully coerced into
testifying.
Nothing will change with Judge Cambell’s decision today – he will
surely continue to take a principled stand against the government’s
abuse of power and disruption of social justice movements that try
to disrupt the status quo. Jordan is truly an incredibly stand up
person and I’d encourage any animal activist out there to write him
letters in jail to continue voicing support for his stance and do
whatever they can to show that he has support from the animal
rights movement.”
Please take a moment and write Jordan Halliday:
Jordan Halliday
Inmate #24836
1225 West Valley View Highway, Suite 100
Logan, UT 84321
