This is a fact!
One woman in Kansas is using a rarely used 19th Century law to convene a grand jury of fellow citizens to help bring charges against the man she alleges raped her.
In 2018, Madison Smith alleged that a classmate attacked her during sex when she was a university student in Kansas. She reported the case as a rape. The accused, Jared Stolzenburg, denied that he raped her and insisted that the sex itself was consensual.
Image Source: kqed.org
The county prosecutor refused to press rape charges, but charged Stolzenburg with battery, to which he pleaded guilty.
Ms. Smith used a Kansas state law dating back to 1887 to instead call up a “citizen’s grand jury”. It convened for the first time recently in what is thought to be the first case of its kind involving a sex crime in the United States. Citizens’ grand juries in Kansas have previously been convened because people were unhappy with an indecent public sculpture, adult book stores, or abortion doctors.
Image Source: slate.com
In most states, a grand jury is organized by officials investigating the case, and determines if there is enough evidence to pursue a prosecution. Grand jury members examine evidence and hear witness testimony. Sometimes, they subpoena documents from the accused or look only at the evidence that the police have gathered.
A grand jury meets in secret to decide only if charges should be brought, but does not decide if the accused is guilty or innocent. A grand jury does not have to be unanimous to issue an indictment, but depending on the jurisdiction, usually two-thirds or three-quarters of the grand jurors must agree.
If charges are filed, the case is handled as a standard criminal matter. The defendant pleads guilty or not guilty in a traditional jury trial.
In most of the US, only a judge or a prosecutor has the power to convene a jury, but Kansas, along with Oklahoma, Nebraska, North Dakota, New Mexico, and Nevada allows citizens themselves to call one.
What About California? Citizens Can’t Indict, But They Can Investigate
California doesn’t allow citizens to convene criminal grand juries or file criminal charges through petition signatures, but the state offers something almost as powerful: can California residents force a grand jury investigation into local government corruption or misconduct by filing a citizen complaint? The answer is yes, through California’s unique civil grand jury system established under the California Constitution.
Every year, each of California’s 58 counties impanels a civil grand jury consisting of 19 citizens who serve as a “watchdog” over local government operations. California Penal Code sections 888 through 939.91 authorize these civil grand juries to investigate county and city governments, special districts, and school districts based on citizen complaints. Unlike the criminal grand jury systems in Kansas or Oklahoma, California’s civil grand juries cannot issue criminal indictments, but they can investigate governmental inefficiencies, official misconduct, and corruption.
The practical reality is that California civil grand juries receive hundreds of citizen complaints annually and must investigate detention facilities and audit county books by law. When investigations uncover corruption or willful misconduct, California Penal Code Section 919(b) empowers civil grand juries to file formal accusations to remove public officials from office—a quasi-criminal power that stops short of criminal prosecution but can effectively end political careers.
Kansas’ law was designed to ensure that people who do not have wealth or power can still have a shot at holding someone accountable for their actions.
In Kansas, a state resident must circulate a petition to collect a certain number of signatures. Ms. Smith’s petition were posted in bars and cafes in town. Smith, who needed 212 signatures, collected 329.
What do you think? Should citizens be able to call their own grand juries, which might result in criminal charges against someone?
Kansas has the right concept as we see what is happening today Wednesday, 9/20/2023 CE. The purpose of government is to protect the Creator-given rights of the people, and that is the reason that a just government is formed; with its powers, and functions dictated by the moral-conscious people of its jurisdiction.
Yes, I do…infact grand juries should be a valid form of receiving justice against any abusive power, elected or appointed.
it is a stupid idea and I don’t see how they would enforce their will