DRAFT
Plan to Humanely and Privately (Not Secretly) Prosecute Lawbreakers With Restorative Justice Opportunities For Both Victims and Lawbreakers
(Updated April 29, 2013)
Please consider this plan as a draft work in progress and the lists in this documents as open ended.
Recommendations, comments and additional items, anonymous if you like, are welcomed and can be provided by email, fax, phone or regular mail to the compiler shown at the end of this document. Thanks.
As the name implies this is a plan to humanely and with minimal publicity, prosecute perpetrators of crimes using constitutional, rehabilitative, restorative justice principles and practices as outlined in The Plan to Reform Criminal Justice and Prisons Using Rehabilitative, Restorative Justice. The idea is to use these principles and practices beginning as soon as possible in each case and during all phases of the prosecution and rehabilitation.
The reasons this must be done includes:
1. To protect the people from criminal behavior not only from violence but also from financial, property and violation of rights crimes by public and private sector officials
2. For the victims of crimes including the people and governments to receive restitution, reparations and/or disgorgement (including turning over factories and land to workers who have been exploited) by perpetrators of crimes including public and private sector officials
3. To ensure perpetrators of crimes are rapidly rehabilitated and become productive members of society.
4. To have equal justice for all. Today we have very lenient, almost non existent criminal justice for senior public and private sector officials and harsh criminal justice for the poor and lower middle class who cannot afford expensive attorneys. Whether or not individuals go to prison usually depends upon whether or not he or she can afford an expensive attorney who knows the judge.
Nader, Ralph, The Seventeen Solutions, page 160, HarperCollins Publisher Inc. New York, NY, 2012
"because of corporate crime: … roughly 60,000 Americans die from workplace related diseases and trauma, 70,000 from air pollution, 100,000 from hospital negligence … another 100,000 from hospital induced infections … 45,000 because they cannot afford health insurance … these fatalities are preventable … the only way to stop them is to arrest the march of corporate crime
Nader, Ralph, The Seventeen Solutions, page 160, HarperCollins Publisher Inc. New York, NY, 2012
The way to accomplish this are outlined in this plan.
Numerous official reports, books and articles describe the horrors, wastefulness and illegality of U.S. wars, assassinations, drone attacks, torture, abuse of detainees and massive financial crimes.
Yet after at least ten years of these atrocities, illegalities and despite numerous petitions, phone
calls, demonstrations law suits and now “occupations”, not one high-ranking official that
authorized and planned these illegal acts have indicted and not one survivor of U.S. torture has
succeeded in holding these officials accountable in a U.S. court for torture.
One of the “torture lawyers” – the authors of the memorandums that wrongfully and unlawfully authorized torture – is a federal judge another is teaching law at prestigious law school.
Not only has the government not prosecuted any high level officials, it is subsidizing crimes and paying for foreclosures.
The supposed $26 billion settlement between the federal government and 49 state attorney generals with major banks to address their criminal fraud, robo signing and changing income and job history on mortgage applications without the applicants knowledge actually became mostly a bailout of the large banks. This settlement:
•Provides minimal if any compensation for the hundreds of thousands of families who have literally had and are having their homes stolen.
•Will not prevent or stop one foreclosure but will instead allow the banks to accelerate the pace of foreclosures which are now increasing significantly. (Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the Federal Housing Authority, government-controlled institutions, have funneled approximately $200 billion to the banks through their silent bailout that occurs with every foreclosure.)
•Contains a broad release of the banks' conduct related to mortgage loan servicing, foreclosure preparation, and mortgage loan origination services. Claims based on these areas of past conduct by the banks cannot be brought by state attorneys general or banking regulators.
•Will be subsidized in part by U.S. taxpayers via a clause in the provisional agreement which make most of the $26 billion settlement, in fact a bailout for them.
Instead of making them pay the price for their actions, our public servants have given, loaned or guaranteed Wall Street over $37 trillion while every day Americans are still struggling to make
ends meet.
By pushing bad loans and peddling risky mortgage-backed securities as safe investments, these banks aided by our public servants have cost the world economy at least $7.7 trillion.
Their widespread fraud and corruption also cost millions of hardworking Americans their jobs, their homes, and their shot at the American Dream.
Our public servants have not provided any meaningful responses to numerous petitions, letters, and requests for investigations, hearings, impeachments and special prosecutors to investigate and prosecute these crimes.
Refining and executing this plan will turn all this around by helping to coordinate the efforts of the many individuals and organizations working on this and by providing strategies, procedures and sample documents to initiate and follow through with humane, private (not secret), prosecutions of civilian and military officials, legislators, judges, corporation executives and others who have broken the law and encourage/convince them to provide appropriate restitution to victims, be apologetic, contrite and mend their ways.
This Plan, a key element of the Universal, Common Strategic Plan for a Peaceful, Prosperous and Just World:
•Uses the humane, constitutional, private, restorative justice, rehabilitation and reconciliation principles and practices described in the Plan to Reform Criminal Justice Systems Using Humane, Constitutional and Restorative Justice Principles and Practices, to help heal/restore both victims and perpetrators of crimes.
•Builds on the past and ongoing efforts of other organizations and individuals working on prosecutions and civil law suits..
•Supplies a framework for those interested to list additional ideas, problems and solutions and to work with others to accomplish the solutions.
•Can be used at local, state, federal and international levels.
•Will help ensure that the rule of law is equally enforced, educate our public servants and the public on criminal justice procedures, restorative justice, the Uniform Code of Military Justice (“UCMJ”) and civil rights and will help perpetrators of crimes understand the damages, suffering and misery that their crimes have caused.
Recommendations, comments and suggestions on all aspects of this plan are welcomed.
To obtain a grand jury indictment, a U.S. Attorney or local district attorney is required. However, anyone can provide a complaint to go before a magistrate, magistrate judge or judge and swear out a criminal complaint,
The proposed approach includes getting to know the prosecutors and investigators and getting them to understand the damage that have been caused by not prosecuting public and private sector officials. As you get to know them, discuss humane justice with them and providing them with sample proposed criminal complaints, affidavits that show probable cause and the cover letters with the names redacted.
Michael Haas, in his book George W. Bush, War Criminal? alleges that members of the G. W. Bush administration committed 269 war crimes, which are described on Haas' website www.USWarCrimes.com. Haas' newer book, America's War Crimes Quagmire From Bush to Obama, provides descriptions of alleged war crimes by the Obama administration.
Human Rights USA and American University Washington College of Law International Human Rights Law Clinic recently released a report, Indefensible: A Reference for Prosecuting Torture and Other Felonies (http://www.prosecuteofficials.org/indefensible_a_reference_for_prosecuting_torture.pdf) This report serves as a practitioner's reference addressing the domestic and international laws implicated by the actions of high-ranking government officials. The report lays the groundwork for litigation against those responsible for approving and using illegal interrogation techniques
Charles Ferguson, Director of the Oscar Winning Documentary "Inside Job" and Author of "Predator Nation," in a Huffington Post Article, states:
It is no exaggeration to say that since the 1980s, much of the American (and global) financial sector has become criminalized, creating an industry culture that tolerates or even encourages systematic fraud. The behavior that caused the mortgage bubble and financial crisis was a natural outcome and continuation of this pattern, rather than some kind of economic accident.
It is important to understand that this behavior really is seriously criminal.
There have been very few prosecutions and no criminal convictions of large U.S. financial institutions or their senior executives.
The mortgage bubble and financial crisis were facilitated not only by deregulation but also by the prior twenty years' tolerance of large scale financial crime. ... [T]he absence of prosecution gradually led to a deeply embedded cultural acceptance of unethical and criminal behavior in finance ... and ... generated a sense of personal impunity; bankers contemplating criminal actions were no longer deterred by threat of prosecution.
William Simon, Economics Professor at MIT in a review of Ferguson's book: "Predator Nation states:
Predator Nation provides a roadmap for prosecution, systematically covering the banks involved, the names of culpable executives, the obvious crimes, the precise laws broken, and the evidence hiding in plain sight. No doubt it will be widely ignored by our legal officials.
These interested organizations and individuals are requested to work together, form an oversight board for this plan, and add everything that needs to be done to it. Recommendations can be made and items added by emailing Fisher@wethepeoplenow.org or faxing 703-521-0849.
The below Table of Contents provides an outline of this Plan. Each item in the plan can be accessed by clicking on the page number..
Table of Contents
V. Actions to Humanely and Privately Prosecute Lawbreakers
C. Prepare Documentation for Filing Criminal Complaints
D. Liaison with Investigators/Prosecutors and Special Counsel If and When One Is Appointed
E. Initiate and Follow Through with Humane, Private Prosecutions
VI. Food for Thought for Those Reluctant to Help with Prosecutions
A. Procedures for Preparing Documentation for Humane, Private Prosecutions
B. Sample Cover Letter Requesting Investigations and Prosecutions by Federal Authorities
C. Information that Should be Included in a Chronology of Events
D. Information that Should be Included in a Victim Impact Statement
E. Sample Affidavit in Support of a Criminal Complaint
F. Sample Spreadsheet Showing Campaign Donations to Legislators
G. Sample Victim Impact Statement
I. UCMJ Charge Sheet for Private First Class Bradley E. Manning, U.S. Army, provided as a sample
J. Complaint Filed with the I.C.C. by Professor Francis A. Boyle
This plan provides strategies, procedures and sample documents to initiate and follow through with humane, private prosecutions of civil and military officials, legislators, judges, corporation executives and others who have broken the law and to encourage/convince them to provide appropriate restitution to victims, be apologetic and contrite and mend their ways. These procedures use humane, constitutional, private, rehabilitation, reconciliation and restorative justice, principles and practices described in the Plan to Reform Criminal Justice Systems Using Humane, Constitutional and Restorative Justice Principles and Practices, outlined in HumaneJustice.org. These practices will help heal/restore both the victims and perpetrators of crimes. These procedures can be used at local, state, federal and ultimately at international levels.
•Help ensure that the rule of law is equally enforced
•Inform and educate our public servants and the public on criminal justice procedures and their reform, war crimes, restorative justice, the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ), civil rights, and related subjects.
•Lead perpetrators of crimes to understand the damages, suffering and misery that their crimes have caused, be apologetic and contrite, and provide appropriate restitutions to victims.
•Allow the participation of all interested individuals, regardless of their knowledge of criminal justice procedures.
Hundreds of books, articles and videos describe the horrors, wastefulness and criminality of U.S. wars, occupations, assassinations, drone attacks, torture and abuse of detainees.
Yet after years of these illegalities and despite hundreds of thousands of petitions, phone calls,
emails, demonstrations and now “occupations,” not one high-ranking official that authorized and
planned these illegal acts has been indicted and not one survivor of U.S. torture has succeeded
in holding these officials accountable in a U.S. court for torture.
The settlement between the federal government and 49 state attorneys general with Bank of America, Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo and Ally Financial "to address mortgage loan servicing and foreclosure abuses" (Department of Justice, Feb. 9) while acknowledging the massive fraud perpetrated by these institutions in carrying out foreclosures, provides minimal compensation for the hundreds of thousands of families who have lost their homes.
The $25 billion settlement will not prevent or stop one foreclosure. Instead, it is projected that the banks, with the settlement behind them, will actually accelerate the pace of foreclosures in 2012. (Global Finance News, Feb. 11) In 2011, a whopping 2.7 million foreclosure filings were reported in the U.S. (RealtyTrac, Jan. 12) This figure will likely rise significantly this year.
The proposed Release contains a broad release of the banks' conduct related to mortgage loan servicing, foreclosure preparation, and mortgage loan origination services. Claims based on these areas of past conduct by the banks cannot be brought by state attorneys general or banking regulators.
Financial Times reported that U.S. taxpayers will subsidize part of the $26 billion settlement owed by five leading banks to resolve claims over faulty foreclosures and mortgage practices. A clause in the provisional agreement, which has not been made public, allows the banks to count future loan modifications made under a previous foreclosure-prevention initiative toward their restructuring obligations for the new settlement. So this is a big deal that was worked out with all the U.S. attorneys-general in the United States and the banks, supposedly penalizing them, a $25-$26 billion settlement, but in fact a bailout for them.
Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the Federal Housing Authority, government-controlled institutions, together owning or insuring 75 percent of mortgage loans in the U.S., have funneled approximately $200 billion to the banks through the silent bailout that occurs with every foreclosure.
Instead of making them pay the price for their actions, our public servants have apparently given, loaned or guaranteed Wall Street $29.6 trillion [apparently now $37 trillion], while everyday Americans are still struggling to make ends meet.
By pushing bad loans and peddling risky mortgage-backed securities as safe investments, these banks cost the world economy $7.7 trillion. Their widespread fraud and corruption also cost millions of hardworking Americans their jobs, their homes, and their shot at the American Dream.
Senior public servants and private sector officials have committed crimes by authorizing, funding, providing support and materials for and profiting from these acts.
The rule of law is not being enforced. Despite ample probable cause for obvious crimes, no Department of Justice Official, U.S. attorney or state prosecutor has been willing to investigate and/or attempt to obtain grand jury indictments.
Time is ripe for massive change.
There is strength in numbers. We must work together. Otherwise they will pick us off one at a time as they attempted to do to Private Bradley Manning.
The fact that United States Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald had the sitting Governor of Illinois arrested and indicted shows that it is feasible to prosecute sitting legislators, senior government officials, Presidents and judges. The process that Fitzgerald used provides a model and sample documents required to accomplish this. Fitzgerald had Governor Blagojevich arrested for a couple of crimes.
Human Rights USA and American University Washington College of Law International Human Rights Law Clinic recently released a report, Indefensible: A Reference for Prosecuting Torture and Other Felonies. This report serves as a practitioner’s reference addressing the domestic and international laws implicated by the actions of certain former high-ranking government officials. The report lays the groundwork for litigation against those responsible for approving and using illegal interrogation techniques that was the official policy of the Bush Administration. You may read the outstanding report online or purchase a hard copy by calling (202) 296-5702 or e-mailing info@humanrightsusa.org.
There is more than enough work for everyone. Individuals need not be a lawyer or even a paralegal to help.
To obtain a grand jury indictment, a U.S. Attorney or local district attorney is required. However, anyone can go before a magistrate, magistrate judge or judge and swear out a criminal complaint.
V. Actions to Humanely and Privately Prosecute Lawbreakers
A. Compile and Maintain a Private, Prioritized List of Individuals Who Should Be Investigated and Possibly Prosecuted
1. Share an existing or establish an office in the Washington, D.C. area to prepare documentation and coordinate the accomplishment of this plan.
2. Continually update and maintain:
a. This plan and www.ProsecuteOfficials.org
b. A detailed list of organizations and individuals working on or interested in various aspects of humane prosecutions and related legal matters
c. A library of relevant publications and information for those seeking information.
3. Provide means for those who wish to remaining anonymous can submit information and documentation without revealing their identity.
4. Request the appointment of a Special Counsel, outside the Department of Justice, to investigate and, where warranted, prosecute crimes committed by United States government officials. This was proposed and justified on pages 20 through 37 of Indefensible: A Reference for Prosecuting Torture and Other Felonies.
C. Prepare Documentation for Filing Criminal Complaints
1. Gather required information and privately prepare the documents for prosecutions and tort claims beginning with the higher priority subjects. These documents are outlined in Procedures for Preparing Documentation for Criminal Prosecutions. They include draft copies of: Criminal Complaints, Affidavits in Support of a Criminal Complaint that show probable cause and Applications for Warrants and cover letters to (Local and Federal) government investigators and prosecutors. Most of this work will be done in the Washington, D.C. area and by e-mail.
2. Before indictments are made public, criminal proceedings and the documentation should be held private and not revealed or "leaked" to the public. Subjects should not be threatened, humiliated or challenged. All the rights of the subject should be observed and not violated.
3. Ask authors of germane books and articles to prepare chronology of events and affidavits in support of criminal complaints from portions of their articles and books.
4. Convert the requests for disbarment/disciplinary complaints filed with state bar licensing boards by the Velvet Revolution to criminal complaints and affidavits showing probable cause. Apparently, the licensing boards have not responded.
5. Prepare similar documentation under the UCMJ to request specific active duty and retired senior military officials who have violated the law to be investigated and prosecuted. The UCMJ Charge Sheet for Private First Class Bradley E. Manning, U.S. Army, is provided as a sample. Discuss and file this documentation with staff members of the Judge Advocate General (JAG) offices of the appropriate service (Army, Navy, Marine Corps and Air Force).
D. Liaison with Investigators/Prosecutors and Special Counsel If and When One Is Appointed
1. Contact, liaison with and get to know local:
a. Federal investigators (FBI agents), federal prosecutors, (U.S. attorneys), local investigators, (normally police department detectives) and local prosecutors, (district attorneys) beginning in the greater Washington, D.C. area and ultimately throughout the country.
b. The Special Counsel if and when appointed.
2. Obtain their office address, e-mail address and phone and fax numbers. Establish a working relationship with them. The Sample Intro Letter to Investigators and Prosecutors may be adapted to help with this.
3. As appropriate, review and discuss the following with them:
a. The importance of enforcing the rule of law and the urgency of humane, private prosecutions.
b. This Plan to Reform Criminal Justice Systems Using Humane, Constitutional and Restorative Justice Principles and Practices which is outlined on www.HumaneJustice.org, Indefensible: A Reference for Prosecuting Torture and Other Felonies and other relevant publications.
c. Samples of generic documentation, with no names, prepared under paragraph IV. B. above.
d. Obtaining facilities for both restorative justice type prosecution and reconciliation efforts for the victims and alleged perpetrators of crimes.
e. Humanely and privately investigating and as appropriate summoning and prosecuting certain individuals, while ensuring that all the rights of the accused as outlined in the Constitution (Salient Rights), the International Covenants on Human Rights and other laws are strictly protected during all phases of the criminal justice process.
f. Subpoenaing and/or otherwise making available selected victims and witnesses of torture, abuse, maiming, illegal arrests or detentions and other crimes by U.S. officials and their agents. Those selected should include in particular those being held today in U.S. prisons without warrants.
g. While proposed grand jury indictments are being prepared, have alleged perpetrators participate in individual reading/study group discussions, be educated on the severity of their alleged crimes, see the errors in their ways and learn about the major elements of restorative justice. These major elements include taking steps to repair harm, e.g., being contrite and apologizing, paying restitution and providing assistance to victims.
E. Initiate and Follow Through with Humane, Private Prosecutions.
1. Prepare documentation to initiate investigations of individuals from the private prioritized list. Keep this information private within the working group.
a. Obtain facilities for both restorative justice type prosecution and reconciliation efforts for the victims and alleged perpetrators of crimes.
b. Humanely and privately investigate and as appropriate summon and prosecute certain individuals, while ensuring that all the rights of the accused as outlined in the Constitution (Salient Rights), the International Covenants on Human Rights and other laws are strictly protected during all phases of the criminal justice process.
c. Subpoena and/or otherwise make available selected victims and witnesses of torture, abuse, maiming, illegal arrests or detentions and other crimes by U.S. officials and their agents. Those selected should include in particular those being held today in U.S. prisons without warrants.
d. While proposed grand jury indictments are being prepared, as appropriate have subjects of investigations:
i. "Examined by experts to find out why it is and what can be done" as outlined in HumaneJustice.org.
ii. Participate in individual reading/study group discussions, be educated on the severity of alleged crimes, recognize the errors in their ways and learn about the major elements of restorative justice. These major elements include taking steps to repair harm, e.g., being contrite and apologizing, paying restitution and providing assistance to victims.
iii. Encourage, as appropriate, to apologize and pay restitution on their own initiative instead of spending time and money on attorneys and grand juries.
iv. Provide victims the opportunity to voluntarily conference/meet with those who perpetrated crimes against them and to receive restitution and reasonable reparation from the perpetrators and the U.S. Government
2. As lessons are learned, refine/correct the documentation and processes.
3. If investigators and prosecutors will not proceed with prosecutions:
a. Learn why they will not and correct the problem if possible
b. Consider politely informing them that if they have knowledge of information that shows probable cause of a felony and do nothing about it they could be in violation of:
i. 18 U.S. Code Section 4, misprision of felony, which requires: “Whoever, having knowledge of the actual commission of a felony cognizable by a court of the United States, conceals and does not as soon as possible make known the same to some judge or other person in civil or military authority under the United States, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than three years, or both.”
ii. 18 U.S. Code Section 1510, Obstruction of criminal investigations
iii. 18 U.S. Code Section 1346, Failing to provide honest services
c. Consider swearing out criminal complaints before a magistrate, magistrate judge or regular judge
d. Consider filing applicable documents with the Prosecutor for the International Criminal Court (“I.C.C.”) in The Hague. The Complaint Filed with the I.C.C. by Attorney Francis A. Boyle is provided as a sample.
i. The International Criminal Court should be strengthened and be able to try individuals who have committed serious crimes and cannot be arrested in absentia. Judge Baltasar Garzon, an internationally known Spanish judge tried to extradite former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet, and explored criminal action against six former Bush administration officials for the torture of Spanish citizens at the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay under “universal jurisdiction.” Garzon, recently wrongfully suspended from the bench, is doing some work for the I.C.C.
4. Ask appropriate foreign governments whose citizens have been harmed by the actions of the U.S. to file similar complaints. Work with and support other nations.
5. Continually refine this document based on lessons learned.
VI. Food for Thought for Those Reluctant to Help with Prosecutions. Please think about and answer the following two questions to yourself:
1. Would you stop an emotionally disturbed person from killing a baby, if you had the wherewithal?
2. If you knew that a group of individuals intended to burglarize an old age home, then kill the habitants and burn down the home to cover up their crime, would you report this to the police?
I believe your answers will obviously and correctly be “Yes”.
My point is that some of our Public Servants are apparently planning and to commit serious crimes including attacking Iran and/or supporting attacks of Iran by Israel..
Please help prevent more crimes by
•Working together
Consider this plan and its attachments as drafts.
Review the ones you are more interested in.
Send critical comments and suggestions to fisher@wethepeoplenow.org
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Express your concerns and suggestions, or to arrange a meeting, please call 703-725-7849 or e-mail fisher@wethepeoplenow.org.
A. Procedures for Preparing Documentation for Humane, Private Prosecutions
B. Sample Cover Letter Requesting Investigations and Prosecutions by Federal Authorities
C. Information that Should be Included in a Chronology of Events
D. Information that Should be Included in a Victim Impact Statement
E. Sample Affidavit in Support of a Criminal Complaint
F. Sample Spreadsheet Showing Campaign Donations to Legislators
G. Sample Victim Impact Statement
H. Format for a Combination Multi-Count Criminal Complaint, Affidavit in Support of a Criminal Complaint and Application for a Warrant
I. UCMJ Charge Sheet for Private First Class Bradley E. Manning, U.S. Army, provided as a sample
J. Complaint Filed with the I.C.C. by Professor Francis A. Boyle
K. Proposed Individual Restorative Justice and Rehabilitation Plan (Being Developed)
Please help initiate private, humane prosecutions of government officials and others who have broken the law, subscribe to the web site www.ProsecuteOfficials.org, consider it as a work-in-progress, financially support these efforts and in particular provide constructive comments/recommendations on this approach and feedback by email to fisher@wethepeoplenow.org
Your help is appreciated and recommended changes are welcomed.
Ron Fisher
Captain U.S. Navy (retired)
Compiler
WeThePeopleNow.org
PO Box 1310, Falls Church VA 22041
703-725-7849 Fax: 703-725-7849
fisher@wethepeoplenow.org