The 5th amendment reads in part, “No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury.”
The Grand Jury made up of ordinary citizens is the 4th branch of government. It is the last defense against government actors prosecuting citizens without a sanity check by the people of the Grand Jury.
Today, a prosecutor must present an “information” to the people of the Grand Jury in order to obtain an indictment which authorizes the Attorney General to prosecute a person for a criminal act, by and through his agents, aka prosecutors. This function of the Grand Jury is essential to maintain liberty.
A “PRESENTMENT” is similar to an indictment except in the manner in which it is produced. The right of the people of the Grand Jury to independently investigate and demand the prosecution of crime, after a lawful investigation and without interference from government agents is also secured in the same amendment, and it is just as important as the sanity check for the overenthusiastic prosecutor. The Grand Jury has authority to an independent budget and the Right to independently investigate government corruption. By their very nature as citizens and not government agents, the Grand Juries are not held to all the due process limitations and limited subpoena powers of State actors and may depose anyone in secret and under oath during their investigation to uncover malfeasances, conspiracies, and criminal intents of their own government.
Bring back the Right of the Peoples of the Grand Jury to investigate their own government. The citizens should be able to demand that a prosecutor do his job and prosecute corrupt State and Federal actors for their crimes.
The below poster wrote a similar policy request, and I wanted to incorporate it here as well. I haven’t verified all of her claims, but generally I agree with her, especially about bringing Civics back to our schools. RIP Justice Scalia.