The Judgment in John Jenkel's Case Is not "Justice"

[Iolchan]

J'Accuse !

The Judgment in John Jenkel's Case Is not "Justice" !

It is wrong, very wrong, that this outrageous seizure and clear-cutting of his land should be the outcome of Mr. Jenkel's trial. It is shocking that such an egregious miscarriage of Justice could have happened here in the Courts of Sonoma County.

I reflect on the last several times I passed Harmony Farms and Mr. Jenkel's farm was still intact, where those bold Anti-War banners of his used to flap in the wind on the opposite hedgerow just across highway 116, all during the last decade... And now, I shudder to think what I shall feel when once again I shall pass by, or visit Harmony Farms, and see a clear-cut across the road. What a travesty.

Yes, John Jenkel is a difficult man; a cantankerous old-right maverick, and an "unhappy camper" to boot. Everybody says so - it seems to be the consensus that fits everyone's comfort quotient. The details of his anti-Afghanistan War position - that Willie Brown was a player behind the scenes in the whole 9/11 fandango, did not resonate with the various shades of left analysis. His assertion that Willie Brown is " the most powerful political broker in California" is, at least, debatable.

But John does understand - and can expound articulately - that the invasion and occupation of Afghanistan had nothing to do with the cover story of going after Osama bin Laden, and everything to do with which way the oil pipeline from Kazakhstan would go.

John Jenkel has never been popular. He does not know how to be. But John Jenkel has shown himself to be a brave and an outspoken Soul; a civil-libertarian who has the courage to express his own convictions; an unusual man, an unrelentingly political human being, who has stuck his neck out as a Citizen - which is more than most of us do. He has shown himself to be a passionate opponent of two illegal Wars of occupation, who carries in his heart, as the ashes of Klaes, the suffering these Wars have engendered.

This so-called "Judgment" in the Court that awarded the $350,000 settlement to Paul Hobbs is not "Justice" at all ! It is full of malice and malfeasance. It is a transparent political misuse of the Court, using Mr. Hobbs as a convenient proxy, to persecute and silence one of the last voices among us of the species of Anthropos Politicanus. A subliminal message may be read in this: "This is what happens when you step out of line and become too political." =OR= to paraphrase Idi Amin, "This is what happens to bad mavericks..."

Yes, we all are vulnerable Now, and we are all also somewhere among the next in Line. What was it that pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer said? O yes: "First they came for the Communists, but I was not a Communist so I did not speak out. Then they came for the Socialists and the Trade Unionists, but I was neither, so I did not speak out. Then they came for the Jews, but I was not a Jew so I did not speak out. And when they came for me, there was no one left to speak out for me."

You can paraphrase Bonhoeffer, in this case: " First they came for the eccentric maverick Conservative Constitutionalists..." We have all let John Jenkel down. We did not support him in his lonely ordeal, nor show up at his Court hearings, though we were vaguely aware that all this was going on, and that his property was hanging in the balance. Let the clear-cutting of the redwoods on the lot opposite Harmony Farms become a rallying point. "We must all hang together or assuredly we will all hang separately." Benjamin Franklin said that.


- Mark Walter Evans

[RicoBoccia]

J'Accuse !

The Judgment in John Jenkel's Case Is not "Justice" !

... This so-called "Judgment" in the Court that awarded the $350,000 settlement to Paul Hobbs is not "Justice" at all! ....
- Mark Walter Evans

A small nit to pick: A judgment and a settlement are two different things. A judgment is entered by the court as the result of a trial or some dispositive motion. A settlement is an agreement by the parties to a lawsuit to end the lawsuit according to agreed-upon terms so the court does not have to decide the matter. (A "stipulated judgment" is a kind of settlement.) From what I've read, this was pretty clearly not a settlement of any kind, i.e. Jenkel did not agree to the resolution of the lawsuit, so calling it a "settlement" is inaccurate and confuses the story.
Hope this helps.
Rico

[Iolchan]

Let the Record show that the amended text now Reads:


J'Accuse !
The Judgment in John Jenkel's Case Is not "Justice" !

It is wrong, very wrong, that this outrageous seizure and clear-cutting of his land should be the outcome of Mr. Jenkel's trial. It is shocking that such an egregious miscarriage of Justice could have happened here in the Courts of Sonoma County.

I reflect on the last several times I passed Harmony Farms and Mr. Jenkel's farm was still intact, where those bold Anti-War banners of his used to flap in the wind on the opposite hedgerow just across highway 116, all during the last decade... And now, I shudder to think what I shall feel when once again I shall pass by, or visit Harmony Farms, and see a clear-cut across the road. What a travesty.

Yes, John Jenkel is a difficult man; a contentious old-right maverick, and an "unhappy camper" to boot. Everybody says so - it seems to be the consensus that fits everyone's comfort quotient. The details of his anti-Afghanistan War position - that Willie Brown was a player behind the scenes in the whole 9/11 fandango, did not resonate with the various shades of left analysis. His assertion that Willie Brown is " the most powerful political broker in California" is, at least, debatable.

But John does understand - and can expound articulately - that the invasion and occupation of Afghanistan had nothing to do with the cover story of going after Osama bin Laden, and everything to do with which way the oil pipeline from Kazakhstan would go.

John Jenkel has never been popular. He does not know how to be. But John Jenkel has shown himself to be a brave and an outspoken Soul; a civil-libertarian who has the courage to express his own convictions; an unusual man, an unrelentingly political human being, who has stuck his neck out as a Citizen - which is more than most of us do. He has shown himself to be a passionate opponent of two illegal Wars of occupation, who carries in his heart, as the ashes of Klaes, the suffering these Wars have engendered.

This so-called "Judgment" in the Court that awarded $350,000 of John Jenkel's money to Paul Hobbs is not "Justice" at all ! It is full of malice and malfeasance. It is a transparent political misuse of the Court, using Mr. Hobbs as a convenient proxy, to persecute and silence one of the last voices among us of the species of Anthropos Politicanus. A subliminal message may be read in this: "This is what happens when you step out of line and become too political." =OR= to paraphrase Idi Amin, "This is what happens to bad mavericks..."

Yes, we all are vulnerable Now, and we are all also somewhere among the next in Line. What was it that pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer said? O yes: "First they came for the Communists, but I was not a Communist so I did not speak out. Then they came for the Socialists and the Trade Unionists, but I was neither, so I did not speak out. Then they came for the Jews, but I was not a Jew so I did not speak out. And when they came for me, there was no one left to speak out for me."

You can paraphrase Bonhoeffer, in this case: " First they came for the eccentric, maverick Conservative Constitutionalists..." We have all let John Jenkel down. We did not support him in his lonely ordeal, nor show up at his Court hearings, though we were vaguely aware that all this was going on, and that his property was hanging in the balance. Let the clear-cutting of the redwoods on the lot opposite Harmony Farms become a rallying point. "We must all hang together or assuredly we will all hang separately." Benjamin Franklin said that.


- Mark Walter Evans