Grand Jury Misused for the NY Hush Money Trial? Phrase "Kangaroo Court" Explained. - 5/23/24

Probable Cause:

https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/fourth_amendment

"The Fifth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution "No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia, when in actual service in time of war or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.""

https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/fifth_amendment

What is the difference between reasonable suspicion and probable cause?

Reasonable suspicion is a step before probable cause. At the point of reasonable suspicion, it appears that a crime may have been committed. The situation escalates to probable cause when it becomes obvious that a crime has most likely been committed.

Matthew Colangelo:

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/05/nyregion/alvin-bragg-trump-investigation.html

https://judiciary.house.gov/media/press-releases/chairman-jordan-demands-documents-about-bragg-prosecutor-matthew-colangelo

Mark Pomerantz:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m50Uz9F8Y5k

https://judiciary.house.gov/media/press-releases/judiciary-committee-releases-mark-pomerantz-deposition-video

Norman Eisen:

https://www.justsecurity.org/author/eisennorman/

"The term “kangaroo court” carries an implication of wrongdoing, meaning that mere incompetence is generally not enough to warrant its use. Common reasons a court may be accused of being a kangaroo court include accusations that:

* The court exhibited extreme bias against one of the parties.

* There was collusion between the judge and one of the parties.

* The due process rights of the accused were not respected.

* The process was completed with such excessive haste that the parties could not have a fair trial.

* The jury was not impartial.

* The proceedings lacked decorum.

* The court interpreted the law in a way that would have forced a party to act in a completely unreasonable manner."

https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/kangaroo_court

"The term kangaroo court may have originated in England. In the late 1700s, English courts began sentencing people convicted of various crimes to "transportation" to Australia. In the 1800s this was sometimes referred to as the "Kangaroo Jump". It's possible that those sentenced to transportation may have protested that they had been convicted and sentenced by a kangaroo court. Some sources suggest that the term may have been popularized during the California Gold Rush of 1849 to which many thousands of Australians flocked. In consequence of the Australian miners' presence, it may have come about as a description of the hastily carried-out proceedings used to deal with the issue of claim-jumping miners.[5]"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kangaroo_court

Not mentioned in the vlog:

"Show Trials
Show trials are public trials wherein those bearing judicial authority have already decided that the accused is guilty. The purpose of the actual trial is solely to present the accusation and the related verdict to the public, as an example of what not to do, and as a warning to those who may be considering engaging in the same kind of behavior. Show trials tend to be motivated by revenge, rather than by a desire to correct the behavior of the accused.

Joseph Stalin conducted show trials from 1936 to 1938 during the Great Purge. During these kangaroo court trials, hundreds of thousands of people belonging to the Communist Party, and government officials, were tortured until they confessed to the political crimes of which they were accused. The Great Purge involved the large-scale “purge,” or murder, of those people, as well as the introduction of police surveillance and imprisonment.

It is estimated that between 600,000 and 3 million people were killed by the Soviet government during the Purge. The Purge was Stalin’s method for removing any dissenters to the Communist Party while also strengthening his authority as the leader of the Soviet Union."

https://legaldictionary.net/kangaroo-court/