State News
New York
New York FIJA coordinator
Nathan Lapp writes: "In the past year
NewYork-FIJA has answered a fairly
steady number of requests for jury information. To my
knowledge, there are
no major debates or
court cases relating
to jury nullification
in progress right
now. Freelance
writer Frank Parlato of Buffalo, New
York has again
'fanned the flames'
recently by publishing several great articles on jury nullification in local papers.
Nathan Lapp
New York FIJA
Coordinator
"In August of 1991 attended the
ISIL (International Society For Individual
Liberty) world conference in San Jose,
Costa Rica. Via an information table run
for three days of the conference, I supplied the conferees with FIJA literature
and articles. Jury nullification is a novel
concept for Costa Ricans, whose court
system is run byjudges, not juries.
"I was intrigued by the strong libertarian presence in Costa Rica. At the
forefront is a courageous man by the
name of Rigoberto Stewart, whose goal
it is to establish an autonomous or 'free'
region in Limon Province, Costa Rica.
"In Dr. Stewart's book Limon Real,
which he unveiled at the conference, he
outlines a plan for competing agencies to
provide police protection and tribunals.
Trial by jury would be available upon
request by either plaintiffs or defendants.
I spoke to Stewart regarding the need for
jury nullification, a concept he whole-
heartedly supports. It is an exciting concept that private tribunals - minus the
venality of contemporary government
courts - should oversee the dispensing of
justice, in a free-market fashion. Perhaps
such a system would insure bona fide
accountability of the government to the
governed.
"While in Costa Rica, I 'tested the
waters' of freedom. Might Costa Rica be
a suitable place for harmless creatures like
myself who basically want to be left alone
and free from Orwellian government supervision? For a copy of a report I wrote
on my 7 days of research in Costa Rica,
Central America, people can contact me
at<nlllapp@hotmail.com>.
"At home on our farm in New
York, we continue to be assailed by our
friends at the IRS and Workers Compensation Board, who think they own our
farm because we haven't monitored
wages and collected insurance from our
own family members who help to operate our business in a mutual fashion. We
live day by day and hope for the best."
