🚀 go-pugleaf

Riddle wrote:

> The Oklahoma City Bombing Trials of Terry Nichols and Timothy McVeigh
> became unconstitutional when the venues were changed from the state of
> Oklahoma to that of Colorado, the facts that these changes were requested
> by the defendants and approved by the courts not withstanding.
>
> To support this statement I point to U.S. Constitution Article III,
> Section 2, Clause 3: The Trial of all Crimes, except in Cases of
> Impeachment, shall be by Jury; and such Trial shall be held in the State
> where the said Crimes shall have been committed; but when not committed
> within any State, the Trial shall be at such Place or Places as the
> Congress may by Law have directed.
>
> I urge all citizens of the U.S., especially those of Oklahoma to demand
> the overturning of these convictions and that constitutional trials be
> held in Oklahoma.
>
> Riddle

  I have had this discussion with a constitutional law professor, and here is
what was decided:

The trials were indeed constitutional, as the stated portion of the
constitution applies to crime committed in the states. The charges these two
were tried for occured on federal property and come under the jurisdiciton of
the second part of the quote. Federal property, such as military bases, have
long been held to be seperate from state jurisdiction. The same holds true
for other federal lands, Indian lands and foreign territory associated with
diplomatic enclaves. The ruling allowing the trial of McVeigh & Nichols, on
the charges relating to the deaths of the federal law enforcement agents was
deemed to be constitutional.

This is why Macy is able to press a further 161 murder charges against them,
in the unlikely event the sentences are overturned. I went to HS in Chickasha
and knew two people from Tuttle, one since I was 7 or 8, who were killed. I
am personally glad to see Macy showing restraint in the further prosecution
of these two mass murderers....they are not going anywhere and there is no
statute of limitations to worry about. Let's spend the taxpayer's money
wisely here, and only if some judge decides McVeigh doesn't need to meet old
Sparky.