Liberty-minded Americans who rage at the USA-Patriot Act and the Bush Administration’s treatment of accused terrorists should look across the ocean for an ominous precedent. The British government is considering restricting the right to jury trials in criminal cases. As the Telegraph reports, A White Paper will propose that judges should be able to sit alone in trials where they believe a jury might be subjected to intimidation, or in major fraud trials, or other complex cases. It will also propose the abolition of the double jeopardy rule — which currently prohibits the retrial of a defendant on the same … Continue reading The Non-Rights of Englishmen