The White Man continues to get a lot of inquiries regarding the Ken Miller kidnapping case, so it's only fair that I disclose the most recent activity.
Kenneth L. Miller has, as of February 29, 2012, filed a Motion To Dismiss, on two grounds:
1) The government has failed to allege crucial elements of the offence;
2) The government has no standing to prosecute this case in Vermont, and the case has no standing in Virginia.
This second point is a constitutional question. Can the Federal Government try a case in a state where no elements of the alleged crime occurred?
This goes all the way back to the List of Grievances in the Declaration of Independence:
"-For transporting us beyond seas to be tried for pretended offences"
Ironically, this worked in reverse in Ken Miller's case, as he was brought westward across the Atlantic, from the FUK to the USA, to face these trumped-up charges.
The framers of this document specifically had this problem in mind when they enshrined the following into the Constitution:
"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."
If Tristam Coffin doesn't back down on this one, it's going all the way to the Supreme Court.
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