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21st Century Star Chamber

Can you remember back to the days of your high school European history class? I remember the discussion my class had on the Star Chamber. It started out as a court of direct appeal that oversaw the running of the lower courts. The Star Chamber heard cases on property disputes and corruption of trade administration. It was named the Star Chamber for the star pattern painted on the ceiling of the room at Westminster Palace where its meetings were held. The Star Chamber’s power slowly increased under the rule of the Tudors. Although the court had the right to order torture, prison time and fines, it did not have the power to impose the death penalty. This court conducted all its meetings with the public allowed to attend.

As time passed, and the ruling family changed to the Stuarts, the demeanor of the Star Chamber changed. The Kings would use the power of this court to try the nobles that threatened the royal policies and practices. Charles I even used the Star Chamber as a substitute for Parliament for almost 20 years. What had started as a fair and moderate court evolved into a tool of secret policies, fear and suppression for the monarch

Personally, I will be watching for more information on this “secret “case and wondering if we will be seeing an Ashcroft/Bush Star Chamber the likes of the Stuart era. Will school children in years to come be studying about the 21st Century Star Chamber with the same feelings I experienced reading about the 17th Century version?

I think of all the people I know that are too afraid to travel or to fly, and I think of how the terrorists are slowly winning their war. The war is not just a matter of how many bodies each can claim, or how much land a side controls. It is also a matter of how each person lives his or her life. If we will no longer go about our days as we always have, if we do not fly to Ireland or Italy or even Egypt for fear of what the terrorists could do, is that not a victory for them? I thought this as I boarded a flight out of Boston Logan to Ireland on Thursday, September 21st, 2001. I was not letting some extremist keep me from something I have wanted to do for most of my life.

Now, I am not going to let some terrorist or even a US Attorney General tell me how things should work. If hearings are held in Public Courts

Some topics in this essay:
Star Chamber, Supreme Court, Star Chamber’s, Al Qaeda, Federal Courts, Court System, Ireland September, Attorney Ashcroft, , star chamber, Italy Egypt, courts public, national security,