Why I am Glad the United States Is Not a British Colony Any Longer.

Can someone please tell me just what in the blue hell is wrong with the British?

The British Parliament on Thursday approved legislation to overturn "double jeopardy" protection for offenses such as murder, rape and armed robbery.

The centuries-old legal rule prevents suspects being tried twice for a crime and is enshrined in the legal codes of many of Britain's former colonies, including the United States.

But under the Criminal Justice Bill, introduced by Prime Minister Tony Blair's government, a person acquitted of certain serious offenses will face a second trial if compelling new details, such as DNA evidence, come to light.

The legislation, hailed by the government as the biggest reform of Britain's criminal justice system in a generation, now only needs royal assent, which is virtually automatic, before it becomes law.

Blair's government presented the legislation last year, but its progress through Parliament has been turbulent, largely due to clauses curbing the right to trial by jury. The House of Lords, Parliament's upper chamber, which has the power to amend and delay legislation, opposed those clauses and repeatedly blocked the bill.

After intense talks Thursday, the Lords backed government plans for judge-only trials in cases where there is a danger a jury could be intimidated. The government in return agreed to put shelve its plans to scrap juries in complex fraud cases.

Yes, one of the most basic rights and protections we, as Americans enjoy, the prohibition of double jeopardy (and one of the protections we actually got from Great Britian) is now, for all intents and purposes, dead in England. Perhaps this Criminal Justice Bill first step on the path to tyranny is a response to England's current out of control crime rate, but what do you expect from a country which has barred the right to self defense, and has, for all intents and purposes, turned itself into an Orwellian police state by the introduction of surveillance cameras?

Instead of actually introducing a bill that grants the basic right of self-defense or granting the people the ability to carry concealed, they pass a law that will eventually destroy the basic civil liberties of every citizen of that country, if it is allowed to stand. Which is foregone conclusion given the fact the British Courts do not have the power of judicial review like American Courts do.

I mean seriously guys, we appreciate your help in the War Against Terror but when you actually enact legislation that subverts hundreds of years of common law, you really need your collective heads examined.

Open invitation to my friends in England (of which I have a few) if you need a place to stay, my couch converts into a bed.

Hat Tip Right-Thinking