the "grand juries" are based on the fifth amendment's premise that "no person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on presentment or indictment of a grand jury". although the activists managed to hand out copies of "indictments" to congressional staff, the courts have not regarded the "citizen grand juries" favorably. in june 2009, a group of 172 campaigners declared themselves to be a "super american grand jury" and voted to charge obama with treason and accused him of not being a u.s. citizen. chief judge royce c. lamberth of the united states district court for the district of columbia rejected the "indictment" on july 2 and declared: "[t]here is no authority under the rules of procedure or in the statutes of the united states for this court to accept [a presentment]... the individuals who have made this presentment were not convened by this court to sit as a grand jury nor have they been selected at random from a fair cross section of this district. any self-styled indictment or presentment issued by such a group has no force under the constitution or laws of the united states."