Free Keene

Judge Forgets His Own Arbitrary Rules

Filed under: Issues, Personal Freedom, Thuggery, Video — smeg at 11:02 am on Wednesday, September 9, 2009

It’s no secret that bureaucrats selectively enforce their laws. There are so many that almost anyone could be accused of “breaking the law” on a daily basis. So when activists are pointing out the violence, unaccountability, or just plain illogical actions of the government, the bureaucrats will search for the normally unenforced “laws” that the activists are breaking. However, judge Burke has been known to simply make up his own rules to expand his oppressive reach.

But just like the selectively enforced written laws, Burke often forgets some of his own rules. In this video clip, 2 such “rules”, which have previously been enforced with arrest or the threat of arrest, are “broken” without consequence.

So enjoy this action packed clip of Keene activists performing these dangerous stunts:

- Wearing a hat

- Panning the camera to the audience

How will the world remain safe with people getting away with crimes like these?

Comments (10)

10 Comments »

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Comment by jermaine

September 9, 2009 @ 12:17 pm

i laughed out loud. this was great. after what some of the keene activists have gone through with hats and cameras.. this is just hysterical

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Comment by assawyer

September 9, 2009 @ 12:28 pm

I can’t tell if Burke actually believes it when he says “go out and file a motion and I’ll take a look at it.” Is he smirking when he says it, or is it because its flat out ridiculous. Burke knew that his arbitrary rule on hats cannot survive any legal challenge, probably why he ended up letting the hat stay on. Not sure how a hat disrupts a proceeding, other than when the judge decides on his own whim that it does and hopes no one calls him on it.

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Comment by SamIam

September 9, 2009 @ 12:48 pm

The Keene Sentinel reporters don’t even bother filing motions to bring cameras into Superior court. Humm, I wonder why that is. . .

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Comment by Jitgos

September 9, 2009 @ 1:24 pm

LOL Good for Jesse! Deciding to sit in the back with that kind of hat on was very courteous too. Difficult to claim he was a distraction sitting back there.

And assawyer I think Burke was smirking an evil smile when making that comment. Surprised me that he backed down.

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Comment by Josh N

September 9, 2009 @ 10:42 pm

Lets get Big Mike in there with a Sombrero.

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Comment by D

September 10, 2009 @ 2:31 am

i’m starting to like this guy burke. seems like he’s a real person, not just some arbitrary man in a black dress.

of course i’m sure the powers that be put pressure on him to hold the line…

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Comment by Jeff

September 10, 2009 @ 8:00 am

Hat crimes are terrible! Or is that hate crimes? It’s so easy to get the two confused…

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Comment by Peacemaker

September 11, 2009 @ 8:32 am

Burke appears to really be loving the spotlight as he truly enjoyed weilding his power with his comment, therby showing off.

Too bad Jesse didn’t cooperate, I guess the judge was in an extra good mood because he had a big audience and so,he let him go this time.

I wonder what effect if any Jesse saying “please” had on the outcome.

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Comment by Alex FM

October 2, 2009 @ 11:39 pm

Well, the Judge let it go. That’s good, in my opinion. Regardless of the exact motivation,(1) maybe he was just too busy to bother…. (2) maybe he isn’t consistent, (3) maybe the word “please” might actually be a magic or persuasive word for him….. but in any case, the first steps towards “normalization” comes through little concessions like this.

Maybe when he realizes that the presence of the hat actually _isn’t_ disruptive, he will cease to bother enforcing it at all. Sometimes brainwashing can be hard to undo…. and to believe that a hat has any bearing on “order” is certainly a form of brainwashing. But when that process can be reversed, it’s a good thing.

You probably ought to tow a fine line when making these kinds of criticisms. It’s not like he reads this blog, but still….. it serves no real purpose to call him out on this kind of thing, because to call him out on inconsistency is to sort of implies that you WANT him to hassle people about hats. But that’s is not what we want. Inconsistency is NOT a bad thing…. if the reason for the change is that the person wants to correct a past error they made.

People will often do dumb things to “save face.” Don’t embarass him about his past mistakes. Just let him gracefully accept that he was wrong before, and let him come to terms with that. When he sees hats are no threat, and when he sees that court spectators are polite and no threat at all, he’ll finally let go of all the silliness that he once clung to.

Peaceful Evolution

Judge Forgets His Own Arbitrary Rules

10 Comments »