Poor Finances = Less Human Caging in NH
Today John Lynch signed a bill which is intended to reduce the prison population by 18%. Was this law enacted to stop caging human beings like animals who commit various victimless acts? No, we could only wish the government would be so compassionate.
The law was drafted, argued for, and enacted because it stands a chance of saving the state up to $11,000,000 over a five year period. Caging humans like a stray dog costs money, you know. The state prison population has increased %31 and the corrections budget has doubed from $52 million to $104 million over the last ten years..
Although I wish the motivations for this change were for reasons that I (and many of you) wish they were for, I am happy to report that it appears less human beings will be ending up caged like animals in our one-day-freer-state.
A FSP Legislator Has Victory, Again
Two days ago House Bill 1373 became law. This bill establishes a committee to study the effects of current state and federal laws on illegal drugs and the possession and use of such drugs.
Any honest and evenhanded review of these laws will see they are causing far more harm than they are designed to eliminate. The primary sponsor is Joel Winters from Manchester… who bears the proud title as being the first Free State Project member to be elected to the NH Legislature.
I tip my hat to Mr. Winters… this is an excellent political victory.
Words On Paper
What is it about words being written on paper that causes the vast majority of people to think that using violence is an appropriate thing? Have people no independent source of understanding the morality of an individuals actions? If I get twenty people together and nineteen agree to write down that I can use violence against the lone unfortunate twentieth person, does that make it right?
Why was it apparently virtuous to use violence and imprison someone who wished to protect a fellow human being from the horrors of chattel slavery? Words on paper.
Why is it apparently virtuous to use violence and imprison someone who wants to grow a plant on their property today? Words on paper.
Why can the people of Derry, NH enjoy the freedom to set off fireworks on a day celebrating a “free” country without violence being used on them? A screw up in locating a specific set of words on paper.
Ridley Reports on the Free Keene Press with JJ
Detained in Concord For Being Out Late At Night
Last night Concord, NH area liberty activist Garret Ean was detained for the crime of being out late at night and for looking generally youthful in appearance. I’d like to start a discussion on how I believe Garret (and possibly you) could handle this situation better in the future if confronted by the police.
To begin… please listen to the Porc411 call he made —> 2010-06-29_03-00-58.mp3
I believe Garret should have remained perfectly silent and not answered a single question from the police. He voluntarily gave his information to the government when he did not have to. The officer claimed that he was looking out for his “safety” and that children sometimes make poor choices. Whatever. The fact is that Garret was under no obligation to speak to the government. The only thing he should have said is a question: “Am I being detained?” If the police say that you are, start your stopwatch. Keep track of the length of your detention. A roadside detention or traffic stop does become a de facto arrest if the police prolong it without justification.
Response to “Protestors Don’t Belong Near School”
Patrick McKenney’s letter to the editor titled, “Protesters don’t belong near school” expressed concerns about us twisting the facts when we “edit it to fit their message”, so lets correct a few inaccuracies with his account shall we? I’m not aware of any protesters, nor did I see any signs saying only “school sucks”, and there was only one “bullhorns” as you recount.
We were engaged in outreach to share our ideas. The signs say “Education Rocks, School Sucks Project.com”, “School Sucks Podcast”, and “School Sucks Project .com”. There you will find recorded audio discussions about public education, hosted by a former middle school teacher.
Patrick, you claim the “original issue” is the people performing outreach. Does that include the religious outreach that put a bible in my hand when I was leaving middle school? Should they be banned from your secure perimeter zone as well? The original issue is theft.
Over 50% of Keene’s property taxes go to fund a $90.7 million dollar budget for approximately 4,950 students, which totals over $18,300 per student per year, An outrageous amount for mediocre results.
Read more
Merrimack Man Grows Plants, Faces Seven Years of Caging
I wonder how many people reading this blog see news like this and find that it is acceptable to put someone into a cage like an animal for the innocuous act of growing a plant. I wonder how many of those people think that it is acceptable to seize steal his house (which the state can do) in a “civil forfeiture” proceeding. There really is nothing civil about a “civil forfeiture” proceeding. If the state wins the “proceeding,” men with guns will enforce the “ruling.”
Men with guns coming to throw someone out of their own home really is anything but “civil.”
Men with guns killing someone who refuses to be thrown out of their own home is definately not “civil.”
NH Courts = Falling Like Dead Flies
Man, the news about New Hampshire’s overburdened public relations front for organized violence court system just keeps coming.
“The District Court in Milford could be shut down as of July 1 because of a local budget squeeze.”
Wasn’t a liberty activist imprisoned for wearing a hat in the Milford District Court?
Fail.
Seacoast Activists Insert 5,000 Bookmarks in Public Library Books
The School Sucks Project outreach spreads all the way across New Hampshire to the Seacoast where the public library was successfully targeted with bookmarks promoting the School Sucks Project and Freedomain Radio. The Seacoast Online’s Dave Choate reports:
PORTSMOUTH — Thousands of bookmarks promoting two organizations’ points of view recently created a headache for public libraries on the Seacoast.
The two groups placing the bookmarks in Portsmouth, Dover and at the University of New Hampshire are the School Sucks Project and Freedomain Radio. The School Sucks Project Web site calls for an end of public, government-funded education in the United States, charging that it is ineffective and values obedience over creativity. Freedomain Radio bills itself as a philosophical radio show.
It’s not a new phenomenon at libraries, but Portsmouth Public Library Director Mary Ann List said several in the area were hit recently with a scourge of bookmarks promoting an unspecified political cause between the pages of books. The messages tend to be politically or religiously focused, she said, and libraries typically strive to remain disassociated with that type of propaganda.
The latest dispersal was the largest Cathleen Beaudoin said she has ever seen. Read more
Ian Quietly Found Not Guilty in Parking Ticket Case!
We recently hosted a guest blog by local talk radio personality Mark Edge who announced he’d challenged a parking ticket and after scheduling a trial and then rescheduling it, the charge was “nol prossed” (that’s legalese for dropped) by the city’s persecutor.
That made me curious. I had actually gone to trial in April over the parking ticket that was left on my car back in November. At the end of the hearing, the robed man, Howard B. Lane, said he’d take the matter under advisement. I hadn’t heard anything from Keene District Court on this matter since the trial. I thought perhaps this was due to me changing my address and having a notice fall through the cracks. So to satisfy my curiosity, I dropped in on the court this afternoon, a full two months past the date of trial. The helpful young lady behind the counter retrieved the case file for me. I discovered that I had been found Not Guilty on the same date of the trial! (Here’s the proof, though I never pleaded not guilty as Lane indicates on the complaint.) There was no record of any notice being sent to me about the decision. Apparently the court has no obligation to provide notice when the finding is in the favor of the defendant.
Before you go calling this a win, remember that every time the bureaucrats involve themselves in your life, you will lose at the very least your time. That said, it’s great to have an explicit “Not Guilty” in a parking ticket case here in Keene! It should help encourage others to similarly refuse to pay and instead take the tickets that are littered on their cars to court. Load up the system with parking ticket trials until they stop enforcing that ordinance!
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