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Please join us for our weekly chat and calling sessions on Saturday mornings from 11a-12p in the Liberty Radio Network Chat room. If you’re online, you can listen to Talkback streamed live via the Liberty Radio Network and if you’re in the Keene area you can tune in to WKBK 1290 AM or 104.1 FM. The Talkback discussion thread is here on the Free Keene Forum.

More video from Keene activist Rich Paul’s visit inside the jail:

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Grab the archive.

Please join us for our weekly chat and calling sessions on Saturday mornings from 11a-12p in the Liberty Radio Network Chat room. If you’re online, you can listen to Talkback streamed live via the Liberty Radio Network and if you’re in the Keene area you can tune in to WKBK 1290 AM or 104.1 FM. The Talkback discussion thread is here on the Free Keene Forum.

You can almost hear the cash register ring to the tune of thousands of dollars each day. Most of the people who are being caught for these things certainly cannot afford to pay these fines whether or not the economy is doing well. Many of them have to go on payment plans, because they certainly don’t want to go to jail, which is what is done if they don’t pay up. You’d think that with all that cash rolling in from these victimless “criminals” that the system would be in the black. You would be wrong. This is bureaucracy we’re talking about, and they don’t have the ability to run efficiently, period.

The Keene Sentinel’s Phil Bantz reports that the courts are in such dire financial shape, they have to shut down – not completely, but enough to make scheduling and “speedy trials” even more difficult. Many trials of local liberty activists are already set into late spring, and may be delayed even longer with the pending shutdown.

Perhaps if the police would stop aggressing against peaceful people then the caseload would be manageable and they wouldn’t have to be going through this.

Can you imagine what would happen if 5-10% of the victims of state aggression stopped plea bargaining and took their cases to trial? The entire system would crash and burn. Their power rests on your obedience, so set the example and refuse to take a plea. Make them pay to schedule a trial and if you can afford to, take the jail time rather than pay them fines so it costs them even more.

Perhaps they’ll eventually do the right thing and leave peaceful people alone and only go after real criminals who harm others. Here’s the Sentinel story:

Already understaffed and overloaded with cases, Keene District Court and Cheshire County Superior Court, in the heart of the city’s downtown, are bracing for monthly closures and temporary layoffs.

Saying it was the saddest moment of his 37 years in the state’s judicial system, Chief Justice John T. Broderick Jr. met with judges and marital masters last Friday and asked them to take furloughs, an unprecedented request.

Unprecedented, but necessary, Broderick says, to accomplish the $3.1 million cut in court spending Gov. John H. Lynch has ordered as part of a plan to slash $25 million from statewide personnel costs.

The furloughs are mandatory for the 230 non-union employees and 147 court security officers. And an “overwhelming majority” of the state’s 101 judges and marital masters, who must volunteer for the furloughs, have already agreed to take the same amount of unpaid time off as other staffers, Broderick said.

“They (judges and masters) represent about $900,000 of the $3.1 million in cuts,” he said. “If they didn’t participate, it would be hard to describe what would happen.”

The remaining 346 employees who belong to the State Employees’ Association or collective bargaining units have yet to decide on the furloughs. Negotiations are ongoing.

If the bargaining units refuse to take furloughs, members will be laid off, Broderick said.

“The last thing we want is layoffs,” he said. “On the other hand, the economy is terrible. There are no bad guys. We’re just trying to do what we can.”

The furloughs and monthly court closures are expected to begin in late March or early April and continue through June 2011, at least. Closing the state’s 42 courts for an estimated 17 days over the next two fiscal years is expected to cause significant delays in every type of case, from criminal trials to divorce and child custody hearings.

“I expect a lot of complaints from frustrated people,” said Cheshire County Superior Court Clerk Barbara A. Hogan. “We’re very concerned about what this means for our people who have cases pending. We already have complaints every day, but now it’s going to get louder and more frequent.”

Cheshire County Attorney Peter W. Heed said the county’s criminal justice system will suffer as a result of the furlough-related court closures.

“The people in this county are stretched as thin as they can possibly be, and everybody in the criminal justice system continues to do more with less,” he said. “Anything that closes the court has an impact on the criminal justice system and the citizens in general. It’s a sad day when something like this happens.”

Superior Court handled about 800 cases in 2008, and Keene District Court handled more than 6,000 cases that year. Hearings at both courts are sometimes scheduled six to nine months in advance, and the hearings slated for days when the courts will be closed for furloughs will have to be rescheduled. That’s no easy task when the docket’s already full.

“Somebody is expecting a day in court and that somebody has probably been waiting a very long time for it,” Hogan said. “I would like to know, as soon as possible, what days the court will be closed.”

A closure schedule will be released by April at the latest, Broderick said.

“We’re trying to schedule the furlough days during long weekends,” he said. “We’re trying to lessen the impact, but, obviously, you can’t do that totally.”

Unlike the state’s superior courts, district courts handle arraignments that often occur on short notice. State law says anyone who is arrested has a right to stand before a judge and address the charges he or she faces within 24 hours of being taken into custody, except on weekends or holidays.

“If someone is arrested the day before the court closes, what happens the next morning?” asked Keene District Court Clerk Larry Kane. “Someone needs to explain to us how that will happen. … I’m sure these things are being talked about.”

Though no real plan exists, Broderick said judges and other essential staff, such as security officers and clerks, might be placed on call to handle arraignments and other emergencies when the courts are closed.

“Once we know the outcome of the union negotiations and the parameters of the furlough program, hopefully that will be Friday, we’ll begin internal planning to address these types of issues,” he said. “The people in this system are pretty extraordinary folks in their ability to adapt.”

Hogan, an example of this adaptive ability, began serving as the the clerk for Sullivan County Superior Court when its clerk retired Dec. 1. She is the only dual-court clerk in the state.

“Day by day, I have to change my schedule as things arise,” said Hogan, a Keene resident. “I feel like I’m juggling because both courts are busy and have all sorts of important things going on. It’s a real challenge, but we’re used to being flexible. We’re accustomed to that.”

Aside from creating constitutional issues for defendants and scheduling conflicts, closing the courts may also exacerbate the ongoing problem of backlogged cases.

“We’re very short-staffed as it is right now,” Kane said. “We’ve got five people doing the job of eight. If we’re told to stay home for a day, the work is going to build up. It’s not going away.”

Broderick knows. So does Chief Justice Robert J. Lynn, who oversees the state’s superior courts.

“I think that nobody in state government is happy this has to happen,” Lynn said. “But we all have to do our part.”

Broderick said, “The piles of paperwork get higher. The delays get longer. I apologize to the people of New Hampshire who have to deal with that. But I don’t know any other way to deal with it other than to say, ‘I’m sorry and we’re trying to help.’ ”

Phillip Bantz can be reached at 352-1234, extension 1409, or pbantz@keenesentinel.com

Despite the courage he has and the support he has earned in the community because of it, the organization known as Law Enforcement Against Prohibition has unceremoniously booted him from their ranks. Brad posted the email he received from LEAP’s head, Jack Cole, on the Free Keene Forum. In it, Cole takes position that while LEAP members are encouraged to speak out about the horrors of prohibition, as long as they are employed as LEOs, they must enforce bad laws, because to not do so would be “unethical and wrong”. It’s a sad statement that outs LEAP as an organization of nothing more than a bunch of talkers, rather than doers. Of course, Cole is incorrect. Enforcing laws that harm peaceful people is what is unethical and wrong.

Other law enforcement officers, who are members of LEAP, have announced they will be sending in their resignations. Many other supporters of LEAP are sending in revocations of their membership, and explaining why. Some of these messages can be found on this forum thread.

Here’s the message Jack Cole sent to Brad, with Cole’s full contact info at the bottom.

Dear Bradley Jardis,

I have tried but am unable to reach you by telephone.

It has come to LEAP’s attention from the below blog entry, that you have
chosen to violate the oath you took on joining the police department; to
enforce all the laws of the federal and state governments in which your
police department has jurisdiction. And worse, you are calling on other law
enforcement officials to violate their oaths of office.

This is the opposite of what LEAP requires of our representatives. We have
always said that we will in no way ask that any law enforcer decline to do
his or her duty by refusing to enforce the laws as they are currently
recorded. That would be unethical and wrong. What we do call on them for is
take action on their off-duty time to help us change those laws.

Because you have so blatantly stepped over that line, your actions have
caused people to lose respect for our organization, which leads to a loss of
our credibility within the public, the media and the policymakers; the very
people whom we are trying to convince to change these laws.

The Executive Board of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition was made aware of
your actions in their January 22, 2010 Board meeting. They were unanimous in
their decision that you must no longer represent Law Enforcement Against
Prohibition while espousing this belief.

As Executive Director of LEAP, I therefore am notifying you that,
effectively immediately, you are to stop referring to yourself as a speaker
for or member of LEAP in your publications, interviews, and public or
private addresses.

Sincerely,

Jack A. Cole
Executive Director
Law Enforcement Against Prohibition
121 Mystic Avenue, Medford, MA 02155
(781) 393-6985 LEAP Office (781) 393 2964 FAX
(781) 396-0183 Home Office (617) 792-3877 Cell
jackacole@leap.cc www.leap.cc

Other law enforcement officers

Here’s BikerBill’s excellent coverage of the events in the park. Hopefully someone else got footage of the entire MPD being called out later on at the jail…

Two Activists Arrested in Manchester for a 420 Celebration.

Saturday January 16th 2010 was an unseasonably warm day in the New Hampshire region. Because of this my roommate Mike and I figured it would be a perfect day to go, live free and hold an impromptu 420 celebration at Veteran’s Park in down town Manchester. Celebrations like the one we were planning that morning were held throughout the late summer and fall in both Keene and Manchester, NH. These celebrations, in which the participants partake in the public and open consumption of cannabis, were left completely unmolested in every instance of them occurring in the Manchester area. That is until that Saturday in January.

Around 4:00 PM Mike and I arrive on scene, close to the corner of Elm and Central in down town Manchester. We did not expect a large turnout because of the short notice, so we sat down smoked a cigarette and figured we’d just wait around until the hour arrived to do the public consumption and leave. We had done this dozens of times a few months earlier and it all seemed almost routine that afternoon. By the time it reached 4:20PM there were a total of six of us that had gathered, three of which were actually participating in celebration.

As we were passing around a marijuana cigarette (and may I mention, not hurting, nor bothering any passersby) two gentlemen who were wearing jeans, fleece jackets and baseball caps, entered the circle and asked if we were smoking. As we were not there to hide anything we acknowledged what we were doing without even giving it a second thought. At that moment the two men identified themselves as police and stated that we were observed to be smoking marijuana in public and that we were being detained by the officers. At this point the marijuana cigarette was already consumed and the roach was disposed of.

The officers then told the whole group to sit on the benches against the stone wall bordering the park while we were “dealt with appropriately”. They immediately asked for everyone’s ID, and out of the six of us, Mike, Brian and I all refused to give over any form of identification. It was at this point where we became the focal point of their questioning and “investigation”. Mike had already taken his phone out and was immediately accosted by one of the plains clothes cops for daring to try to record the interaction. Mike stood his ground, did not give up his camera, and refused to cooperate in any fashion. Mike then stood up and began talking to the cop who tried to take his phone, all the while recording what was going on with Brian and me.

At this point things start to get a little jumbled around as so many things were going on at once. I will do my best to relay things in chronological order in attempts to make things as clear as possible.

By the time Mike had stood up and was talking to the officer, at least three more cop cars, one police van, and about five or six regular uniformed officers had shown up to the “scene of the crime”. The literally had formed a semi-circle around us and were trying to look as intimidating as possible. They told Brian he going to be searched. Brian stated he had no interest in being searched but this did little to dissuade the armed goon, and Brian was stood upright by two officers and patted down. While this pat down was going on, Brian was on the phone with another activist telling him directions to get to the park, and to call for help as we were in the thick of things. When the search of Brian’s person led to the discovery of some contraband, Brian’s phone was taken from him, and he was placed in handcuffs and put to the side.

After dealing with Brian their attention was then focused on me. I was forced to my feet after I refused to be searched, and my wallet was taken out of my pocket. As I carry no government ID, and all my wallet contained was a photo ID from my place of employment. This did not please the officer at all and he demanded to know my birth date. He also demanded to know if I held a license in any other state. As this was my first serious interaction with a police officer, my adrenalin was pumping and my nerves were high. I began spitting out my DOB when Mike looked at me and asked why I was answering their questions. I replied to him that I had no idea why I was answering their questions, and then asked the officer if I was legally required to tell him this information. The cop threatened me with arrest because I was impeding an investigation, and he NEEDED to know who he was dealing with for his safety.

While I was being questioned, Brian was led into a police van and taken away, and another activist (the one who was on the phone with Brian earlier) had walked over and began filming and snapping pictures of the scene. It was at this point where I was able to take out my phone and begin recording. (You can view my video here) After I tell the cop that I will not give up my DOB, he then states I am wasting his time and tells me to leave. He then begins to search another activist who arrived on a bike, and had a backpack with him. I sit and record to make sure that nobody else gets hurt. After that search results in no arrest-able offence, the remaining activists that are seated on the benches are told to leave and get out.

As Mike gets up to leave, he steps between 2 or 3 of the officers, and gently brushes one of their jackets. The officer then lunges his arm out, grabs Mike and then asks if he thinks he can “shove me like that”. Two or three officers then surround Mike, and place him under arrest. Mike then drops to his knees and goes limp. The officers ask if they told him to sit down, and demand he gets up. Mike passively resists and responds in no verbal or physical way. At this point my phone locks up and I begin getting phone calls from all over the state.

Three officers stand Mike up straight; search him one more time (I don’t recall if he had been searched initially) then place him down again. They keep threatening him with abuse if he does not get up. They tell him to “get up and walk like a man” and other similar comments. The police then form a circle around him, trying to prevent us from recording what’s going on. Everyone then waits until the police van returns from dropping Brian off. At this point three officers pick Mike up and drag him about 20 feet across the sidewalk, and toss him head first into the back of the police van. It was one of the most disgusting displays of humanity I have ever seen. The activists that were left to view this display, heckled and berated the participants in their lack of conscience and morals, for what it was worth.

And just like that, all the cops were gone, and we were left on the sidewalk alone again, not hurting or bothering anyone. There were four of us left after the cops had departed, so we decided to hoof it to the police station and wait to see if we could get our friends out of jail. Within thirty minutes of us arriving to the station, four had turned to eight. An hour after that eight had turned into eleven, and by the time we made our way to the Valley Street Jail to bail out Brian, eleven had turned into fifteen. The last three and a half hours of this story are rather dull, as is basically involves waiting for bureaucrats, sitting in uncomfortable waiting rooms, and being told half truths by every government employee we encountered. The real success I wish to point out is that we had three times as many people show up to lend their support after the arrests, then who showed up for the celebration in the first place. There was standing room only in the jail waiting room where we exchanged $500 for our friend’s (relative) freedom.

But there is still a victim being held by the armed Manchester thugs. Big Mike is still refusing to identify himself to the state. Chances are that much like Sam last summer, the state more than likely knows Mike’s identity, and is just going to hold him until he voluntarily gives up his information. I met Mike in the middle of August, and we have been roommates ever since. I know for a fact he WILL NOT budge one bit. He is not afraid of the thugs, and is not afraid to spend months in jail to prove that he is not owned by anyone. But because of this, the state refuses to put a bail out for his release, state the charges against him, or even let the public know when is arraignment is. Brian, who was the last person to speak with Mike, stated that he had some serious bruising over his body because of the dragging and manhandling.

I want this story to have a pleasant ending for Big Mike. I want my friend home from jail and to be safe from abuse. I want the state to stop kidnapping my friends over a plant, or chemical. I want the police thugs who think its appropriate behavior to arrest a person because they bruised their ego to see the evil in their actions and beliefs. I want the world to be free and people who occupy it to have their hearts filled with love and peace. That is the only way change will ever come to the world.