The joke is on you if you still think the “justice” system actually renders any. Case in point: Eight activists were charged with misdemeanor trespassing at the county jail earlier this year. (That one can “trespass” on property that is open to the public is another ludicrous issue, but I digress.) All eight activists were arrested together, so the circumstances of the cases were identical. The activists’ trials were broken up over multiple months. First, in August, was Jim Johnson. Jim was convicted of misdemeanor trespass and is currently appealing to a jury trial. Then, in September, was a multi-defendant trial involving yours truly, Lauren Canario, and fellow Free Keene bloggers Sean Murphy and Dale Everett. In this trial, the same man in the robe, Edward Burke, admitted that we couldn’t be found guilty of misdemeanor trespass, meaning it was not proven that it had been adequately communicated to us that we needed to leave. However, he convicted us all of violation-level trespass. Of course, this wasn’t what we were charged with at the start of the trial and unlike the misdemeanor charge, the requirements for conviction of this charge revolve around the defendant supposedly knowing he or she was not supposed to be in the place in question. Of course, we thought we could be there, as we’d been to the old jail countless times doing the exact same thing and had never been told to leave. However, we were not allowed to ask questions that would have been relevant to such a defense, because at the time of the trial it was still a misdemeanor, so the robed man ruled against those questions, saying they weren’t relevant to whether or not we were told to leave and didn’t, which is what needed to be proven by the state gang for a misdemeanor conviction.
If that wasn’t inconsistent and arbitrary enough for you, we come to the trial of Menno Troyer, who was quietly found NOT GUILTY of violation trespass a few days after his trial! (A different robed man, Runyon from Jaffrey, was sitting in for Burke.) Two trespass trials remain and are scheduled for late February. It remains to be seen if the state will press forward or just drop the charges.
Because they convicted me of a violation, I’m essentially locked out of an appeal, because the supreme court demands a $180 filing fee or the filling out of a detailed two-page affidavit detailing my personal finances. I refuse to pay this scam-system and I sure as hell am not going to give them my private financial info. But wait, you say! You have read the NH constitution and you know about Article 14 of the Bill of Rights, which says:
Every subject of this state is entitled to a certain remedy, by having recourse to the laws, for all injuries he may receive in his person, property, or character; to obtain right and justice freely, without being obliged to purchase it; completely, and without any denial; promptly, and without delay; conformably to the laws.
Sounds pretty clear, right? Us “subjects” are “entitled” to free justice without obligation to purchase or denial. Well, remember, in Legal Land, it’s not your interpretation that matters. I recently tried to appeal a decision in another matter to the supreme court without the filing fee or affidavit, and they kicked it back in my face, essentially claiming that Article 14 doesn’t prohibit filing fees, but instead only prohibits bribery. So, either you pay up or open up your books if you want a chance at justice in New Hampshire. Of course doing those things only gives you a chance – odds are good they will find in favor of the state, of course.
Government “justice” is a cruel joke and to paraphrase Marc Stevens’ Adventures in Legal Land, nothing more than window dressing for institutionalized violence.
