For years, activists have faced countless threats, intimidation, discrimination, ignorance, misinterpretation of judges’ orders, and various other episodes of malfeasance on the part of the bailiffs at Cheshire “superior” court. The quotes are around “superior” because their operation is clearly not. Though Keene district court’s security has had a bad apple or two over the years (longtime district court badge-heavy Ron Dusavitch has moved to superior court), their bailiffs are generally well-mannered compared to superior court’s squad of angry old men.
Recently, Judge John C. Kissinger granted my motion for a hearing on the bailiffs’ constantly bad behavior. Kissinger thus far has proven to be a more reasonable judge than his predecessor, John P. Arnold, who was the definition of a petty tyrant. Kissinger has not restricted t-shirts with messages, has not threatened anyone over not standing, has not restricted physical camera operation by media in the courtroom, and has allowed more than one cameraman. He’s not by any means the best he could be, after all he still sentenced Rich Paul to jail, but he does not come off as petty as Arnold. He has smiled a number of times during various hearings, a possible indicator of the human being beneath the robe.
Here’s the video from the hearing today, thanks to Chris Cantwell:
The bailiffs were on their best behavior today, interestingly. No nasty verbal remarks before the judge came in, no one threatened Jason Talley for taking the photos he took, (one of which was used above), and the bailiff who clearly saw Garret recording an interview with me in the lobby afterwards also did not threaten him. Additionally, when my camera failed in the beginning, Chris Cantwell heroically saved the day by placing his camera on top of mine and recording the bulk of the hearing (that’s why it starts a little ways into the hearing). It was nice to see the court security officers stand down for once.
As an aside, in NH, superior court buildings generally have security staff (bailiffs) that are employed by the county’s sheriff department. However, district court building security is operated by the Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC), an entirely different bureaucracy. It is unknown who will be in charge of security at the new courthouse that is currently under construction on Winter St., as that building will hold both district and superior courts.
