Filmmaker Roger Grant, who made some of the foundational videos about NH liberty activism in the early days of the Free State Project, is back at it. His new series, Tour de Shire, focuses first on the liberty community and scenery of Grafton:
As you may recall, at the very beginning of the year, half-a-dozen liberty activists were banned “forever” from Cheshire “superior” court for the horrible crimes of asking bureaucrats questions and singing parody Christmas carols in the parking lot.
Kelly, Derrick, and I were all arrested at the court in February and charged with “Criminal trespass” for simply trying to go to court. Heroic first amendment attorney Jon Meyer joined the case on my defense and filed a motion to dismiss.
Now David Lauren, the attorney representing “the state” has responded with a ridiculous “Answer and Objection to Motion to Dismiss” and “Motion for Protective Order“. Essentially, Lauren argues that our rights weren’t violated because we could have asked to come anytime and it would have been granted. He also claims that court employees were afraid for their personal safety as well as that of their family and home. Apparently singing songs strikes fear into the hearts of government bureaucrats.
Sounds to me like they are projecting. Hey bureaucrats – us activist-folk are peaceful – it’s YOU guys that are supporting and doing violence every day in your role in the aggressive court system. No activist has ever harmed a court employee or destroyed their property. There’s no reason to be afraid, but they are so fearful that their attorney has motioned for a “protective order”, which, if granted, would allow the court bureaucrats to submit affidavits without last names or addresses! What cowards!
More to come as the case develops.
Mark Warden is a Free State Project participant and NH state rep in Goffstown. He’s a really principled guy who’s not afraid to show up at a Concord 420 at the state house. (He doesn’t smoke cannabis, but supports decriminalization and is willing to show it.) He also regularly attends court in support of liberty activists. Mark is a respected guy in the state house and an excellent realtor.
Now it appears the Democrats at the state level have decided to target Mark for defeat. William Tucker at Blue Hampshire says Warden’s seat is one of two key races they need to win:
The Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee today named two New Hampshire House races as key battlegrounds in the fight to make substantial gains in state legislatures around the country.
Aaron Gill, who is running to unseat Free Stater incumbent Mark Warden in Hillsborough District 39, was one of ten races selected through a process of grassroots nominations. The race matters, wrote the DLCC, because the outcome could indicate whether the state’s Republican-leaning districts are in play this cycle and if the Free State Project has staying power.
This is a good point, and this election in general will be a good indicator of whether the election of a dozen “free staters” in 2010 was a flash-in-the-pan or not.
You can contribute to Mark’s campaign here. He even accepts Bitcoin!
Jim the OpenairAtheist is a new mover to Keene from California. Yesterday he randomly encountered Libertarian candidate for US Representative Hardy Macia and recorded this interview:
Interested voters turned out today to the 2012 Candidates Forum at the Keene public library this afternoon. Several candidates for local and state offices turned out including Chuck Weed, Tim Robertson, Anna Tilton, Darryl Perry, Keith Carlsen and more. Hopefully these candidate forums will continue in future years, as this is the only one that I’m aware of happening.
As expected, Delmar Burridge, the opponent of Chuck Weed and I, did not attend. Presumably because he doesn’t want to debate his indefensible, inhumane positions.
Recent Forum Posts
