Selective Enforcement For Undesirable Speech

by Dale Everett | Nov 8, 2008 | 9 comments

On Sunday, October 26th, a bunch of different folks interested in promoting liberty gathered (assembled, if you like) in Keene, New Hampshire’s public Railroad Square for what was commonly referred to as The Freedom Festival. A week later, I did this interview with some locals who have been performing for tips in Railroad Square for about 10 months. They’re considering the name Z Squared but haven’t decided yet. I wish them well and hope the police continue to leave them unharassed.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YM872g-Ww8I

Here’s a little more about Freedom Fest. Two bands decided to show up and provide entertainment and there were a number of booths up for people interesting in learning more about various freedom movements in New Hampshire, including yours truly and groups like NH Common Sense, NHLA, New Hampshire Free Press, The Red Amendment, and The Liberty Scholarship Fund. I know I’m forgetting someone. About an hour into the event, police showed up and started asking individual participants if they had gotten a permit to be in this supposedly public place. The term “public property” seems like an oxymoron to me. Property implies the ability to exclude others from the use of that property. Therefore, the enforcers “own” public property; not us. The Freedom Festival is just another demonstration of this fact.

The band I interviewed in the video has been playing unharassed for about 10 months in the same location, usually using the public power. In case you think this is an issue of size or numbers, there’s no evidence to support that. There’s nothing about size or numbers in the ordinance that was the supposed reason we were being ordered to leave under threat of citation or arrest. Also the police were going around to each booth or band and asking for a permit, most of which were no more than one or two people, no different than the band playing for tips a week later, so by their own actions, it was not about numbers. The Z Squared band has gotten occasional noise complaints from local businesses but the police decided to pardon them. I think it’s silly, frankly, to complain of noise in a business district in the middle of the day in a location that’s known for having live bands and other public events, but the point is Freedom Fest got no such complaints from locals apparently. The police were asked if anyone had complained and the only answer seemed to be the enforcers themselves.

The laws are weapons in the hands of the people in power. You have free speech on supposedly public property IF they like you and IF they don’t mind what you’re saying.