Free Keene TV’s Ali Havens interviews several victims of the insane no trespass orders that have been leveled at activists for exercising their supposed rights to free speech and assembly:
During my involvement with representing Jason Talley, I was fortunate to have been anonymously contacted by several people whom were well versed in the law. These people were invaluable to helping me help Jason escape imprisonment on what he believed to be corrupt court orders.
I recently heard from a law enforcement officer about an awesome judge in Carroll County who calls the jail on the weekends on her own accord simply because she wants to make sure defendants do not get held just because the court is closed. She legally doesn’t have to do that. I think she probably does it because she is a good person who uses her authority to protect individual liberty. I’ve never met this judge, but she sounds awesome.
Chen Guangchen (left) after his escape, with Hu Jia
Detained human rights activist Chen Guangcheng has escaped the custody of local government officials who had been keeping him under house arrest since 2010. Chen is known as a lawyer who worked to expose forced abortions and sterilizations among 7,000 women in rural China.
While drawing attention to the human rights abuses in 2006, he was brought up on bogus charges of “deliberately destroying property” and “disrupting traffic”. After serving a four year prison sentence, he was confined to his home, where guards kept constant watch to prevent him from communicating with the outside world. Actor Christian Bale attempted to visit the activist in December of last year with a CNN film crew in tow, and was forcibly blocked from the property.
He reportedly escaped on April 22, and made his way to Beijing, where he released a 15 minute video announcing his safe escape and making requests of Chinese Premiere Wen Jiabao. His video statement focuses on urging Wen to investigate the unlawful nature of his detention and the intimidation and physical force used against his supporters, as well as calling for an investigation into corruption at all levels. (more…)
With the Secret Service now investigating cocaine use by its agents in Columbia, I think it is a good time to point out some serious hypocrisy in the United States Code with regard to the 2nd Amendment.
Federal law in the United States makes it a serious federal offense to possess a firearm or ammunition if you are a user of illegal drugs:
For years I have been doing outreach at Keene State College. This normally consists of handing out fliers on campus, especially during class changes. Only this year did I ever encounter any trouble from campus security, when they threatened me with a no trespass order if I were to continue handing out information. Upon visiting with one of the college directors in his office, I inquired regarding their policy. I was told that not even KSC students may hand out fliers on campus! I was informed that I could have a table in the student center, just like the students can have. I would be allowed to sit behind the table, quietly, and only interact with people who came up to speak to me.
This was unacceptable to me. It’s highly ineffective. Why sit at a table all day or even for a few hours, when my friends and I can deliver hundreds of fliers in fifteen minutes during class change? Besides, aren’t college campuses advertised as the holy grail of free speech? What a bunch of nonsense.
So, last week on Thursday, I returned to the campus with new mover Daryl Perry. (more…)
Here Dave Ridley sets up to record a grievance panel hearing and a few of them try to boss around Ridley and mess with his equipment. It’s video that proves power goes to people’s heads, even the ones whose job it is to ostensibly check the power of other bureaucrats. To their credit they do apologize to him after the fact.