Yesterday, Kate Ager received via USPS mail the verdict from judge William Lyons regarding her trial at Manchester district court on September 12. Of the three remaining charges (the state was pursuing four at trial, one was dropped prior to the delayed verdict) Kate was found not guilty of false report, guilty of resisting, and guilty of violation-level disorderly conduct. The state was pursuing misdemeanor level convictions for all of the charges, so it appears Mr. Lyons himself determined that Kate was not guilty of the ‘disorderly’ misdemeanor charge, but found her actions to qualify at the violation level.
This morning (September 23, 2011) around 8:40 AM, Jason Talley, Cecelia, and I went to the Superior Courthouse in Keene for Ian Freeman’s habeas corpus hearing scheduled for 9:00 AM. At the ‘security’ checkpoint, Jason checked his bag of recording equipment in exchange for a receipt. He then walked through the metal detector and was immediately questioned about the device attached to his belt. Jason replied, “That’s my personal camera,” then expressed that he was walking to the window a few feet away to fill out a form asking permission to film the proceedings upstairs.
As Jason approached the window, the bailiffs began touching him. At first it appeared that the bailiffs were patting down his pockets, but they then attempted to steal his camera from his belt. Jason held onto his property while the bailiffs were grasping his wrists, very tightly it appeared, and trying to pull his hands away from the camera. Jason was told he was under arrest and put into handcuffs. Although he did not resist, Jason did not assist the bailiffs in his kidnapping. One of the bailiffs grabbed onto the handcuffs, in the center, and dragged Jason, backwards, into the elevator.
The bailiff, when questioned, stated that Jason was going to be seen in Keene District Court on two misdemeanor charges, including resisting arrest. He would not state the specific charge for which Jason was arrested, only that it was in relation to walking through security with a recording device. Cecelia and I went to the Keene District Court to inquire about when Jason would be seen by the judge, but the clerk was not able to provide any information.
At the Cheshire County Sheriff’s Department (located in the Superior Courthouse), we were informed that Jason would be seen by a judge this afternoon. We then spoke with the County Attorney and learned that Jason will be seen “sometime after 1:30 PM” this afternoon at the Superior Courthouse.
“KPD Shows True Colors with Parking Meter Proposal & What to Do About it”
Keene Police Chief Ken Meola tipped his hand recently with his proposal to switch from the parking meters littering beautiful downtown Keene that many know and detest to a new system of kiosks.” Each unit will replace several meters and unlike meters in other cities, thees do not require the user to place a receipt on the dash.
Please forgive my inexact numbers. I write this from my jail cell and do not have source material in front of me. I’m going by my memory of recent Keene Sentinel pieces on the subject.
Considering, if I recall correctly, that KPD rakes in over $300,000 per year from the current system, one might wonder what the motivation is to change a system that is “working.” (Though I have heard rumor that the Parking Division actually runs in the red. I would love to have this confirmed or denied. Regardless, that information doesn’t change the point of this post.) (more…)
On Friday evening the City of Keene sent the night shift of the Keene Police Department to Central Square where law enforcers stole an audio mixer and assaulted three people participating in the community’s Live Free or Dance event. Derrick Freeman was maced while law enforcers attempted to blind the cameras from the actions of their aggressive colleague with their flashlights.
For background, read my post on Talley.TV and watch this video by Dave Ridley, featuring Neal Connor. Please join me in watching the backs of Ryan Maddox, Roz and Derrick J. Freeman by watching the video below and the schedule under that:
We intend to go to the following bureaucracies and enforcement agencies in the following order and hope to arrive at Keene City Hall at 8AM.
If you see something say something. If you witness actions taken by public servants on the livestream that concerns you, please call one of the following locations to voice your objections. Phone numbers are provided below.
Each of these organizations are subject to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and this morning is the first available chance for the FOIA to be evoked.
For any members of law enforcement who may be thinking about stopping my efforts to make government more transparent I suggest you read about the recent Glik ruling by the 1st Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals here and here. It upheld the right to record public servants and makes it clear that people who are law enforcers can be personally held liable for for infringing on rights acknowledged by the First Amendement to the U.S. Constitution. Words on paper that law enforcers swore to uphold. From the unanimous three judge ruling (PDF) by the 1st Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals:
[A] citizen’s right to film government officials, including law enforcement officers, in the discharge of their duties in a public space is a basic, vital, and well-established liberty safeguarded by the First Amendment.
Lets see if they want to challenge the U.S. District Court today?
Ian Freeman recently learned, thanks to his incarceration, that Cheshire County Superior Court Judge John P. Arnold will be retiring. Our man on the inside was not able to learn the dates of John’s retirement and my followup calls to the Superior Court in Keene didn’t yield any answers, but Barbara Hogan, the clerk of the court, did confirm that John is retiring.
On Friday’s Free Talk Live, Ian Freeman called in and spoke to Mark Edge and myself about the news and reminded us about John’s time on the bench:
Ian called the retirement “convenient” since John would have faced a hearing by the Redress of Grievance panel for his banning of all recording devices, which is in violation of the New Hampshire open records statutes. John P. Arnold banned people from wearing shirts with messages on them, demanded that court watchers withhold display of emotion in the courtroom and forced people in the courtroom to stand for him, stifling their convictions (religious and otherwise). In a previous episode of Talley.TV I reported on Judge Arnold Enforces Decorum “Strongly,” Threatens Talley.TV and Causes Disruption of Court Proceedings.
There are now 18 fulltime judges [at 11 locations] serving on the Superior Court throughout the state. Under the State constitution, the Governor, with approval of a majority of the Executive Council appoints judges who hold office until they attain the age of 70.
Dave Ridley continues to illustrate the episode of Free Talk Live that took place the evening of Ian’s caging by John Arnold in his latest report:
Despite being locked away at the Cheshire County House of Corrections, it’s good to see that Ian was still able to scoop the mainstream media. There’s no doubt the “State of New Hampshire” will fill this position and we’ll have yet another Superior Court Judge in Keene, NH. The governor will nominate a new judge (with the agreement of an executive council) so there won’t be a delay in enforcing bad laws and enriching the state with new fines.
Note that this governor is not friendly to the Free State Project and may use this as an opportunity to send a message to the people who move to “New Hampshire’s Liberty Activism Destination.” Harsher enforcement of bad laws will just serve as more opportunities to tell people about the peaceful civil disobedience happening in Keene as more people move here and say no to aggressive government. Since Ian’s caging, several people have moved and many more have publicly announced that they will be moving as a result. This is exactly what Ian had hoped for and as he put it, “it was worth it!!”
John has punished a lot of people during his time on the bench but I’m only aware of three liberty activists that faced him in court: Russell Kanning, Jim Johnson and of course Ian Freeman. Another high profile incident during John P. Arnold’s tenure as Judge was the suicide by self-immolation on the sidewalk outside where Arnold and his staff go to work in the Keene community. Like this, the news was released first by FreeKeene.com. Cases such as these receive more publicity because they take place in a city that Ian Freeman calls the “liberty media capitol of the world.” As more people have become aware of John’s harmful use of judicial powers he has become open to more scrutiny. His response was to ban cameras and other electronic devices that concerned members of the community use to hold public servants accountable.
Gathering information about government officials in a form that can readily be disseminated to others serves a cardinal First Amendment interest in protecting and promoting “the free discussion of governmental affairs.”
Will the next Superior Court Judge be more camera-friendly, or will he and other public servants decide to resign when faced with accountability and a community in search of true justice?
Hello from the Keene Spiritual Retreat, aka, the Cheshire County “House of Corrections!” In case you aren’t aware, I have been sentenced to 90 days here (plus 270 days “suspended”) for the “crime” of “obstructing government administration.” In other words, my friend Heika was being kidnapped by the people calling themselves the Keene Police because she was enjoying an afternoon in the park with an alcoholic beverage, and I chose to peacefully stand in front of police car to prevent the kidnapper’s escape. Turns out, I merely delayed them for a few minutes before they kidnapped me and the other brave activists who stove in front of, and behind the police cruisers -Rich Paul, Meg McLain, and Wes Gilreath.
So began an odyssey into “legal land” that has lasted over a year. Apparently, waiting over a year for a trial is “speedy.” That is one of several absurdities about this sick, slow, stupid system to which we are all subjected, that I experienced personally. Here are some more “highlights,” which you will be able to see in the trio video, thanks to Talley.TV:
• KPD’s Jason Thompson admits that he doesn’t really think about liberty, even though it’s his fundamental duty to protect it, according to KPD’s “Statement of Ethics”
• KPD’s Colin Zamore appears to be oblivious to what “subject” means, even though he and fellow officers use it all the time to refer to us non-police-folk
• “judge” John P. Arnold claims the constitution does not apply in this case
• Arnold ejects members of the public from court under threat of violence because their moral or religious beliefs prevent them from standing for another man.
There are more, but I only have so much space. Another interesting aspect was the jury. This was the third jury trial in Keene, and the first time they have returned a non-guilty verdict. They found me not guilty of “resisting arrant.” Unfortunately, they found me guilty of the “obstructing” charge, which is why I am in jail. There had been jury nullification outreach done to the potential jurors and the concept was the cornerstone of my defense. Was their “not guilty” a nullification? I’d speculate it wasn’t, but simply their decision regarding the facts of the case. Perhaps someday we will know for sure, as I have heard NHJury.com intends to contact them with a survey.
So here I sit at the Keene Spiritual Retreat, as my work responsibilities go unmet and email piles up – I am having months of my life stolen from me because I delayed the police for five minutes! It’s a clear violation of NH Constitution Article 18, which says punishments should be proportionate to the crime. Of course, if you are reading this, you probably know the government people don’t give a damn about their founding document, or any of their rules, for that matter. Look at the camera/audio ban at “Superior Court” – it violates both the NH Constitution and RSA 91-A:4, but good luck getting anyone to enforce their own laws on their buddies!
I am already jotting down ideas for future blogs from jail – for now though, I bid you goodbye. First though, THANK YOU to all who came to my trial and to everyone who has moved or will be moving to New Hampshire as part of the Free State Project. The more people who come here and get active in the way that is right for them, the better our chances of someday living free. Special thanks to the financial uprooters or Mail-to-Jail.com – one of the most useful activist tools out there!
Free Concord’s Garret Ean has a full report on the results of Kate’s arrest at the Manchester chalking event this summer:
