by Garret Ean | May 2, 2012 |
From freeconcord.org:
While visiting the 21st annual Extravaganja festival in Amherst, Massachusetts, I had the chance to meet a long-time advocate for a peace declaration in the war on drugs. Jack Cole is one of the founding members of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition who worked in undercover narcotics for a great portion of his police career. Though he had known for years while working in the field that he was actively harming communities by perpetuating an unnecessary war, it was some time before he decided to make speaking out against the war a major part of his life. Since doing so, he has found it difficult to, in good conscience, not continue to work hard to maintain the momentum LEAP has been building in opposition to prohibition policy.
In this interview, Jack overviews the surprising success LEAP has had since its formation in March 2002. Now spanning 86 countries, LEAP is beginning to have even more active duty criminal justice officials, as early on their public membership was almost exclusively retired individuals. Jack also gets into how the drug war is greatly decreasing the effectiveness of more imperative criminal justice functions because of the ease of fishing in the drug war.
Many thanks to Jack Cole and his fellow spokesmen for LEAP, who undertake the important task of disseminating unpopular truths. See the 13-minute interview embedded below.
https://www.youtube.comwatch?v=_0sexte4kJw
by Garret Ean | May 1, 2012 |
From freeconcord.org:
Today the FBI celebrated May Day its own way with the arrests of five individuals who the bureau’s spokesman described as “self-described anarchists”. According to the feds, three of the five men arrested were directly involved in a plot to detonate a four-lane highway bridge in Cleveland, Ohio. They planted what they thought were explosives, went to a location outside of the blast radius, and tried to activate the bombs. An arrest warrant had already been signed before the men even made their way to the site. They had been duped in a typical sting operation in which they are given inert material under the guise that they are explosives to be used for a specific operation, and they are busted when they go about completing the task. While the facts have not yet fully emerged from the events of today, we are to rest assured that the year-long plotting and faux-terrorism incident was under complete investigatory quality control from the brightest minds in law enforcement. Whether the co-conspirator and source of the (non)explosives was an undercover federal agent or a confidential informant, it sounds as if the would-be terrorists were more specifically aiding the plot of another. (more…)
by Garret Ean | Apr 30, 2012 |
From freeconcord.org:
Japanese Kempeitai officer, secret police
The Concord Monitor’s Felice Belman writes on her blog from the newspaper’s website that the Concord police have stopped including narratives of the events surrounding an arrest in releases to the press. Recently, they began only including the name and charges against an individual who has been seized by their organization. This is to have stemmed from complaints filed by an attorney on behalf of city councilor Fred Keach, who was arrested for attempting to drive while intoxicated in October 2010. Keach was unhappy with the amount of detail provided by the police in the account of the arrest as published in the Monitor.
The article also overviews that a statutory change pending in the NH legislature will specify the amount of information to be released by police following an arrest. It is hard to imagine anyone would support a more secretive local police force that didn’t work for the police or prosecutor’s office. In case you may be curious as to what a typical arrest narrative given to a defendant would look like, here’s a scan of the report I received with my discovery packet from the Chalking 8 trial.
by Garret Ean | Apr 27, 2012 |
From freeconcord.org:
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…)
by Garret Ean | Apr 14, 2012 |
Tim Osmar arrested for chalking, Dec 15 2011
After a cost of eighteen days in a cage and a few months of legal threats, there is good news to report on chalking freedom out of Orlando, Florida. The ABA Journal published yesterday that Timothy Osmar, who was twice arrested for chalking at the Orlando city hall plaza, had his rights violated when he was legally kidnapped over protected political speech. US district magistrate David Baker’s ruling deemed the arrest for violation of a city ordinance to be an overreach of a code designed to prevent unauthorized commercial advertising. Unlike NH, Florida’s towns and cities are endowed with the power to write words powerful enough to invoke arrest for their violation.
Prior to the decision Friday, Orlando officials indicated that they would be appealing an “adverse ruling”. The city would find it difficult to play a purer than thou antichalk attitude in this case. Orlando mayor Buddy Dyer encouraged downtown businesses to chalk their sidewalks in support of the home team Magic when they were in the NBA playoffs in 2009. The city also permits a yearly chalk art festival held by the local Rotary Club. David Baker told Orlando bureaucrats, “The city may not selectively interpret and enforce the ordinance based on its own desire to further the causes of particular favored speakers.”
Mayor Dyer did not seem thoroughly interested in the deeper constitutional and moral issues regarding chalking arrests. His comment, while charges were pending was, “This was a guy who wanted to be arrested, by all accounts, and has been… This guy was given every opportunity not to go to jail, but he chose to go to jail.” (more…)
by Garret Ean | Apr 9, 2012 |
This year there will be a Free Concord litter pickup on 4/20, meeting at 2pm in front of the state house. Bags and gloves will be provided. For the celebrations after the litter pickup, you may want to bring chalk, musical instruments, signs, or anything else that you think would contribute to the peaceful atmosphere. Facebook event page:
http://www.facebook.com/events/422994687727789/
