Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear did not veto a bill to legalize cultivation of industrial hemp in the Bluegrass State, though it did become law without his signature.
Kentucky now joins North Dakota, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Oregon, California, Montana, West Virginia and Vermont as the nine States to have passed a law allowing for farmers to cultivate industrial hemp. Despite the legality in these nine States, farmers have not yet begun to grow it because of fear that the DEA will seize the crops. (more…)
Despite a fine performance by New Hampshire Civil Liberties Union attorney Barbara Keshen, the sad, obedient jury did what the state wanted and convicted the Trespassive Three of Occupy NH for “Criminal Trespass” for the crime of exercising their rights to free speech and assembly after 11pm in Manchester’s Veteran’s Park.
The jury’s guilty verdict basically says that a city ordinance can trump the constitutional supposed “protections” for the rights we allegedly have as human beings. It is a terrible decision against their fellow human beings.
After the trial, several activists awaited the release of the jury and attempted to offer cash for a quick interview. They were not having it, one even saying “we’re not talking to you” which is a strange thing to say, since she was walking alone when she said it. (I didn’t record that interaction.) Were they instructed to not talk to us? One juror in the video says they weren’t given such an instruction, but I have to wonder if that is true.
The juror who speaks to us later is not shown in the video, at her request. Could that be because she was ashamed of what she did? She decided to talk to us only after all the other jurors and court security had left. (more…)
This morning on NHPR’s “The Exchange” with Laura Knoy about the Free State Project‘s first decade in NH, the haters were on the attack against liberty activists here in Keene. Keene activism dominated the conversation with FSP guests Carla Gericke, Joel Winters, and Carol McGuire (both are state representatives – Joel a democrat and Carol a republican).
Perhaps the host of the show will have another episode actually featuring Keene activists who can respond to the ridiculous critics. The usual complaints of toplessness in front of middle schoolers, smoking pot, harassing crossing guards, police, and court staff and other misinformation came up and the guests’ answers were dodgy at best or outright attacks on Keene activism. Carol McGuire, for instance, agreed with the host when she asked her if she thought Keene was a “black eye” on the Free State Project.
One thing is for sure, as Joel Winters points out, Keene activism gets people talking. Too bad none of the speakers on the show bothered to address the ridiculous critiques straight on. No one pointed out:
I am currently being interviewed by a UNH college student for her project. I decided to record my answers as an audio file so as to make them available to a wider audience than just the student, Erin. In the audio I discuss the state’s violent nature, victimless crimes, the BEARCAT, Robin Hooding, the consensual organization of society, and more. Thanks to Erin for reaching out. Here’s the audio:
On March 26th, Ridley was trying to interview local officials including Gatsas who told the independent journalist that he must get permission from the City Clerk’s office before recording. According to Ridley, “an enraged security officer shortly appeared and made similar demands.” He describes the upcoming demonstration:
“In the absence of some major unexpected event, there will be an anti-censorship demonstration outside City Hall starting 6 p.m. on Monday, April 8. Then I intend to enter the lobby *with* my camera recording and *without* asking permission. I’ll try to record, non-disruptively, the outskirts of a City school-committee meeting. I’ll likely remain until arrested or until 7:30 p.m…whichever comes first! I invite all peaceable folk to join me.”
As you may know, NH is the only state with a law affirming the right of a jury to nullify bad laws (thanks to Free State Project liberty legislators). Now the NH Bar Association’s Mark Sisti and Jared Bedrick weigh in with an opinion piece about the issue:
This past September, Judge James D. O’Neill, III of the Belknap County Superior Court instructed jurors that they could find the defendant not guilty, despite proof of guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, if they had “a conscientious feeling that a not-guilty verdict would be a fair result in [the] case.”
In that case, Barnstead resident and Rastafari practitioner Doug Darrell had taken the stand and admitted to each and every element of an indictment alleging that he knowingly manufactured marijuana at his home. The judge was essentially allowing the jury to base its decision on something other than law or logic – its concept of justice. This is known as “jury nullification,” and it’s the subject of a recent law and heated debate. (more…)
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