If you are in a big city and are tired of not making an impact with your liberty activism – please come up to NH and get active here. The Free State Project is working!
I am happy to bear witness to your pledge to “get involved” in the Liberty Movement. I am even happier to inform you that you have already done so, in at least three ways: your letter to Adam, your letter to me, and your donation to my defense fund!
Being a jailed civilly disobedient activist can be compared to being the star of a movie. A movie should have a star, it would be boring without one, but no movie can be made with only one actor. Not only must other actors be found to play supporting roles, but a director, cameraman, and a producer are also required to make almost any movie. Voluntarists are frequently equipped with oversized egos, so it is often hard to find people to fill the vital supporting roles in our movement.
I was not trying to get put in jail this time, I was just doing my thing, which happened to be illegal. My focus these days and going forward will be more on making things change through mass protest, agorism, and through playing important supporting roles in civil disobedience than on actively trying to get myself arrested. I hope that you will continue to work for liberty in every way which makes sense to you…and that you will give yourself a break on the issue of civil dis. Not all activism gets you arrested, and actively promoting causes on Facebook is activism, in a way that lackadaisically pressing “like” is not.
If you cannot think of any other activism to do, I would challenge you to spend four hours a week actively promoting my case, spreading word of it to new audiences, and hopefully getting word of it to spread virally.
The Fundraiser for Rich Paul’s appeal has been successful and the campaign to free Rich Paul is moving into a more long-term strategy. The appeal lawyer’s retainer has been raised with $3,000.00 contributed by Rich’s parents, $3,500.00 contributed by the Civil Disobedience Evolution Fund , and the remaining funds donated through the fundraising campaign. A heartfelt thank you goes out to all those that donated and supported Rich Paul!
The lawyer hired to represent Rich through the appeals process is Joshua Gordon and he has one of best records for successful appeals in New Hampshire. Rich and many of those involved behind the scenes are confident that Joshua will do a good job. The appeals process is a long one and should verdict be overturned the case may be retried.
The Civil Disobedience Evolution Fund believes in “supporting the good people who disobey bad laws” and has seen fit to make a substantial contribution to the Appeal Fundraiser. CD Evolution has not been very active as of late but they are hoping to change that starting with this appeal. Please take a moment and visit their website for more information on the volunteer organization.
The fundraising is not finished by any means. Next up we need to raise the $1,200 it will cost to get the trial transcripts from the court and while the initial retainer is covered Joshua Gordon may require more hours of work than estimated and there are other expenses that may come up. Couple that with the possibility of a retrial and the money needed is still quite substantial. Essentially, the first step of this journey is complete and now we need to prepare for the next steps.
I, Rich Paul, have finally been sentenced after sitting in jail for seven weeks. My sentence is:
One year in jail – With good time and time served I should be out sometime around December 18th
Three years probation
Various fines about $2500
Is this sentence fair? Of course not. I’ve harmed no one. I provided good product at a fair price to an adult who wanted it. I wish that more people would do that rather than making their living ruining lives to be paid with stolen money.
I can hear the drug warriors thinking, “But weed is a gateway drug.” Oh, really? The government-worshipping drug warriors should be relieved to find out that when the government’s Institute of Medicine studied the gateway effect, they found no causal relationship between the use of cannabis and the use of harder drugs like alcohol, cocaine, and heroin. Moreover, researcher and addiction specialist Todd H. Mikuriya, in his study entitled “Cannabis as a Substitute for Alcohol : A Harm Reduction Approach”, found that alcoholics who used cannabis were more likely to avoid relapse into the active use of these more dangerous drugs.
The “gateway effect” seems to be pretty well debunked. Spread the word!
I will be appealing my conviction and have already raised over $8,000 towards that end. I hope that you will help by donating here in either bitcoin or dollars.
Rich Paul bravely faced down 100 years in prison to stand up for principle and attempt to hasten the demise of the insane war on drugs. Yesterday, Rich was sentenced to one year in county jail, many more suspended in prison, a three year probation, and fines.
At the sentencing hearing the court heard well-researched and passionate speeches from defense attorney Kim Kossick, Rich’s parents, and Rich himself:
You can see raw video below of Kim and Rich’s parents’ speeches as well as a ridiculous beginning portion where judge John C. Kissinger enters the court and immediately threatens the audience regarding cameras. (more…)
Rich Paul has become a martyr for the legal marijuana movement, risking a life in prison rather than accept that something he loves should be a crime.
As Harry Cheadle of Vice reported earlier, the New Hampshire libertarian was arrested on four charges of selling marijuana and one of selling LSD last year. Paul refused to bargain with the FBI or accept a plea bargain — even when offered a deal with no jail time — and when his trial came Paul tried in vain to convince the jury not to convict him.
At his sentencing on Friday, Paul faces a maximum of 100 years in prison, even if he is likely to get far less.
While his story has been held up as a paragon of ludicrous drug laws, the 40-year-old claims that he’s really being targeted because of his membership in a libertarian political group.
to make a substantial contribution to the Appeal Fundraiser. CD Evolution has not been very active as of late but they are hoping to change that starting with this appeal. Please take a moment and 
