Many moons ago I posted on the Free Keene Forum that police officers in New Hampshire who arrest the sick using marijuana were do so illegally.
After much reflection on the issue, today I am forced to stand by my previous position. Today I find the need to stand further up than I did just a few years ago.
Police officers in New Hampshire have no right to arrest people under state law, anybody, for possession of cannabis. Read Part I, Article 10 for yourself:
[Art.] 10. [Right of Revolution.]
Government being instituted for the common benefit, protection, and security, of the whole community, and not for the private interest or emolument of any one man, family, or class of men; therefore, whenever the ends of government are perverted, and public liberty manifestly endangered, and all other means of redress are ineffectual, the people may, and of right ought to reform the old, or establish a new government. The doctrine of nonresistance against arbitrary power, and oppression, is absurd, slavish, and destructive of the good and happiness of mankind.
June 2, 1784
The federal Drug Enforcement Administration ruled back in the 1980s that Cannabis is safe. Politicians have consistently hid this information from you. They rely on you either not knowing the law or not being able to afford to defend yourself.
Out in front of the “town hall” with Kelly Ayotte yesterday in Fitzwilliam, I had the chance to interview Tracy who was there holding a #shameonyou sign with her wife and some friends who were holding “Stop Gun Violence Now” signs. We discussed Gay Marriage, Secession, and Bitcoin!
One of the most ridiculous instances of a heavy-handed plain clothes officer harassing young people and then arresting one for not following nonsense orders to leave fast enough at his behest was uploaded to youtube and liveleak on April 27. It has spread especially far today, with many sites featuring articles with the revealing video. You observe a dishevelled white man in sordid clothing approach a group of black youths and he demands to be given possession of a can that one is drinking from. The young people ask the man to identify and he says ‘police’, continuing to insist that he be given the can. The iced tea/lemonade fusion drinker, X, holds the can out to display the label and reads it to the man. He begins reaching for the can, and his intentions are questioned. He then goes into arrest mode, doing a quick ordering of X off of the property, drops the ‘T’ word a few times, and then arrests him for trespassing. It’s worth noting that the iced tea/lemonade can was not taken by police as evidence, yet displayed in its entirety for the camera, and clearly not a beverage worthy of any ‘reasonable suspicion’ of a crime.
This tactic is the same as taken by city bureaucrats in response to the Keene City Council Drinking Game in 2010. Charges in that case were dropped, and Round 2 of the consumption escapade went off without further police action. Since the entire incident revolved around suspicion of an otherwise legal drug, should this senseless arrest be counted as another casualty in the war on drugs?
A disorderly conduct charge was dropped against Ian Freeman, the New Hampshire man arrested last fall outside a public auction of town-owned properties at the Town Building.
Now he plans to fight the accusation that he violated a municipal ordinance before the event.
A hearing will be held May 22 in Palmer District Court on a motion to dismiss the ordinance violation of being disorderly before the public auction. Freeman is being represented by William C. Newman, Western Massachusetts director of the American Civil Liberties Union.
“I didn’t do anything wrong . . . It shouldn’t be a crime to record video in a public place,” Freeman, 32, said Wednesday. “I’m willing to go all the way to help protect people in a similar situation.” (more…)
Thanks to Marc Stevens‘ excellent motion to dismiss/strike that I modified and filed in my Antrim speeding ticket case, the regional prosecutor, Michael Beausoleil responded! In his response he actually makes the claim that I am “within the state” and simultaneously claims to be the state. The response I am sending out to Mr. Beausoleil tomorrow makes it clear that while it can be proven that I am within a geographic boundary commonly known as New Hampshire, Beausoleil has not proven that I am within the jurisdiction of the political state. It should be interesting to see if I get a response.
In addition to this series of interaction, I have also filed a request for discovery, motion to bypass the waste-of-time “pre trial conference”, (which is nothing more than a glorified plea deal )and also filed a motion for the court to acknowledge my long-established name change to Ian Freeman. Stay tuned here to Free Keene for updates.
The New Hampshire legislature never passed a law stating that Merry Man Graham Colson was banned in the Keene Common known commonly as Central Square. Despite this, Graham was issued a ‘No Tresapassing’ order from the square, which he believes is because he was riding a skateboard there. In an order issued by KPD’s Jason Short on May 10 2012, Graham is explicitly banned from ‘the common referred to as Central Square Keene NH 03431’. Aside from this ban, Graham has been neither charged nor convicted of a crime related to the town common. Last Thursday, he was arrested on a warrant while in the downtown for allegedly having been in the common on the previous day.
On April 22, Graham and I took an adventure into legal land to accomplish two tasks. First, we travelled to the Keene police department to obtain a copy of the original order, which was refused when originally issued last year. Then we crossed town to drop off a discovery request with the district court clerk at city hall, and the prosecutor’s office at the county courthouse. Demonstrating how common violations of petty rules on the common are, during the drive we observe a youth casually longboarding through the square. (more…)
