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…)
Radio Free Keene News is a five minute newscast which is available as a podcast and also will air at the top of some hours on LRN.FM.
You can download the edition for this week here. Topics covered include the attack against and kidnapping of Free Keene blogger Derrick J as well as the Monadnock Regional High School free speech showdown.
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[The content below was originally posted to CopBlock.org]
Derrick J Freeman was assaulted by Fintan Moore.
The video below shows background, the incident and the follow-up, of the exchange. It was completed thanks to the collaboration of many of Derrick’s friends and the editing talents of Beau Davis.
I was grateful to have the opportunity tonight to appear as a guest with A New Way of Life‘s Susan Burton on “Reentry Radio” and discuss with her and co-host Ed Garrett the idea of not taking plea deals. Susan is the lady who was featured in the excellent New York Times piece, “Go to Trial – Crash the Justice System“.
After I saw the article I reached out to share with her that what she wanted to see happen was already happening here in New Hampshire – people refusing to take the plea deal and loading the system up with cases. I linked her to our downloadable, printable trifold, “Don’t Take the Plea Deal“, which exists in both a NH and national version.
A couple of days later, I was contacted by Ed Garrett, who is also on her show, and invited to come talk about the flier and what we are doing up here. It was a detailed conversation about the risks and potential rewards of not taking the plea deal, and we covered a lot of ground in about an hour, including talking briefly about Jury Nullification, the Free State Project, and more.
The edited video of the civil disobedience panel held at the 2012 Liberty Forum, in which me, Ian Freeman & Jason Talley converse with those present about ideas, strategy and impact. It was recorded on Friday, Feb. 24th, 2012 at the Nashua, NH Crown Plaza.
Do you have thoughts on the content discussed? Points where you agree or disagree? Things that need clarification? How would you have answered some of those questions?
Radio Free Keene News is a five minute newscast which is available as 
I was grateful to have the opportunity tonight to appear as a guest with 
