The right to petition governments for redress of grievances is an essential liberty. Article 31 of the NH Constitution states: “The legislature shall assemble for the redress of public grievances…” and Article 32 states: “The people have a right… to request of the legislative body, by way of petition or remonstrance, redress of the wrongs done them, and of the grievances they suffer.” However, it is now more difficult to have your petitions answered.
In mid-December, the NH House Rules Committee voted 6-4 to recommend the removal of the Grievance Committee. On January 2, the House voted 226-147 to eliminate the committee. Supporters of the committee say it was a constitutionally created mechanism to help people redress grievances and that every petitioner coming before the committee had to propose a legislative action or the petition wasn’t entertained.
Rep. Gary Richardson, who motioned for the rule change, said the New Hampshire House is one of the most representative bodies, and any outstanding or pressing issue could be raised via legislation, on a case-by-case basis.
The main problem with that claim is that legislation can only be proposed during a brief period between Legislative Sessions. Secondly, the claim assumes that someone’s Representative will actually introduce the requested legislation.
Keene Cop Block has begun the Victimless Crime Outreach project. Each week, all who were arrested by Keene police will be sent an envelope containing useful information regarding dealing with a victimless crime:
Letter with text reminding the victim of state aggression that they are not alone, didn’t do anything wrong, and that help and options are available.
November 2011 – I am pulled over for speeding on the way back from some activism in Concord with a car full of activists. Trooper Kelly Healy asks my passengers for ID – I remind her that as passengers they are in no way obligated to show her ID. As I reach for my car registration she asks about my driver’s license and why there was an NH address on a FL license. I decline to answer her probing questions, instead asking her questions of my own, like, “Am I being detained?”. Healy returns to her car and later comes back with a speeding ticket, to which I ask her if she really wants to go to court, and she claims that is my choice. I remind her that it was her choice to aggress against me and tell her I’ll see her in court.
Or, maybe not. Trooper Healy never showed up to a court hearing scheduled for this week and the case was dismissed on my motion to dismiss for failure to appear on the part of the complaining party. I “won”! Here’s video from the pullover and court hearing:
I put quotes around the win because it took many hours of my time, for which I will not be compensated. Allow me to detail the process: (more…)
This post was originally published to KeeneCopBlock.org on Dec. 19th, 2012.
Many folks who reside in Keene are aware of the petty harassment doled out by Fred Parsells.
A former Keene police employee, Parsells now claims a “legitimate” right to be a nosy bother to his neighbors due to his occupation as a code enforcer.
Fortunately a lot of thinking individuals have concluded that when the initiation of force or its threat is utilized, whether “officially” sanctioned or not, the person initiating is in the wrong.
There’s much I love about Keene. Yet I could do without the countless iterations of force threatened or initiated by Fred Parsells.