Late into the evening of August 31, the New Hampshire state police established a suspicionless checkpoint on Route 12 in Walpole. The location seemed a strange choice, as the area is notably rural and does not see any heavy traffic. Presumably, this was also the first suspicionless checkpoint established in Cheshire county this year. A detail of about ten state police units and just under that amount of cruisers situated themselves in front of a large Citgo station and waited for drivers to ambush. For most, the checkpoint meant shuffling through one’s wallet to find their papers, drowning in a sea of backlighting for about two minutes, occasionally field-testing for sobriety, then being released upon their way.
While it is the position of the state that these sorts of rights-infringing checkpoints promote safety by increasing detection of impaired and possibly reckless drivers, individuals are detained at these checkpoints indiscriminately and during my time at the checkpoint itself, I observed only one car that was permitted to roll through with no detention. Since detentions were not based on suspicion of a driving offense, they essentially violate the fourth amendment of the US constitution as well as liberties enumerated in the New Hampshire constitution, but the framework of a supposedly free people is permitted to be violated so long as a person in a black robe authorizes the indiscriminate stops. Per NH law, the suspicionless checkpoint was announced in advance with a release published in the Keene Sentinel. Knowing that drivers needed additional notice of the checkpoint, activists set up signs warning of the checkpoint ahead and indicating where the final turnoff was to avoid the detention from either approach. (more…)
While Robin Hooders prepare to spend a full day in court, this evening Concord city bureaucrats will hold the public hearing on the now infamous BEARCAT grant sought by the police. At 7pm, the public meeting is slated to begin at the council chambers on Green Street. Check out the informative response from Occupy New Hampshire, reformed following the decision to label them a terrorist group by the local police, who gathered to express their opposition to militarism and corporate protectionism. Additional coverage has recently run in Mother Jones, The Washington Times, Common Dreams, and The Boston Liberal. As posted to the Concord-NH.patch.com:
Participants and sympathizers of what was the Occupy New Hampshire movement are shocked to learn that the city of Concord considers us a potential threat to public safety and that we “present daily challenges.” In fact, the city considers us such a threat that it filed a fraudulent grant request to purchase a quarter of a million dollar armored attack vehicle to protect the community from non violent activists in this state.
Occupy NH established an explicit nonviolent ethic at its onset. No ONH event has ever witnessed a single act of violence. Furthermore, while Chief Duval claims that this is for the protection of the citizens of Concord, and wonders about the concern of citizens outside of Concord, he made this process a statewide issue and invited non-Concord residents to participate in the discussion and decision making process by targeting statewide organizations such as Occupy New Hampshire, and the Free State Project. (more…)
FACING 81 YEARS, RICH PAUL PLANNING TO APPEAL CONVICTIONS TO NH SUPREME COURT
Rich Paul, political activist and founder of the 420 Foundation, is seeking help to appeal the guilty verdict he received recently at Cheshire Superior Court in Keene, NH. Rich was on trial for selling marijuana to an undercover Drug Task Force informant. The drug sting was led by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and culminated with Rich Paul being asked to “cooperate” with the FBI in order to ensnare more local activists by wearing a wire into the Keene Activist Center.
The appeal will center around the recent New Hampshire State Law, HB 146, which affirms the legality of a jury to judge not just the case but the law itself. This ancient power of juries, called Jury Nullification, predates modern court systems as a part of common law. Judge John C. Kissinger refused to read jury instructions that included the jury nullification component. Mr. Paul has admitted to selling the marijuana and pursued a jury nullification defense only to be stymied by the Judge just before deliberations.
Should Mr. Paul succeed in his appeal it will help create a binding precedent allowing for all future jury instructions to include the jury nullification component. He hopes this will counteract the over-arching power that the State has in the courtroom and bring a more common-sense approach to trials. Mr. Paul has created no victims and should not be faced with 81 years in jail for selling a plant. He hopes to serve as an example for others ensnared by such tactics who also have acted peacefully and created no victims.
Justice is not cheap in America so a fundraiser has started to help hire a lawyer for the appeal. It is being coordinated online through a GoFund Me page and a facebook event. The tentative end date for the fundraiser is the day Mr. Paul will be sentenced, June 8th, 2013, allowing the lawyer hired to have a full month to prepare the appeal. Rich has taken up a tremendous challenge by fighting these charges through the court system rather than taking a plea deal. He is seeking the support of liberty lovers, believers in Jury Nullification, and opponents of prohibition. Contact his press agent James at (603) 209-9283 or jjschless@gmail.com for additional information. Please consider sharing this story and donating to the fundraiser.
Court of Record: Cheshire Superior Court, Keene, NH
Case Number: 12-cr-131
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This press release was emailed to 657 reporters and news agencies on 5/24/2013 at 6:05pm – JJ
