Tuesday morning the saga of UBER Grandma came to a close at Portsmouth district court. Stephanie Franz’ trial was scheduled for seven tickets she’s received since October of 2015 for the horrible crime of driving people places without a government permission slip. Rather than thank her for providing the service of getting drunk people home alive (and stopping them from driving themselves home drunk), the “City of Portsmouth” gang decided to ticket her seven times for a total of $6,500! $500 for the first ticket, $1000 each for the rest.
The city’s argument for threatening the sweet grandmother and other UBER drivers with such ridiculous fines was the claim that more stringent background checks than what UBER provides are necessary to keep passengers safe. However, this argument is obvious garbage, as the city only regulates drivers who charge for their services. If a convicted murderer were to offer rides for free, the regulations wouldn’t apply. Portsmouth’s anti-ride-sharing regulations, passed in Summer of 2015, were created to protect the existing taxi oligopoly. That’s what regulations are really for – not to protect consumers as the government claims, but to protect the established businesses from innovative competition.
Despite the constant attacks by both the police and the cabbies, UBER Grandma was not deterred. She kept driving in civil disobedience to the city’s protectionist ordinances, knowing she had harmed no one, and in fact had helped many people get home safely. She’s a hero for continuing to stand up for her right to do business without asking for permission! (more…)
David Jurist moved to Keene from Arkansas back in September and a month later was already in handcuffs in Hillsborough, NH for the dastardly crime of driving safely without a government permission slip. After receiving personal recognizance bail, he was released and other Keene activists made the trip to Hillsborough to pick him and his car up.
David is a freedom to travel activist and has studied many unusual courtroom approaches. For years I’ve encouraged people who want to try unique approaches to court cases to move to the Keene area so we can document them on video. (Many states do not allow recording in court, so it’s impossible for the court theorists to prove their techniques actually work.) So, I was excited to see him question the judge Edward B. Tenney during his arraignment this week at Hillsborough District Court.
State Representative Amanda Bouldin, Founder of Shire Sharing and “Liberty” Snitch
Free State Project early mover and now State Representative Amanda Bouldin has done a lot of good in her activist career. She created Shire Sharing, which for years, has fed hundreds of families in New Hampshire over the Thanksgiving holiday. She also created the Narcan bill that has helped save lives of opiate addicts across New Hampshire.
However, like many politicians, it turns out she’s a coward… and worse, a snitch.
You never know who is going to break under the pressure of the state. It could be your lover, your brother, or your “friend”. However, one might expect more from a libertarian, who should know better. One would be wrong.
State Representative Kyle Tasker Faces 60 Years for Victimless Crimes
In the over hour-long interview (click for redacted PDF transcript) she throws Kyle, whom she describes as her “friend” under the bus and reveals much of what she knows about his cannabis-dealing business. She also gossips about various state reps, claiming Libertarian candidate for Governor Max Abramson is the most hated in the state house.
She rolls on fellow liberty state rep Pam Tucker, claiming that Kyle named her as one of the state reps he’d sold cannabis to, in addition to an unnamed elderly rep in the state house parking garage.
After talking about how she was his “friend” and wanted to help him she says this about Kyle:
“He seemed like he was trying to be more legitimate than it deserved to be. Is what I remember thinking about it. That he. Um. He seems to derive some. Um. For sense of self-worth from doing it. You know what I mean? Like, he felt important. And. He also felt, um, invincible. Like, um, when he was using his vape in the State House, they said – you can’t do that in here; you’re going to get in trouble. And, he showed me, like, on-line, um, like, on his IPad, or something, ah, the law. It apparently says that the State House is, like, this bubble of immunity. I don’t know. So. I was, like, okay. It’s not? So, Seth thinks that Kyle is really stupid. “
This week, newer mover-to-Keene Steven Johnson tried his hand at a speeding ticket trial against newer Keene cop Luke Antin, who appears to be a decent guy. Steven heroically refused the plea deal and appeared for trial before judge Edward J Burke, in Keene District Court… but not really.
See, Keene District Court normally occurs in Cheshire County courthouse’s courtroom one. At 8:30 in the morning on November 7th, as usual, dozens of people had filed obediently into courtroom one, awaiting Burke’s arrival. Little did they know, however, that Burke had appeared in the smaller, upstairs courtroom three at 8:30am sharp.
This is a smart move – it prevents the average court attendee from seeing someone actually take a speeding charge to trial. (Based on the large number of youtube views on speeding ticket trials – people are very interested in this subject.) Sure, we give the court victims fliers to encourage them to not take a plea deal, but it’s another matter entirely for them to witness someone actually doing it.
So, courtroom three contained four people: Burke, Steven, KPD officer Luke Antin, and the cameraman – me. Thankfully, we can record the court proceedings in New Hampshire, so the trial can be seen by the world. Here’s the video:
On Friday October 14, in Laconia district court, Judge Carroll heard the Motion to Dismiss for the Free the Nipple case. This case is unusual, in that I am thoroughly convinced that everyone in that room believed they were right, and was not engaging in rationalization to so believe.
I was able to get statements from two of the ladies who were being aggressed against by the State:
“My biggest problem with today’s hearing is the prosecutor kept ignoring the gender/sex discrimination. Cities are allowed to make rules, they just can’t make rules that only apply to women, or black people, or gay people, or Muslim.” – Kia
“How you choose to wear your body is a body rights and property issue. If you don’t own your body what do you own? It’s just as degrading to ask a woman to put a shirt on as it is to ask her to take it off. Nudity is a natural spiritual choice; I personally stand before my creator unashamed as his artwork, and the same should apply to a woman who chooses to wear a hijab.” – Ginger
The attorney for the protestors argued that the Laconia ordinance prohibiting female toplessness was unconstitutional on the grounds that it discriminates against women and is not authorized by the New Hampshire Constitution. New Hampshire is not a home rule state, which means that towns and other subdivisions of the State may only pass laws on matters which they are authorized by the New Hampshire legislature. The State of New Hampshire has not authorized its subdivisions to legislate on the topic of nudity or toplessness. (more…)
Keene’s Robin Hooders are heading back to the NH Supreme Court on November 9th at 9:30am for what should be the final round in a three-plus-year run through the courts. Robin Hooders are the activists who have made international headlines for saving thousands of innocent motorists from parking tickets in the small city of Keene.
The NH Supreme court has already decided the allegations of “tortious interference”, “civil conspiracy”, “negligence”, and the demand for financial compensation were unfounded and the activities engaged in by the Robin Hooders are protected by the first amendment.
The appeal is for the NH Supreme court to look ONLY at the lower court’s ruling regarding the request for the “buffer zone” injunction. The court will hear oral arguments from heroic free speech attorney Jon Meyer and the city’s expensive tax-paid private attorneys on 11/9 at 9;30am. (The city’s attorneys are claiming they’re taking this case pro-bono, but that’s only after they charged the city likely over $100,000 for the first three court hearings.)
