Illegal UBER Driver Stephanie Franz, courtesy CBS Boston
In an article at Seacoast Online, Portsmouth acting police chief Frank Warchol uses his best, “I’m just doing my job” excuse for his department targeting 63-year old grandmother Stephanie Franz a SECOND time for what is now a total of $1,500 in two tickets. Franz is accused of driving people somewhere in Portsmouth without the city’s permission slip.
The protectionist racket will continue on unabated after Monday night’s city council meeting, where there were people who testified in favor and against driving freedom. Christopher David had a volunteer read his letter to the council, as he could not attend due to his wife having a baby. Here’s the feed from the council chambers, starting with the people addressing the council:
The second speaker is a taxi company owner who accuses UBER of “stealing” money from him, since he’s obediently jumped through the city’s hoops. However, he does suggest (perhaps sarcastically) to repeal all ordinances so his companies can lower their prices, which I think most libertarians would love to see. After him is a former fireman who suggests that UBER drivers could be a danger to passengers due to misdemeanor convictions which the city’s regulations prohibit within seven years of the background check. He also claims that the state background check is more thorough, but the Free Uber page on facebook says otherwise: (more…)
First up, heroic pro-bono free speech attorney Jon Meyer filed this 12-page legal memorandum. Meyer points out that the city’s demand for an injunction against the Robin Hooders would clearly be unconstitutional as it’s directed at specific people and speech. He cites various case law for the court to review, and points out the obvious discrimination and hypocrisy:
If the Defendants had been engaging in demonstrations for the purpose of expressing their support of PEO’s, or were making comments supportive of their job performance, this proceeding would never have been initiated. The videos and other testimony show that other private citizens have emphatically expressed their support for the PEO’s, and their opposition to the Robin Hooders, in some cases physically. No injunction is sought against any of them because they do not convey the Robin Hood message.
Meyer further invalidates the claims of the city that somehow Robin Hooding is a breach of the peace, as claimed by the city’s suit:
James Cleaveland, Attorney Jon Meyer, Ian Freeman
There is a criminal statute, RSA 644, which addresses and prohibits virtually every type of breach of peace. The fact that no breach of peace, disorderly conduct, or assault prosecution has been brought against any of the Robin Hood Defendants for Robin Hooding is compelling evidence that this asserted interest is not significantly implicated by their activities.
The only episodes in the record that amounted to anything approaching a disturbance of the peace were several incidents in which Robin Hooders were physically assaulted by third parties. Several instances over several years of hundreds if not thousands of Robin Hooding demonstrations hardly amounts to a substantial problem. 2 And even if it were substantial, it would violate the First Amendment to restrict the Defendants’ expression activity because of illegal assaults against them by third parties. This is a classic example of a “heckler’s veto” which is antithetical to the First Amendment because it puts speech, particularly unpopular speech at risk, and, in effect, rewards mob or individual violence.
Meyer points out that just because the parking enforcers may be uncomfortable with some of what has been said to them on the streets does not give the city the right to restrict freedom of speech: (more…)
Shire Sharing is my favorite charity. It’s voluntary — People like you and me — NOT gun-funded government bureaucrats. The idea is simple: Raise money, buy bags of groceries, and deliver them to families who are less fortunate. Last year, they fed over 3,000 people! They even personalized each bag by household — because some have children, some are elderly and can’t cook anymore, and some have dietary needs like diabetes or vegetarianism. YOU can help Shire Sharing feed an entire family this Thanksgiving for just 35 bucks. They take bitcoin! (And of course credit cards too.) They have an all-volunteer staff, so 100% of your donation actually buys food. Compare that to 30% with government. Shire Sharing is Voluntaryism in action. Put your money where your heart is, and be the change you want to see. Learn more and donate today at ShireSharing.org
The Portsmouth mayor, Robert Lister, is mad that people are trying to use the system to change the system – a typical complaint of people inside the system. First they get mad at people like Chris who do civil disobedience. They insist that civil disobedience is the wrong way to do things and tell us that we should work inside the system to change things. Then when we work inside the system, they get upset that we’re “wasting their time”. In Lister’s case, he said this in a Seacoast Online article:
“We have rules…They have to follow the rules. For them to keep changing the rules is not appropriate.”
It’s a repeat of what we’ve seen happen here in Keene. The people who support the status quo hate ANY action to change things in ways that reduce their power, whether those actions are happening inside or outside the system.
Will Monday’s meeting have an effect on the taxi-favoring outgoing city council or will they do as the Keene council did with the BEARCAT in 2012 and ignore the people in favor of the taxi oligopoly?
This Summer, Keene native Jared Goodell launched a morning show on Manchester talker WFEA 1370 AM & 99.9 FM. Friday morning I was honored to have my first chance to appear as a guest on his program. Jared wanted to discuss the decentralized future of money and had some good questions about Bitcoin. The interview turned out to be a good short intro discussion for people new to Bitcoin. Feel free to share, as always:
He may not be a true libertarian, but Rand Paul scored some points for this video where he interviews and openly supports Christopher David’s UBER civil disobedience, for which Chris is now facing a felony charge. Here’s what Rand posted along with the video:
I met with Christopher David, an Uber driver arrested for trying to make a living. Listen to our interview and stay tuned for the Facebook live stream coming up! Christopher is driving me to my rally in Portsmouth, NH.
JP Freeman of Keene Cop Block headed up this year’s Cop Block Panel at Keenevention. Panelists took audience questions and discussed various aspects and experiences of Cop Blocking in New Hampshire and included Steven Daves of Keene Cop Block, Jessica Phillips of Keene Cop Block, plus Ann Leverette and Rob Mathias of the Rebel Love Show.
Big thanks to our 2015 video sponsor – Roberts & Roberts Brokerage – when you’re serious about precious metals – they take bitcoin!
1CBr5J9vPMVzf5S22vdMUXkcLw8p4w7JgU
