ALP, PNN and other podcast stuff • Derrick jumps through fiery hoops • Old DMV grannies conspiracy • Young libertarians. Why we do what we do and why the opposition is wrong • City nanny proposes chalking ordinances • Who owns the commons? • NJ boardwalk mandatory dress code • Ellen and Derrick join • Show notes at: BlackSheepRising.org
Pot Activist Rich Paul called me last night from the Cheshire County House of Corrections, where he is currently being held on a violation of probation charge. Support his fundraiser to help him escape the cage faster!
Mail Rich a Letter in Jail (FREE!) http://mailtojail.com
Video of Arrest: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FexHHtgxWb8
Alleged violation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xZ7U9YGLIGA
Arrest Explained: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yy4m-pbtqCk
Rich Paul’s Bitcoin Address: 1FwhAjyBkHNNgsHJjkAeyveqTioPvyvvtQ
On the morning of June 16th, 2014 myself and fellow Free Keene blogger Joel Valenzuela were accompanied by activists Angela Aronoff, Nicholas Buroker, and new Free State Project mover Andrew Vermiglio at the Hillsborough County Superior 
Court House located in down town Manchester NH. We arrived at the court house to warmly great jurors as they approached the building. As they approached, we were handing out NHJury.com pamphlets to jurors. The pamphlets inform the jurors of their rights as a juror. The emphasis being that a jury can vote not guilty if the law is unjust. Jury nullification outreach has been consistent every jury selection at this court house since March of this year. Hopefully other activists around the state will do the same at other court houses.
Wednesday, June 18th 2014 – 10am – Activists convened at the NH Supreme Court to hear Rich Paul’s attorney argue for an appeal. That means even though Rich Paul lost his original trial, he can ask a higher court to hear arguments to decide if the original ruling was wrongly decided. If they decide to go forward with the appeal, Rich will have a whole new trial. The Supreme Court’s ruling is where laws are challenged and clarified. Whatever they decide has the potential to set future precedent.
This week, liberty activist Graham Colson was tried for a “contempt of court” charge that he received while out on bail after being arrested on a later-determined-unconstitutional no trespass notice from the “city of Keene”. In legal land there is a concept known as the doctrine of the “fruit of the poisoned tree”. My understanding of this is that if, for instance, the police raid your home on a bad warrant (say they lied to the judge to get the warrant), that any evidence collected based on that warrant cannot be used against you. It’s the “fruit of the poisoned tree”, and so charges must be dropped.
However, this doctrine appears to not apply to the “orders” of the judge. In Graham’s case, he was arrested for violating the no trespass notice from the city that banned him from Central Square. He was let out on bail conditions that included no contact with a couple of parking enforcers. He was later arrested for walking through Central Square and talking to a parking enforcer. For this act he was charged with “contempt of court”. Then, last summer, the district court’s judge Edward Burke threw out the no trespass letter as unconstitutional and illegal. Since the no trespass letter was illegal, shouldn’t the contempt case be thrown out too, since the bail conditions were originally issued on a case based on an illegal no trespass notice? Maybe in a system actually oriented towards justice – not this one.
So, the contempt charge went to court this week and Graham was found guilty, despite a valiant attempt to defend the charge by Garret Ean. Graham will be turning himself into the Keene Spiritual Retreat, aka the county jail to serve 60 days. He will have five months suspended over his head for two years. All because the city police were handing out illegal no trespass orders. Yeah, justice! Here’s the full video of the trial:
UPDATE: You never know who’s watching. Vigilant videographer Garret Ean captured the moment with his video camera. The video is so funny, I made it a GIF:
In this artistic, relaxing installment of AKPF #1, the audience is treated to imagery and nature sounds to fill out the twenty-nine minutes of airtime. Learn about recent celebrations in Robin Hood park, sign waves alongside the county corrections institution, and home chalking in suburban Keene.
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