The intent of the Peace Ticket is to give them warning that if they continue aggressing against me, a peaceful Shire Society member, they should expect a trial which will probably cost them more than they would get if I paid the ticket (which I also won’t do), as well as publicity for the matter. It gives them the chance to do the right thing and withdraw their complaint, settling the issue.
Eventually, if enough people start taking traffic tickets to trial that are also Shire Society members, perhaps the police will learn know better than to pull over people with visible Shire seals on their cars (get your free sticker here). One can dream!
So claims “Dispatcher 12” of Antrim Police in this audio where I called Antrim PD dispatch to try to find out the name of the officer who ticketed me yesterday. The Antrim dispatcher refuses to spell his name for me and hangs up, so I call back and record the call this time. She finally spells his name, but then refuses to identify herself, accuses me of harassing her, in addition to claiming her and her fellow employees have no obligation to give her name.
Imagine any business acting like this – why do people keep paying for this awful “service”?
William Kostric’s courageous activism has been featured before on this blog. He’s an activist out of Manchester and Free Keene welcomes him as our newest blogger. Here’s his bio from the Bloggers page:
William Kostric – Growing weary of petty tyrants in Maricopa County, AZ, William determined to free range outside the confines of the United States. One night while researching the Iraq war, he happened upon the Free State Project forums and found that there were many like-minded individuals spread out across the continent. The idea of gathering in a localized area where a greater impact could be made struck a chord and he signed the statement of intent and made the move in 2008.
William’s current projects include Free State Now who’s goal is to complete the 20k signers before the end of 2014, The Quill – a libertarian community center in the Manchester area and working with Occupy New Hampshire to build a broad-based coalition of activists who are motivated to take local action towards measurable goals.
Newly elected sheriff Eli Rivera has done the right thing and withdrawn all the no trespass orders that were issued by his predecessor, Dick Foote. As you may recall, the orders were recently ruled unconstitutional by Keene district court judge Ed Burke.
After Burke’s ruling, on behalf of all those issued the letters, I wrote to Eli requesting he officially rescind the unconstitutional orders and issue an apology to the activists whose rights have been trampled by these illegal orders. I also asked him to issue a proclamation that his agents will respect the rights of those who wish to access the courts and that media will no longer be threatened for recording in the court lobby.
As you know if you’ve been reading here for a while, I’ve been facing “disorderly conduct” charges in Palmer, MA for recording video in a town hall. Back in December, they dropped the misdemeanor charge and offered a deal on the remaining town ordinance violation. The ACLU of MA has come on board to assist and now they are changing the charge from a criminal to civil. That means the potential penalty drops from several hundred dollars to something like $25.
ACLU attorney Shawn Allyn will be filing a motion to dismiss on 1st amendment grounds and a hearing will happen regarding the motion on 5/22 at 2pm at Palmer district court. You are welcome to come watch!
Three heroic activists from Occupy NH stood up for your right to peaceably assemble and speak out and were arrested for it, then convicted by a jury of their “peers”. This is an over five hour trial RAW footage – there are some real gems in here. I hope someone will take the time to make a highlight reel. Don’t miss the exclusive interview with one of the jurors at the end.
On March 21, the two-day trial began in the case of State v Edwards, Grunewald & Richards. The State claims the 3 defendants committed the crime of criminal trespass in a public park on the night of October 19, 2011.
The State began their case by saying “this case is about choices” and said the defendants had 3 choices:
1) remain in the park until 11pm then leave
2) stay in the park past 11pm, receive a citation, then leave the park
3) stay in the park past 11pm, receive a citation, remain then get arrested. (more…)
William Kostric
Newly elected sheriff Eli Rivera has done the right thing and withdrawn all the no trespass orders that were issued by his predecessor, Dick Foote. As you may recall, 
