Outlaw puppeteer

[Dave Ridley]

Sent to the Union Leader at 10:30 this morning.  Am now committed.

---

Outlaw Puppeteering in Concord

Dear folks at the Union Leader:

Around noon on April 23, 2008, I plan to commit an unlawful act.   I'll stand near the state house and perform an unlicensed puppet show.   That's right:  Under state law (RSA 286:1) it's illegal to perform with puppets, for pay, without government permission.  The restriction appears to apply even if you do it in your own house!

But this isn't about puppeteering.  It's about failure to repeal bad laws.   There are now 8,200 kilobytes worth of NH state laws on the books...restricting everything from litter pickup to hemp production.   Some go unenforced, others crowd our jails with victimless "criminals."   There are too many old laws, too many new laws and too few people fighting to repeal them.

Just this year, without so much as a floor debate, lawmakers nixed a bill which could have axed obsolete statutes.  Maybe they were too busy banning payday loans and raising spending 18%.

Please take action.  Join me in front of the state house Wednesday (and maybe in front of my jail Thursday)!   Details are at NHfree.com.

[Dave Ridley]

Longer version for the Monitor

Outlaw Puppeteering in Concord

Dear folks at the Monitor:

Around noon on April 23, 2008, I plan to commit an unlawful act in Concord.  I'll stand near the state house and perform an unlicensed puppet show.   That's right:  Under state law (RSA 286:1) it's illegal to entertain people with puppets, for pay, unless you have government permission.  The restriction appears to apply even if you do it in your own house!

But this isn't about puppeteering.  It's about legislators' failure to repeal bad laws.   There are now 8,200 kilobytes worth of NH state laws on the books...restricting everything from litter pickup to hemp production.   Some go unenforced, others crowd our jails with victimless "criminals."   There are too many old laws, too many new laws and too few people fighting to keep their their number in check.

Just this year, lawmakers nixed HB1347, the bill which would have begun a process of repealing obsolete statutes.   And they nixed it without so much as a floor debate.   Maybe they were too busy banning payday loans and raising spending 18%.

I invite you to do something about this.  Join me in front of the state house Wednesday (and maybe in front of my jail Thursday)!   Details on the event are at NHfree.com.

[Dave Ridley]

sent this afternoon

police@onconcord.com

For Chief Barry: Unlawful puppeteering in Concord

What:        Illegal puppet show
When:       Wednesday, April 23, 2008. Starting between 12:00 and 12:30 p.m.
Where:      Outside New Hampshire State House, 107 N. Main, Concord, NH
                (Near Main but out of pedestrians' way).
How:         "Outlaw Puppeteer" will perform "The Night Thoreau Spent In Jail,"
                As an act of civil disobedience against the state's prohibition
                On unlicensed puppeteering for profit.
Who:         Dave Ridley, 41, of NHfree.com.  Ridley is a Manchester videographer.
                Projected turnout is 20, mostly NHfree.com folks
Why:         Protest legislature's refusal to repeal unnecessary laws.
Contacts:   Dave Ridley:
                Kelly Halldorson:
                Ian Bernard
Latest
details:      http://nhunderground.com/forum/index.php?topic=13709.0

Dear folks at Concord P.D., Concord City Hall, the Attorney General's office and the NH Legislature:

Somewhere between 12:00 and 12:30 p.m. on April 23, I plan to commit an illegal act in Concord.  I will hold a puppet show, for profit, without government permission.  The show will be wholesome and unobtrusive.  But it will violate RSA 286:1.*   Conducting it appears to be a misdemeanor, with a maximum penalty of one year in jail.   Hopefully, it will draw some small attention to the neglected importance of repealing bad laws.

Earlier this year, the State House overwhelmingly voted down HB1347, a bill aimed at removing obsolete statutes.  There were problems with the bill's wording, but the fact remains Concord has declined to eliminate dozens - maybe thousands - of senseless laws which clutter our books at best and endanger our freedoms at worst.  The problem is milder in New Hampshire than most places.  But even here it's illegal to pick up seaweed off the beach.**  It's illegal to clean litter off the White Mountains without a permit.***  And, of course, it's illegal to grow hemp for even for the most constructive of purposes.

Some crazy state laws lie dormant and unenforced, others crowd our jails with victimless "criminals."   More appear upon the scene each year to confuse or strangle individuals and businesses.

After 200+ years of adding state laws (8,200 Kilobytes worth), it's time to reverse the curse.   It's time for Concord to start eliminating statutes instead of imposing them.   A sunset provision on all new laws would be nice.  A robust "repeal committee" might be an option.  Some statutes I can't argue with, but others hemorrhage tax dollars and prevent people from living their lives.  So I beg lawmakers:   Stop "protecting" us from peaceable commerce you don't approve of.  Stop saving us from G-rated puppet shows, rope-making plants and clean mountains.

We who cherish our vanishing freedoms are often told we should work within the system to achieve these ends.  But the system has just refused to carry out this repair.

Thoreau put it best:   "As for the means the state has provided me for changing it....they take too long, and a man's life will be gone."  So I will do what Thoreau did, and openly violate the law rather than wait for a repeal that may never come.  My intent is peaceable; I bear no grudge.  But I won't not stop until I am arrested or have amassed a thousand dollars in illegal puppeteering profits.   I will come back again and again until one of the above occurs.  And I urge other New Hampshirites to do something similar.  Don't mindlessly obey laws that harm the people, just because they are laws.

This event will occur outside the State House near Main.  So it may violate not only RSA 286 but also the prohibition against demonstrating without a permit on House grounds.  I'm ready to be flexible on this issue if we're not forced to request a permit, forced to leave the state house area or forced to stand in anyone's way.  But I'm prepared to face charges of demonstrating without a permit.

In any case, RSA 286 appears to ban unlicensed puppet shows for profit, not only on public property but everywhere in the state.  So it apparently would still be illegal to do this, even in your own home!

Again, this is about more than the right to hold public performance.  It's about the need to reduce the estimated 100,000+ pages of often-harmful New Hampshire law, something we will never accomplish through conventional means.

Respectfully yours,


Dave Ridley
412 Central
Manchester, NH 03103
721-1490

* Puppet Law:  RSA 286:1 - http://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/rsa/html/xxiv/286/286-mrg.htm
** Seaweed law - http://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/rsa/html/XVIII/207/207-48.htm
*** Litter pickup law - http://www.ahajokes.com/laws029.html

Special note for law enforcers, jailers and court officials:  This is a peaceable and lighthearted endeavor.  However you can't have civil disobedience without disobedience.  I will politely refuse to follow any order you give me to cease puppeteering or leave the area of the state house.  I will not sign any document promising cooperation or obedience, and I will refuse to answer some of the questions and tests you have for inmates.   I will not pay any fines levied (for fear of aiding and abetting the privations of State).  And I will not perform community service for any institution which works against liberty or accepts government money.

I will, however, treat all of you with kindness.

[mackler]

Dada I have a few questions.

1. If they do arrest you what will you plead to in court?

I'm a little new to this civil-dis thing, but my understanding is that one should plead guilty and then demand the court impose the maximum possible sentence.  Perhaps making a little speech in court to the effect of:

"Your honor, I do not challenge the rule of law or the incidents of an ordered society.  I transgress the law out of a conviction that this particular law is morally repugnant. The legitimacy that this law has earned by virtue of its acceptance in society denigrates the moral authority attendant to the rest of society's laws.  My actions are not a denial of the legitimacy of the law or laws but rather an affirmation of the existence and applicability of the law in all its iniquity."

(adapted from Judge Ferguson's concurrence in the 1985 case US v Dorrell.)

Nice letter, Dave.

[Kat Kanning]

How much will it cost to come see your show?

[Kat Kanning]

Do you have puppets, etc?

[Dave Ridley]

Could I get a volunteer to pass the above news release on to all or some of the 424 reps and senators?

i am going to be tied up sending it other places and doing a bunch of other things

[Dave Ridley]

i was thinking of charging 2 bucks a head , but not really enforce it.  I'm not going to try and remind people to pay or anything, they can if they want.
obviously i'll accept alternate forms of payment.   

i do have puppets lined up...kelly's kids built most of them before I even verified i was going to do this! 

[Dave Ridley]

Do you have puppets, etc?

hey aren't you supposed to be cavorting with your hubbiee!!!???

[Kat Kanning]

He was asleep, exhaused 

[Luke S]

sent this afternoon

police@onconcord.com

For Chief Barry: Unlawful puppeteering in Concord

What:        Illegal puppet show
When:       Wednesday, April 23, 2008. Starting between 12:00 and 12:30 p.m.
Where:      Outside New Hampshire State House, 107 N. Main, Concord, NH
                (Near Main but out of pedestrians' way).
How:         "Outlaw Puppeteer" will perform "The Night Thoreau Spent In Jail,"
                As an act of civil disobedience against the state's prohibition
                On unlicensed puppeteering for profit.
Who:         Dave Ridley, 41, of NHfree.com.  Ridley is a Manchester videographer.
                Projected turnout is 20, mostly NHfree.com folks
Why:         Protest legislature's refusal to repeal unnecessary laws.
Contacts:   Dave Ridley:
                Kelly Halldorson:
                Ian Bernard
Latest
details:      http://nhunderground.com/forum/index.php?topic=13709.0

Dear folks at Concord P.D., Concord City Hall, the Attorney General's office and the NH Legislature:

Somewhere between 12:00 and 12:30 p.m. on April 23, I plan to commit an illegal act in Concord.  I will hold a puppet show, for profit, without government permission.  The show will be wholesome and unobtrusive.  But it will violate RSA 286:1.*   Conducting it appears to be a misdemeanor, with a maximum penalty of one year in jail.   Hopefully, it will draw some small attention to the neglected importance of repealing bad laws.

Earlier this year, the State House overwhelmingly voted down HB1347, a bill aimed at removing obsolete statutes.  There were problems with the bill's wording, but the fact remains Concord has declined to eliminate dozens - maybe thousands - of senseless laws which clutter our books at best and endanger our freedoms at worst.  The problem is milder in New Hampshire than most places.  But even here it's illegal to pick up seaweed off the beach.**  It's illegal to clean litter off the White Mountains without a permit.***  And, of course, it's illegal to grow hemp for even for the most constructive of purposes.

Some crazy state laws lie dormant and unenforced, others crowd our jails with victimless "criminals."   More appear upon the scene each year to confuse or strangle individuals and businesses.

After 200+ years of adding state laws (8,200 Kilobytes worth), it's time to reverse the curse.   It's time for Concord to start eliminating statutes instead of imposing them.   A sunset provision on all new laws would be nice.  A robust "repeal committee" might be an option.  Some statutes I can't argue with, but others hemorrhage tax dollars and prevent people from living their lives.  So I beg lawmakers:   Stop "protecting" us from peaceable commerce you don't approve of.  Stop saving us from G-rated puppet shows, rope-making plants and clean mountains.

We who cherish our vanishing freedoms are often told we should work within the system to achieve these ends.  But the system has just refused to carry out this repair.

Thoreau put it best:   "As for the means the state has provided me for changing it....they take too long, and a man's life will be gone."  So I will do what Thoreau did, and openly violate the law rather than wait for a repeal that may never come.  My intent is peaceable; I bear no grudge.  But I won't not stop until I am arrested or have amassed a thousand dollars in illegal puppeteering profits.   I will come back again and again until one of the above occurs.  And I urge other New Hampshirites to do something similar.  Don't mindlessly obey laws that harm the people, just because they are laws.

This event will occur outside the State House near Main.  So it may violate not only RSA 286 but also the prohibition against demonstrating without a permit on House grounds.  I'm ready to be flexible on this issue if we're not forced to request a permit, forced to leave the state house area or forced to stand in anyone's way.  But I'm prepared to face charges of demonstrating without a permit.

In any case, RSA 286 appears to ban unlicensed puppet shows for profit, not only on public property but everywhere in the state.  So it apparently would still be illegal to do this, even in your own home!

Again, this is about more than the right to hold public performance.  It's about the need to reduce the estimated 100,000+ pages of often-harmful New Hampshire law, something we will never accomplish through conventional means.

Respectfully yours,


Dave Ridley
412 Central
Manchester, NH 03103
721-1490

* Puppet Law:  RSA 286:1 - http://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/rsa/html/xxiv/286/286-mrg.htm
** Seaweed law - http://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/rsa/html/XVIII/207/207-48.htm
*** Litter pickup law - http://www.ahajokes.com/laws029.html

Special note for law enforcers, jailers and court officials:  This is a peaceable and lighthearted endeavor.  However you can't have civil disobedience without disobedience.  I will politely refuse to follow any order you give me to cease puppeteering or leave the area of the state house.  I will not sign any document promising cooperation or obedience, and I will refuse to answer some of the questions and tests you have for inmates.   I will not pay any fines levied (for fear of aiding and abetting the privations of State).  And I will not perform community service for any institution which works against liberty or accepts government money.

I will, however, treat all of you with kindness.

I wish I was there to see it too. That law is so ridiculous I'd break it myself if I lived in New Hampshire. Besides, Dave Ridley is clearly the best person to put on this puppet show, as he is absolutely hilarious and will do a good job at this sort of thing. When you are ready to do this puppet show, please put it on Ridley Report, Dave, so that people can see it that don't live in New Hampshire can see it.

[kola]

why not have a donation jar?

it would be tax deductable for the donors.

kola

[kola]

how about a puppet that looks like Bucket-butt Monier?

and a Margot-Scoop-Liar puppet?

[KBCraig]

He was asleep, exhaused 

You wild woman, you!

[KBCraig]

5. If you will pay the fine could refreshments (i.e. juice, soda, popcorn, candy) be sold during the show to help you pay the fine?

No sense muddying the water by introducing another act of CD (unlicensed street vendor).