Dada in Federal Court 7/17 .... leads to 4 days in jail

[Dave Ridley]

i heard there was some kind of hearing in concord that we could attend at the state house around 10 am...regarding med marijuana?  Maybe other things... i may have time to waste ... plz inform where i can go cause trouble.

[Dave Ridley]

>>Putting an extra-small person in an extra large-prison uniform is almost the same as nakedness.
I have personal experience with this phenomenon.>>

heh heh lauren bears the orange badge of courage

[Dave Ridley]

updated action item thing...

----

Some folks are wondering what they can do to help me in the context of my March 12 appearance in Federal court.   I have a list of suggested action items below, some of which you can do even if you're outside NH.  If you are willing to do one or two of them, that will make my minor act of civil disobedience all the more worthwile.

As you probably already know, I am charged with "Distribution of Handbills" because I briefly entered a Nashua IRS office last year to petition the government for a redress of grievances.   I have also refused to pay the $125 fine Washington has levied against me as punishment for the petition, and have promised that I will never pay it unless perhaps they can demonstrate for me that they are Constitutionally authorized to levy it.

1) First, and maybe easiest, I hope some of you will consider just doing something on your own initiative to support this endeavor.  I have no idea what that would be.  All I care is that it's constructive and peaceful.
2) If you like, drop by our demonstration at 8:30 a.m., March 12, 55 Pleasant Street, Concord NH.
3) Come to the trial itself two hours later, same day, same place. 
4) Call folks you know who are in or near New Hampshire and invite them to the demonstration or trial.
5) Make a sign or two for it, or bring a flag.  I have NH and Gadsden flags I can lend out or sell if need be, but let me know in advance if you're wanting to buy one or I will not have enough with me.
6) As you may know, my original "crime" was an imitation of Russell Kanning's attempted distribution of flyers at the Keene IRS office.  It would mean a lot to me if one or more of you were willing to imitate him as I did.   This would remind our Federal rulers our movement is growing. It would deliver on my suggestion to Judge Muirhead that their continued attacks on people like us tend to generate more opposition. 
7) If you aren't in a position to commit "civil dis," consider setting your life on a course that will allow you to do so in the future.  This is what Mike Fisher and Russell Kanning inspired me to do. It may take a long time to prepare for that sort of thing, so if you ever want to do it the time to start preparing is now.

  Check out the latest article about this trial:

http://forum.soulawakenings.com/index.php?topic=7057.msg132219#msg132219

...and post it to other web forums.   Here's a list of forums where it might be appropriate:
http://forum.soulawakenings.com/index.php?&topic=2613.0

Leverage this minor sacriface as an opportunity to spread the word about the Free State Project. 

9) Write a letter to the editor 
For those in-state here is a somewhat dated list of local newspapers that print LTEs:  http://www.freestateproject.org/about/essay_archive/BeTheMedia.php
But the short story on that is the best places to write LTEs appear to be the Keene Free Press, the Union Leader, the Keene Sentinel and Concord Monitor.  I've found all of the above to be good about printing LTEs.

10) Call Free Talk Live about it and update them: (800) 259-9231   7p-10p Eastern, Mon-Sat.  You can change the topic they are on, no problem.  Average hold time is 20 minutes, average actively-listening audience is perhaps around 200,000

11) Join some of the Ed Brown blogs/forums and keep them up to date on this:
http://questforfairtrialinconcordnh.blogspot.com/
http://www.edbrown.org
http://www.myspace.com/time2makeastand

That is all I can think of for now, as always I come back to the "do what you feel like doing" approach...sometimes the things you do on your own initiative will be the most effective, but if you were at a loss as to what I need...now at least you have some ideas.

Dave

[TackleTheWorld]

...I have also refused to pay the $125 fine Washington has levied against me as punishment for the petition, and have promised that I will never pay it unless perhaps they can demonstrate for me that they are Constitutionally authorized to levy it. ...

Here's an argument the feds might make to get you to pay:

The $125 is not a fine, it's a freedom fee.  Federal offices accept grievances as mentioned in the Bill of Rights, but they need time to properly accept the petition. Officials must be  gathered, space cleared, recording devices prepared so that the grievance may be most effectively embraced. The cost of this operation, you must agree should bear upon the person initiating the grievance, not the taxpayers at large as they may not subscribe to your demand.  You failed notify the IRS before your visit, therefore your grievance could not be accepted.  Furthermore, your unannounced demand upon the office caused a disruption of official business and a loss of productivity for the citizens.  The freedom fee of $125 only covers the costs of preparing for the petition.

Would you pay if they told you that?

[Jim Johnson]

...I have also refused to pay the $125 fine Washington has levied against me as punishment for the petition, and have promised that I will never pay it unless perhaps they can demonstrate for me that they are Constitutionally authorized to levy it. ...

Here's an argument the feds might make to get you to pay:

The $125 is not a fine, it's a freedom fee.  Federal offices accept grievances as mentioned in the Bill of Rights, but they need time to properly accept the petition. Officials must be  gathered, space cleared, recording devices prepared so that the grievance may be most effectively embraced. The cost of this operation, you must agree should bear upon the person initiating the grievance, not the taxpayers at large as they may not subscribe to your demand.  You failed notify the IRS before your visit, therefore your grievance could not be accepted.  Furthermore, your unannounced demand upon the office caused a disruption of official business and a loss of productivity for the citizens.  The freedom fee of $125 only covers the costs of preparing for the petition.

Would you pay if they told you that?

That's not in the Constitution.

If the government were a private business this argument would have validity, but our constitution says we have a right to the redress of grievance which disregards any issue of cost.

[powerchuter]

You should not have to pay to leave a "comment" card with the government...

[Tom Sawyer]

How quaint... your bringing up that old dead document that gets in their way all the time.

The drag about this is, I'm sure the intent of the law was to keep people from trying to sell you Amway will you waited in line at the post office.

Heck, back in the day, you could go knock on the door of the white house and Thomas Jefferson would answer it and invite you in. Now they fine you for communicating with some dweeb at the IRS.

[Jim Johnson]

Hey, maybe if we stopped calling it 'The Constitution' and referred to it as 'that old dead document' the government would stop calling us terrorists. 

[error]

Hey, maybe if we stopped calling it 'The Constitution' and referred to it as 'that old dead document' the government would stop calling us terrorists. 

It's just a goddamned piece of paper!

[Kat Kanning]

Should Dave be imprisoned, I'll be fasting for his release.

[Dave Ridley]

thanks kat

i might fast or might not, depending on circumstances.
i'll probably know if and when when I go in whether I will fast or not, but won't decide one way or another until I know more.

[slim]

I wish I could be there but that damn work thing gets in the way. My thoughts will be with you today Dada.

[d_goddard]

After a morning lobbying for medical marijuana, I got called away to work.
I heard that at least half-a-dozen people were there in the AM.
I'm looking forward (I think) to any summary or write-up...

For what it's worth, this atheist's prayers are with Dave

[Lloyd Danforth]

Questionable gesture, yet, somehow sincere

[Kat Kanning]

Well, Dave did great in court.  He's not in jail yet, but they're threatening him with 30 days in jail for contempt of court.  He's supposed to have another court date but we don't know when yet.  That's the bare bones of the thing.  I'm sure others will post more later. 

Good job, Dave!!