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Libertarian radio show host is threatened with jail for discussing a Marijuana protest on the air

January 16th, 2009 · 32 Comments

From the LP of Colorado Blog:

Ian Freeman, host of the nationally syndicated libertarian/voluntaryist radio show and podcast “free talk live”, broadcast out of Keene New Hampshire where Ian has relocated to in an effort to support the Free State Project. Has been threatened with jail because he discussed and promoted a protest where a marijuana legalization activist, Andrew Carroll, held a marijuana leaf in his hand in public.

Ian was on a suspended jail sentence related a contempt of court after he had refused to move a couch off of his lawn, and he served 3 days of a 90 day sentence over that. Now the government is claiming that he has broken his suspended sentence agreement by discussing Andrew’s protest on his radio show and is threatening to send him back to jail for the remaining 87 days, because he spoke publicly about this event.

Posted to IPR by Paulie

Filed Under: Libertarian Party

32 responses so far ↓

  • 1 Catholic Trotskyist // Jan 16, 2009 at 7:54 pm

    I hope he doesn’t get punished. This would never happen under a Catholic Trotskyist regime, which would support drug legalization.

  • 2 Michael Seebeck // Jan 16, 2009 at 11:30 pm

    Uh, how is this a sentence break? Need more details?

  • 3 paulie cannoli // Jan 17, 2009 at 1:27 am

    http://freekeene.com/2009/01/15/free-speech-a-criminal-act-in-new-hampshire/

  • 4 paulie cannoli // Jan 17, 2009 at 1:32 am

    http://freekeene.com/files/Motion_to_Show_Cause2009-01-12.pdf

  • 5 paulie cannoli // Jan 17, 2009 at 1:41 am

    http://digg.com/politics/Free_Speech_a_Criminal_Act_in_New_Hampshire

  • 6 Gene Trosper // Jan 17, 2009 at 10:58 am

    This will sound rude and disrespectful, but this is exactly how I am intending it to read –

    Seargent Eliezer Rivera of the Keene (New Hampshire )Police Deaprtment:

    Go fuck yourself.

  • 7 Gene Trosper // Jan 17, 2009 at 10:59 am

    People need to get outraged, ESPECIALLY Libertarians.

  • 8 Jere Shocly**+ ** // Jan 17, 2009 at 2:57 pm

    #7 a huge DITTO!

    This guy is on the frontline for LIBERTY and deserves all the help he can get. CALL them FASCISTS in the statewide media that normally calms them down.

    Live free or die state? Sounds like a joke now???

  • 9 libertariangirl // Jan 17, 2009 at 3:20 pm

    #7 I too ditto that!

  • 10 paulie cannoli // Jan 17, 2009 at 3:28 pm

    OK, so what can we do? Anyone have ideas?

    Here is one….

    http://georgedonnelly.com/politics/93dayscom-just-prototype

    http://georgedonnelly.com/libertarian/limerrte

    (However, I should note that I tried to sign up for the yahoo group

    http://groups.yahoo.com/group/limerrte

    and am languishing in the “membership pending” folder.

  • 11 Prospective Advertiser // Jan 17, 2009 at 3:30 pm

    I think it is very exciting that the idiots in Keene government have determined to once again make Ian Freeman a political prisoner.

    Personally, I don’t think you were strong enough with your language in number 6, Gene.

  • 12 paulie cannoli // Jan 17, 2009 at 3:32 pm

    Personally, I don’t think you were strong enough with your language in number 6, Gene.

    Let me see if I can fix that.

    Seargent Eliezer Rivera of the Keene (New Hampshire )Police Deaprtment:

    Go fuck yourself with a rotating power drill.

    Better?

  • 13 Gene Trosper // Jan 17, 2009 at 3:41 pm

    @ 11

    I would have been stronger in my language, but had only been awake perhaps ten minutes when I read that, so my grogginess got the best of me.

    Thing is: I love the philosophical aspect of libertarianism (as my rather large library will attest) and so do many other libertarians. But expressing outrage and shutting the bastards down is a trait the modern libertarian movements seems to be lacking. Those people like Eliezer Rivera don’t deserve to be called “honorable”: the deserves to sent out of town with a crowd of pitchfork and torch wielding citizens hot on his trail. Initiation of force? hardly. It’s self defense against those who would harass, fine, jail and murder you so THEIR power can remain undisturbed. He should be beneath our contempt.

    Eliezer Rivera is a powermad, control freak asshole. Everyone like that should be called as such and made to feel stigmatized and ashamed.

    So, Libertarians, when do you want to put the “fight” back into “freedom fighter”?

  • 14 Gene Trosper // Jan 17, 2009 at 3:43 pm

    http://www.myspace.com/keenepolice

    http://www.ci.keene.nh.us/police/

    Do what you wish with these URLs.

  • 15 Gene Trosper // Jan 17, 2009 at 3:49 pm

    I sent the City Council & mayor of Keene the following message:

    I would like to state my extreme displeasure with Eliezer Rivera and his attempt at harassing and imprisoning a free man for expressing his right to speech and political dissent. Eliezer Rivera should not only be ashamed at his un-American, naked hostility toward our freedoms, he should step down from his position and get some mental help. Clearly he has issues with control.

  • 16 Gene Trosper // Jan 17, 2009 at 3:51 pm

    @ 12

    LOL

    You DO know such attachments for power drills exist, right???

  • 17 paulie cannoli // Jan 17, 2009 at 3:53 pm

    You DO know such attachments for power drills exist, right???

    Yes. But I was thinking of a regular metal bit when I wrote that. And nothing has changed since then.

  • 18 paulie cannoli // Jan 17, 2009 at 3:55 pm

    http://www.ci.keene.nh.us/council/index.htm#mayorcouncil

  • 19 paulie cannoli // Jan 17, 2009 at 3:59 pm

    Mayor
    2008 – 2009

    Philip Dale Pregent
    Address: 142 Marlboro Street
    Phone: 352-6736

    City Hall address:
    3 Washington Street
    Keene NH 03431
    (603) 357-9805

  • 20 paulie cannoli // Jan 17, 2009 at 4:00 pm

    dpregent@ci.keene.nh.us

  • 21 paulie cannoli // Jan 17, 2009 at 4:09 pm

    Charles H. Redfern
    Councilor Ward 1 – 2008 to 2011
    Chair: Municipal Services, Facilities and Infrastructure Committee
    Address: 9 Colby St.
    Phone: 357-4982
    Email credfern@ci.keene.nh.us

    Arnold H. Bailey
    Councilor Ward 1 – 2006 to 2009
    Member: Municipal Services, Facilities and Infrastructure Committee
    Address: 654 Main Street
    Phone: 358-3126
    Email abailey@ci.keene.nh.us

    Pamela Russell Slack
    Councilor Ward 2 – 2008 to 2011
    Vice-Chair: Municipal Services, Facilities and Infrastructure Committee
    Address: 260 Beaver Street
    Phone: 358-5132
    Email prussellslack@ci.keene.nh.us

    Paula-Ayn Phillips
    Councilor Ward 2 – 2006 to 2009
    Vice-Chair: Planning, Licenses and Development Committee
    Address: 171 Roxbury Street
    Phone: 357-4315
    Email pphillips@ci.keene.nh.us

    David C. Richards
    Councilor Ward 3 – 2008 to 2011
    Member: Planning, Licenses and Development Committee
    Address: 201 Court St.
    Phone: 352-1084
    Email dcrichards@ci.keene.nh.us

    Nathaniel M. Stout
    Councilor Ward 3 – 2006 to 2009
    Vice-Chair: Finance, Organization and Personnel Committee
    Address: 173 North Street
    Phone: 357-5615
    Email nstout@ci.keene.nh.us

    Kendall W. Lane
    Councilor Ward 4 – 2008 to 2011
    Member: Finance, Organization and Personnel Committee
    Address: 98 Wyman Road
    Phone: 355-3505
    Email klane@ci.keene.nh.us

    Philip M. Jones
    Councilor Ward 4 – 2006 to 2009
    Chair: Planning, Licenses and Development Committee
    Address: 249 Pako Avenue
    Phone: 358-5016
    Email pjones@ci.keene.nh.us

    Cynthia Georgina
    Councilor Ward Five – 2008 to 2011
    Chair: Finance, Organization and Personnel Committee
    Address: 41 Bent Court
    Phone: 357-1273
    Email cgeorgina@ci.keene.nh.us

    Joseph W. Bendzinski
    Councilor Ward Five – 2006 to 2009
    Member: Finance, Organization and Personnel Committee
    Address: 153 Island Street
    Phone: 352-0063
    Email jbendzinski@ci.keene.nh.us

    Ruth R. Venezia
    Councilor At Large – 2008 to 2009
    Member: Municipal Services, Facilities and Infrastructure Committee
    Address: 138 School Street
    Phone: 352-4822
    Email rvenezia@ci.keene.nh.us

    James Duffy
    Councilor At Large – 2008 to 2009
    Member: Planning, Licenses and Development Committee
    Address: 16 Russell Street
    Phone: 357-8761
    Email jduffy@ci.keene.nh.us

    Margaret A. Lynch
    Councilor At Large – 2008 to 2009
    Member: Planning, Licenses and Development Committee
    Address: 50 Castle Street
    Phone: 352-8794
    Email mlynch@ci.keene.nh.us

    Mitchell H. Greenwald
    Councilor At Large – 2008 to 2009
    Member: Municipal Services, Facilities and Infrastructure Committee
    Address: 98 Peg Shop Road
    Phone: 352-5483
    Email mgreenwald@ci.keene.nh.us

    Kris E. Roberts
    Councilor At Large – 2008 to 2009
    Member: Finance, Organization and Personnel Committee
    Address: 58 Grove Street
    Phone: 352-1105
    Email kroberts@ci.keene.nh.us

    All phone numbers area code 603

    All electronic communications and associated attachments exchanged with the Keene City Council shall be recorded by the City as a governmental record and may be subject to release to the public

  • 22 Gene Trosper // Jan 17, 2009 at 4:13 pm

    @ 17

    Why stop there? How about a pair of pliers and a blowtorch?

  • 23 paulie cannoli // Jan 17, 2009 at 4:16 pm

    @ 17

    Why stop there? How about a pair of pliers and a blowtorch?

    He can just go waterboard himself for all I care.

    Are we done being bloodthirsty yet?

  • 24 Gene Trosper // Jan 17, 2009 at 4:47 pm

    I watched Pulp Fiction last night. In a mood, I guess!

  • 25 Catholic Trotskyist // Jan 17, 2009 at 6:19 pm

    Was this councilwoman Paula Ayn-Phillips named after Ayn Rand? Maybe that’s a good sign that she would be helpful in this case.

  • 26 JohnCjacksn // Jan 18, 2009 at 2:09 am

    Well, a lot of Ayn fans are big supporters of State violence and hate those libertarian hippies.

  • 27 paulie cannoli // Jan 18, 2009 at 9:56 am

    It might also just be a total coincidence. Or maybe her parents were Randians, which hardly means that she is.

  • 28 paulie cannoli // Jan 19, 2009 at 3:24 pm

    So, has anyone followed up on this?

  • 29 Prospective Advertiser // Jan 19, 2009 at 7:35 pm

    Apparently the guy who was interviewed was arrested for possession of marijuana.

    http://freekeene.com/2009/01/10/andrew-carrolls-arrest-for-marijuana-possession-video-2/

    I gather the video on the above captioned link was taken by Lauren Canario, so, good news, she’s free. I thought she was still rotting in some jail for some mala prohibitum nonsense. So, yay.

  • 30 Billy Goat Eater // Jan 19, 2009 at 8:02 pm

    There’s a post from Ian Freeman to a NH freedom activist web site today at 3 p.m. He’s not in jail. He writes that he signed nothing when he agreed to abide by Burke’s rules. Various posts on the forum suggest there is no reason to believe he can actually be prosecuted for his interview with the pot guy.

  • 31 paulie cannoli // Jan 19, 2009 at 8:14 pm

    Nobody said he was in jail yet. As for whether he can be prosecuted that is up to the prosecutors.

  • 32 paulie // Sep 15, 2009 at 6:00 pm

    Half Naked, Gun-Toting Female Libertarian Teenagers

    * By Bruce Sterling

    You gotta hand it to those Free Staters: when they want some cheesy media coverage, they know how to get it.

    News & Views for Anarchists & Activists:

    http://groups.yahoo.com/group/smygo

    http://sentinelsource.com/articles/2009/09/09/news/local/free/id_370823.txt

    Charge dropped against teenager
    Free Stater went topless in city
    By PHILLIP BANTZ
    Sentinel Staff
    Wednesday, September 09, 2009

    The armed teenager who was arrested while topless in downtown Keene did not break the law, according to police prosecutors.

    Cassidy Nicosia, 18, of Manchester no longer faces a misdemeanor charge of indecent exposure and lewdness.

    Nicosia was arrested Aug. 23 after police received complaint calls about a topless teenager standing near the Main-Marlboro-Winchester streets roundabout with a handgun holstered on her hip.

    State law does not require residents to have permits to openly carry guns, and she was not charged with any firearm-related crimes.

    Last week, police prosecutors D. Chris McLaughlin and Eliezer Rivera decided to drop the charge of indecent exposure and lewdness against Nicosia. The charge was dropped because walking down the street topless
    does not qualify as a crime under state law, Keene police Lt. Jay U. Duguay said.

    The law states that a person commits indecent exposure and lewdness if he or she fornicates, exposes genitals or performs any other “act of
    gross lewdness … likely to cause affront or alarm” in public.

    “She wasn’t fornicating or exposing genitals — breasts aren’t genitals,” Duguay said. “No one who complained about it said that it was gross
    lewdness.”

    While towns and cities may enact ordinances that prohibit women from going topless in public, Keene has no such ordinance, Duguay said.

    “The officer (who arrested Nicosia) did what he thought was right at the time,” he said, “but sometimes you take a second look at these things and realize the law is not really worded the way you thought it was.”

    Two other factors played a role in the police prosecutors’ decision to drop the charge against Nicosia, according to Duguay.

    They wanted to keep the N.H. Supreme Court from having a chance to weigh in on the law, which could have happened if Nicosia was convicted and appealed, Duguay said. If asked to examine the state law dealing with indecent exposure and lewdness, the court might find that the language in the statute is too broad and then drop the entire statute, he said.

    Also, Nicosia went topless to make a statement about equality, which could be viewed as a form of expression or free speech that is protected
    under the First Amendment, Duguay said.

    “I chose to do it because … one of the most important issues to me is equality,” Nicosia said while being videotaped before her arrest. “Men
    can walk down the street … and, you know, not get harassed at all but yet somehow this is dirty.”

    Nicosia is a member of the Free State Project, an effort to convince 20,000 people to move to the Life Free or Die state and participate in
    various forms of activism and run for local and state office.

    Attempts to reach Nicosia before press time were unsuccessful.

    Ian “Freeman” Bernard, a talk radio host and outspoken member of the project, said other women were planning to go topless outside Keene District Court during Nicosia’s arraignment, which was scheduled for
    Wednesday. He wasn’t sure if the topless demonstration would still occur.

    While Nicosia no longer faces a criminal charge, the dismissal prevents her from challenging the law and paving the way for other women to go
    topless in public without risking arrest, Bernard said.

    “By dropping the charge they’ve really headed off any way to challenge what they’ve done and set a precedent,” he said. “Hopefully, if this
    happens again, if someone like Cassidy decides she’s hot and wants to act like her male counterparts, they can be left alone.”

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