New Hampshire HB 1682 was introduced by Rep. David Welch (R – Rockingham13) on 1/5/2022, followed by a public hearing on 1/14/2022. The House Committee on Criminal Justice and Public Safety voted that the bill “ought to pass with amendment” and has been referred to the House Finance Committee for further review.

On the Surface It Sounds Great: Hold Police Accountable for Their Actions

The idea of this bill is to establish a committee that’s considered “independent” and separate from local police jurisdictions in order to ensure police officers are held accountable for their actions (or inactions.) According to Rep. David Welch, the aim of the bill is “to establish a single, neutral, and independent statewide entity to receive complaints alleging misconduct regarding all sworn and elected law enforcement officers.” – HB 1682 public hearing, 1/14/2022 – watch here

As outlined in the bill, officers could potentially face the new Conduct Review Committee for a number of reasons, including: if they’ve been convicted of committing a felony, any sentence of incarceration, excessive use of force, driving while intoxicated, moral turpitude (dishonesty, deceit, theft), acts of omission, lying in a police report or criminal proceeding, falsification of records, tampering with or falsifying evidence, racist conduct or statements, etc.

This all sounds great, because of course law enforcement officers should be held accountable for their actions! Which makes me wonder, why aren’t they now?

Policing the Police With Police

There’s already an established Police Standards and Training Council that handles internal reviews in New Hampshire. The new Law Enforcement Conduct Review Committee would fall under that umbrella, dealing exclusively with misconduct reviews. In recent years the public’s interest in holding police accountable has skyrocketed. Perhaps there are so many cases of police misconduct in the state that they can no longer handle the workload or process them quickly enough. 

Since the new Conduct Review Committee would fall under the already established Standards Council, the governor would (again) be appointing its members. The current Police Standards and Training Council consists of mainly a bunch of police officers appointed by Governor Sununu. Since it is the governor who will be appointing members here again, I’m not sure this bill will be as effective as it looks. A politician hand-picking members within the context of “maintaining absolute objectivity” is a farce.   

The Law Enforcement Conduct Review Committee would consist of:

• Four law enforcement officers appointed by the governor
• Three public members with no familial associations to a police officer, lawyer, or judge

It’s A Step in the Right Direction

Clearly the public is sick and tired of law enforcement officer misconduct and abuse. Many states are re-thinking how they pursue justice and hold officers accountable for their actions, and New Hampshire is right there with them.

HB 1682, although flawed, is at least heading in the right direction. We want police accountability, and we want it now! What do you think? Will the establishment of a new committee under the current council, all members of which are governor-appointed, get us on the road to accountability? Leave your thoughts in the comments!

Video of the Public Hearing for HB 1682: (2:16:42 – 3:22:22)

New Hampshire seems to have the best economy of all 50 states in the union, judging by income, unemployment, and opportunity. The average income per resident in the live free or die state is 20% higher than the union’s average. The largest limiting factor is economic regulation, most of which comes from the federal government. Without infinite job-killing regulations coming from DC, NH's economy would likely soar to unprecedented heights.

The post The Economy in The Republic of New Hampshire appeared first on The Liberty Block.

At the hearing, pro-independence citizens filled the room and told the Representatives about the dozens of reasons we should be allowed to vote on independence. Only one citizen spoke against the legislation, and his most substantive argument was that we can’t split up the union because we are all Americans who just need to ‘come together’. 

The post Legislation To Allow Vote on Independence Will Have Vote in House appeared first on The Liberty Block.

While out here trying to do my bit against the Kremlin’s re-incarnation of September 1, 1939…It’s important to raise concerns about some of the apocalyptic Moscow-fighting ideas that are getting put on the table in the excitement. It’s shocking my fellow Kremlin foes are advocating a U.S. led no-fly zone over Ukraine. This is a move which has perhaps 10 percent chance of ending civilization as we know it, since it would require direct, large-scale combat between the U.S. and Russia…inside Russia!

The real solution is deadly but a lot less deadly: Peaceable civil resistance inside Russia, at the discretion of Russians. Guerilla war and civil resistance inside Ukraine, funded, peopled and supplied from across the globe. The Kremlin can be beaten, but it has to be without direct conflict between the two top nuclear powers. This is a long established and proven concept; it’s already been done once in much tougher circumstances. Ideally it should happen at private rather than taxpayer expense, definitely without foreign military presence; each of us does need to do our bit without waiting for governments. We also need to do our bit to prevent Russian bystanders from suffering and prevent the Resistance from going nuclear. Most people are probably reluctant to say this; maybe I can say it since I was a volunteer inside Bosnia during that one and am hopefully doing my part for Ukrainians and friendly Russians during this one.

Dave Ridley
NHexit.com
“Independence without enmity”

Conservatives have long been the primary supporters of law enforcement throughout the united states. Perhaps the biggest differentiator between conservatives and libertarians has been the conservative’s unwavering support for police. Over the past few years, many conservatives have begun to question whether they should support the police, though. Here are five reasons why conservatives should rethink their support for police

The post 5 Reasons Conservatives Should Stop Supporting Police appeared first on The Liberty Block.

• Click on the bill number to read the bill.
• Click on the committee name to email the committee your thoughts.

Of the 5 hearings in the House, we are recommending support of 0 and opposition of 0 with 1 being of interest.
Of the 1 hearings in the Senate, we are recommending support of 0 and opposition of 0 with 0 being of interest.

Position	Bill	Title	Committee	Day	Time	Room	State Analysis
Of Interest	HB1598	legalizing the possession and use of cannabis.	Ways and Means	Thu 3/3	1:00 PM	LOB Room 202-204	This bill: I. Legalizes the possession and use of cannabis for persons 21 years of age and older. II. Authorizes the liquor commission to regulate and administer the cultivation, manufacture, testing, and retail sale of cannabis statewide, and makes an appropriation therefor. III. Authorizes a municipality to enact an ordinance prohibiting or limiting the number and type of cannabis establishments that may be permitted within the municipality and regulating the time, place, and manner of operation of a cannabis establishment permitted within the municipality. IV. Establishes the cannabis control fund and requires funds to be distributed to the department of health and human services, bureau of drug and alcohol services, for education tax relief, public safety agency training purposes, and children’s behavioral health services. V. Makes an appropriation to the department of health and human services to create public media and social media campaigns to address some of the risks of cannabis use. VI. Authorizes the business finance authority to establish a state-chartered, single purpose depository bank to transact business with cannabis establishments licensed under this act, and makes an appropriation therefor.

The post Bill Hearings for Week of February 28, 2022 appeared first on NH Liberty Alliance.

On Saturday afternoon, New Hampshire’s Republicans and Libertarians played each other in a hockey exhibition game. The event earned a profit of around $3,000, all of which will be given to the Children’s Scholarship Fund, a program that helps families in need find alternative education systems if government-run schools are not a good fit for the child. 

The post Libertarians & Republicans put on amazing show in charity hockey game appeared first on The Liberty Block.

1) The Russian government’s act of all-out conventional war is wildly excessive. Any individual or voluntarily funded institution wishing to help defend Ukraine against this overstep is far within their rights, recent Kremlin threats against this non-withstanding.

2) The initial success of the attack on this Western-leaning nation…is a reminder that Washington cannot be relied on to defend New Hampshire. Counterintuitive as is sounds, NH would be better off – and the Western world should benefit – if we handled own defense and diplomacy. Instead of being tied the weirdly aggressive-yet-impotent D.C. zombie, we would find a wide range of better options for our security. These range from the happily de-militarized neutrality of Costa Rica to the gun-heavy but non-aligned preparedness of Switzerland. We would also have the option of doing something better for future nations-under-threat like Ukraine: We could insist that any government we ally ourselves with…free its own people from invasion-enabling gun control laws:

https://freekeene.com/2022/01/14/the-porcupine-peace-plan-how-nh-independence-could-boost-american-security-and-stop-armageddon/

3) Ukraine’s government has made this invasion practical by doing something most European governments and even American governments are still doing: They limited the private possession/carry of firearms up until the week of the invasion, when they finally let civilians carry them without permission. This is roughly what happened in the ill-fated Spanish Republic during the 1936 war. Ukrainians are now reported to be desperately mobbing gun stores, for good reason but probably too late. GunPolicy.org lists Ukraine as having only 7 civilian firearms per 100 persons…a foreign invader’s dream. Civilians in the average U.S. state, including New Hampshire, reportedly possess over 115 per 100.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gun_law_in_Ukraine

4) Washington has unnecessarily provoked Moscow over the last 30 years. By moving NATO so close to Russian borders and arguably sponsoring a Ukrainian coup in 2014, it ignored the Rodina’s security concerns. Since 2001 especially, it has bombed, blockaded and invaded many nations with little good reason but much abuse of local civilians. It has cast away the relative ethical high ground, against the wishes of most New Hampshirites. It has also become a direct physical threat to all of us with its unconstitutional rules and raids inside our libertarian-leaning state. It has become incapable of credibly condemning Russia’s actions the way it did during the Kremlin’s invasion of Finland in 1939.

5) U.S. ruler Joe Biden’s statement of Feb. 24, 2022 is partially worthy of condemnation: “Putin chose this war, and now he and his country will bear the consequences.” By speaking in this manner, he equated the Russian people with their quasi-dictator…that would be like equating General Franco with the Catalan anarchists he so victimized in the Spanish Civil War. Individual Russians and the Russian nation should be treated as potential allies against Putin; many have already risked their lives this week to protest against him

6) New Hampshire, unlike Switzerland and Costa Rica, is currently on the nuclear target list as a result of its membership in the United States system. This would be one thing if the U.S. were generally in the right and generally humane. It is not and thus is not worthy of *our* lives. Both D.C. and Moscow deserve opposition; neither deserve support.

7) Moscow’s move may be designed to divert attention from a planned attack on Taiwan, where invasion-friendly gun laws are even more severe than Ukraine’s.

8) The appropriate New Hampshire move is to peaceably declare independence from the U.S. (as Rep. Sylvia’s current legislation at Concord is attempting to do). Then it should set a clean foreign policy of its own crafting. This policy should be one that does not overextend and does not aggress but does keep faith with foreign allies by insisting (as a minimum condition of continued partnership) that their governments end all the gun controls they are imposing on their people.

Dave Ridley
NHexit.com
“Independence without enmity”

In response to Justice Breyer’s announcement of his retirement, President Biden announced on Friday that he is nominating Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to the union’s highest court. Presidential nominations to the Supreme Court must be confirmed by a majority vote in the US Senate. Currently, the Senate is split 50-50 between Democrats and Republicans, and VP Kamala Harris is the tie-breaking vote.

The post As Promised, Biden Nominates Black Woman To SCOTUS appeared first on The Liberty Block.

Local Snitch, Alexander Short of Swanzey

In 2016 we featured a video from then-eleven-year-old Mikey Gordon as he shut down a state trooper’s speed trap in Alstead. In the Summer of 2020, at age 15, Mikey was arrested for allegedly refusing to pull over while riding a motorcycle in Keene, leading police on a high-speed chase that ended near Rt 12.

According to police, the then-unknown motorcycle operator ditched the bike and ran into the woods before police were able to catch up. Fortunately for the cops, a local snitch, Alexander Short – the owner of Short’s Detailing at 58 Forest Ave in Swanzey – approached them and told officers he knew who the operator of the motorcycle was, as the two had been hanging out in the Target parking lot the same night. The snitch placed a phone call to Mikey’s cell phone and officers were then able to locate and take him into custody, ultimately returning him home to his parents’ house.

Months later, Mikey was subsequently charged with two misdemeanor counts: “disobeying an officer” and “operating without valid license”. The first count was charged as “class A”, which could result in up to a year in jail and the second count charged as “class B” which could be a large fine. The Keene Police prosecutor offered a plea deal which would have dropped the class A charge in return for his guilty plea on the class B with the punishment being a 30 day loss of license and $620 fine plus $720 suspended on condition of good behavior. Now-seventeen-year-old Mikey heroically refused the plea deal and took the charges to trial earlier this month:

After the state presented its case, Keene district court judge Patrick W Ryan took the case “under advisement” and complimented Mikey, telling him, “you did a good job”. It was Mikey’s first time in court and he appeared pro-se, defending himself without the help of an attorney.

Normally, when a robed man takes a case under advisement it is a good sign that the verdict will not be “guilty”, because usually they are hesitant to deliver a not-guilty verdict in front of an audience and cameras. Judges are likely to issue more favorable verdicts when the cameras are off and no one is around, and that is exactly what happened in this case. Actually, the charges were “dismissed” according to the case file, which means Mikey wasn’t found “not guilty”. Dismissing charges after the trial has finished is an unusual result, but it’s still a solid win for the teenage Cop Block activist.

Observers reported that the snitch Alexander Short laughed and told Mikey outside of the courtroom to “have fun in jail”. Who is laughing now? One benefit of taking charges to trial is the police have to put snitches – or any undercover agents – on the witness stand to make their case, whereas if the defendant takes a plea deal the snitch is protected from public view. So now everyone knows that Alexander Short of Swanzey New Hampshire is happy to throw his friends under the bus and rat them out to the police for victimless crimes.

Congratulations to Mikey for his victory!

(white) goldstandard-02-24-22-S.pdf
(gold) goldstandard-02-24-22-S-y.pdf

 

 

The post Senate Gold Standard, Thursday February 24th, 2022 appeared first on NH Liberty Alliance.

Back in August 2021, during a special meeting of the Legislative Fiscal Committee, it was approved to use $1.5 million from the federal ‘American Rescue Plan’ for regional planning commissions to do a needs assessment on housing across the state and to hire a project manager to implement a three-year strategic plan to improve housing stability. It seems that our state legislatures are fully involved in carrying out the federal government’s dirty work when it comes to housing. 

The post Is Dictator Sununu Colluding With DC Politicians To Build Project Housing In NH? appeared first on The Liberty Block.

• These are the most liberty-critical hearings for the week
• Click on the bill number to read the bill.
• Click on the committee name to email the committee your thoughts.

Of the 20 hearings in the House, we are recommending support of 5 and opposition of 2 with 1 being of interest.
Of the 9 hearings in the Senate, we are recommending support of 1 and opposition of 1 with 0 being of interest.

Position	Bill	Title	Committee	Day	Time	Room	State Analysis
Of Interest	HB1279	relative to the duration of term alimony.	Children and Family Law	Tue 2/22	10:00 AM	LOB Room 206-208	This bill removes the ending of term alimony upon remarriage of the payee.
Support	HB1347	relative to licensing requirements for health care facilities that operate on a membership-based business model.	Health, Human Services and Elderly Affairs	Tue 2/22	11:00 AM	LOB Room 210-211	This bill exempts membership-based health care facilities from the adoption of certain policies relative to access to care and financial assistance plans. The bill requires membership-based hospitals with emergency departments to prominently post notices that the facility serves members only.
Support	HB1487	relative to the procedure for withdrawal from the vaccine registry.	Health, Human Services and Elderly Affairs	Tue 2/22	1:00 PM	LOB Room 210-211	This bill provides that a health care provider’s signature shall not be required for withdrawal from the state immunization/vaccination registry.
Support	HB1570	relative to reducing vehicle registration fees.	Transportation	Tue 2/22	9:30 AM	SH Room Reps Hall	This bill reduces vehicle registration fees.
Support	HB1424	relative to the speed limit for watercraft on Lake Winnipesaukee.	Transportation	Tue 2/22	1:00 PM	SH Room Reps Hall	This bill changes the speed limit for watercraft on Lake Winnipesaukee.
Support	HB435	(New Title) relative to the suspension of drivers’ licenses	Transportation	Tue 2/22	1:20 PM	LOB Room 101	This bill modifies the circumstances under which a driver’s license may be suspended or revoked.
Oppose	HB1145	relative to a motor vehicle exception to criminal restraint or false imprisonment and relative to civil immunity and physical force in defense of a person.	Criminal Justice and Public Safety	Wed 2/23	11:30 AM	LOB Room 202-204	This bill adds an exception to the criminal restraint and false imprisonment statutes based on temporary detainment in a motor vehicle and removes civil liability for the use of force in the protection of person or property and amends the law governing the duty to retreat when using physical force in defense of oneself or another.
Oppose	HB1131	relative to facial covering policies for schools.	Education	Fri 2/25	9:00 AM	SH Room Reps Hall	This bill prohibits school boards and accredited nonpublic schools from adopting, enforcing, or implementing a policy that requires students or members of the public to wear a facial covering.
Support	HB1371	relative to school district policies on facial masks of students in schools.	Education	Fri 2/25	10:00 AM	SH Room Reps Hall	This bill requires school districts to adopt a policy leaving facial mask use to parents of students and not tolerating bullying, harassment, or discrimination.

The post Bill Hearings for Week of February 21, 2022 appeared first on NH Liberty Alliance.

On Saturday morning, a small group of conservatives, libertarians, and independents, concerned about corona-fascism, gathered at the corner of Exeter Road and Lafayette road in Hampton, New Hampshire. By around noon, roughly a dozen anti-mandate protesters were on the busy corner waving American flags, New Hampshire flags, and home-made signs to a busy stream of motorists.

The post White Nationalists Crash Freedom Rally In Hampton appeared first on The Liberty Block.

In response to the increasingly severe vaccine mandates and other restrictions related to corona-fascism, truckers throughout Canada launched a totally peaceful protest in the form of driving their trucks from all over the nation to the capital city of Ottawa. 

The post Canada’s Crackdowns On Peaceful Protesters Demonstrate Dire Need For Crypto Adoption appeared first on The Liberty Block.

It all started with some memes. David and Peter Gay have been involved in fundraising for worthy campaigns in need for nearly a decade. By harnessing the power of social media, they have been able to champion causes and fully fund countless crowdfunding campaigns.

The post From Memes to Free Wheelchair Vans appeared first on The Liberty Block.

What would energy production and consumption look like in an independent state of New Hampshire?  Currently, New Hampshire residents consume around 320 trillion BTU of energy per year. The Seabrook nuclear power plant provided 59% of New Hampshire’s 2020 in-state electricity net generation, according to EIA.gov. The rest of our […]

The post Energy Policy In The Republic Of New Hampshire appeared first on The Liberty Block.

(white) goldstandard-02-16-22-H-3.pdf
(gold) goldstandard-02-16-22-H-y-3.pdf

The post House Gold Standard, Wednesday February 16th, 2022 appeared first on NH Liberty Alliance.

(white) goldstandard-02-16-22-S.pdf
(gold) goldstandard-02-16-22-S-y.pdf

 

 

The post Senate Gold Standard, Wednesday February 16th, 2022 appeared first on NH Liberty Alliance.

The Free State Project‘s weekly interview show, “Free State Live” has once again focused on NHexit with this week’s episode featuring liberty state representative Mike Sylvia. Readers of this blog know Sylvia as the prime sponsor of CACR 32. Several weeks ago, Free State Live featured Alu Axelman, the president of the Foundation for NH Independence, so this interview of Mike Syliva makes New Hampshire Independence the show’s number one most-discussed topic: