Jury Rights Day September 5, 2008

Friday marks the 338th anniversary of when jurors refused to convict William Penn of violating England's Conventicle Acts, despite clear evidence that he acted illegally by preaching a Quaker sermon. In refusing to convict Penn, the jurors ignored what they knew to be an unjust law. This is known as jury nullification.

By refusing to enforce what they knew was an unjust law, the Penn jurors served justice, and provided a basis for our First Amendment rights to freedom of speech, religion, and peaceable assembly. For refusing to find Penn guilty, the judge sent four of Penn's jurors to prison. Their exoneration fixed forever the English and American doctrine that jurors have the responsibility to decide both matters of law and fact in any case before them. Individual jurors are last line of defense for people who are prosecuted under bad laws by overzealous prosecutors and court officials.

Related article: Property Taxes and the Consent of the Governed

Factually, what are the “CITY OF KEENE” and the “STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE”?

By Dr. David M. Berman

www.wakeupandsmellthetruth.com

What do you get when you combine the number one liberal Senator with the number three liberal Senator? "JoBama." Since the resume of Joe Bidan is so much larger that Barack Obama, Joe's name goes first. It is an upside down ticket. Since Joe Bidan has been in the Senate for over 30 years, there is no change, he is the same old liberal. JoBama is an excellent name for a rock band but it spells disaster for America.

When Joe Bidan was announced he gave a speech. In the speech he said that he is like all of us worried people who "sit around the kitchen table and wonder how we are going to pay our bills." He bragged about only having one house. It looked to me like his one house was 3 times the size of mine. I find it a bit hard to believe that Biden is worried about how he is going to pay his bills.

By Representative Ron Paul, TX

As the Olympics wind down, I am amazed at how things change every four years. Many Americans were glued to their televisions to watch the excitement from Beijing, and also heard announcers wax nostalgic with memories of times when the Soviet Union was the USA's biggest competitor for Olympic gold. There was a time when it was unthinkable that a government as powerful as that of the Soviet Union's could possibly crumble, yet crumble it did. The irony is that the strength of the Soviet government was also its weakness, as no country, no economic system can remain strong under the crushing burden that is central planning.

By Kat Kanning

New sign in Winchester is sure to ruffle some feathers.

By Kat Kanning

Lauren Canario and Jim Johnson of Winchester have erected a new sign on their Ashuelot Street property. It says, “School's Open, Hide all the Children.” In a recent interview, Canario told the New Hampshire Free Press , “I put up the sign in solidarity with all the kids who are going to be locked up in public schools. They're forced to be there, locked up all day, drugged in many cases, told to sit down and shut up.”

By Phyllis Sclafly

March 2005

Big Brother is on the march. A plan to subject all children to mental health screening is underway, and the pharmaceutical corporations are gearing up for bigger sales of antidepressant and psychostimulant drugs.

Like most liberal big-spending ideas, this one was slipped into the law under cover of sweet words. It started with the New Freedom Commission on Mental Health created by President George W. Bush's Executive Order 13263 of April 29, 2002. The Commission issued its report on July 22, 2003. President Bush has instructed 25 federal agencies to develop a plan to implement the Commissions recommendations.

By Congressman Ron Paul, TX

We've heard how the value of the dollar affects gas prices – and indeed the price of everything. I was pleased that my request for a hearing on such was granted by the Financial Services committee and we were able to hear some very informative testimony. Certainly domestic policies, regarding off-shore oil drilling bans, ethanol mandates, refining capacity, and CAFE standards are interventionist and harmful enough in the energy market.

When people act on their OWN judgment, like grown-ups, they are stuck with the responsibility and consequences of their actions. A favorite excuse of people who do stupid and/or evil things is "I was just following orders." This amounts to claiming that they were NOT acting as thinking, judging, responsible beings with free will, but were acting as unthinking tools of someone else. Put another way, the "obeying authority" excuse amounts to saying: "You can't blame me! I'm just a stupid, programmable machine, not a thinking human!" Swell.

People who believe in self-ownership (e.g., anarchists) don't ever get to use that excuse. You see, we believe that we are endowed with thought and free will, and that we are therefore obligated to judge right and wrong for ourselves, and obligated to act accordingly. What we do, WE DO. We don't try to dodge responsibility by pretending that we were possessed by someone or something else.

By Russell Kanning

Following in the tradition of one of my friends, I sat down in the Manchester airport terminal with a sign that said,"Report TSA Abuses Here." When I arrived at the airport, the "Security Checkpoint" lines were not long and seemed to be moving along. I picked a bench that faced one of the lines, leaned my sign up against my leg, and took out my notepad.