http://freekeene.com/2009/04/13/arrests-ridleys-arraignment/

Five activists were arrested and at least two were given summons for not leaving the lobby after Sam of the Obscured Truth Network was attacked by city officials for attempting to record videographer Dave Ridley’s arraignment. Here’s my recollection of the events:

Sam was in another room. He’d gone limp after officers had taken his camera and arrested him for recording in the lobby. The officers had dragged him through a doorway and handcuffed him, and we’d heard him scream painfully several times, presumably because of the rough treatment.

Police officers blocked the exits. Anyone in our group who was still in the lobby, according to city prosecutor Eliezer Rivera, would be charged with disorderly conduct.

David Krouse was sitting peacefully on the floor. The officials got Nick Ryder’s information and gave him a summons. Then one of them asked for my name.

I hadn’t even decided to stay—it had happened very quickly and I was still thinking things through. I didn’t want to leave Sam, especially if he had been hurt.

“I’m not going to comply,” I said. The police officer grabbed my arm and I went limp. I had not yet decided to obey, and removing myself from the interaction by going limp was the only thing I knew I could do in the meantime.

Three uniformed men then picked me up, carried me down the stairs, took me outside, and pushed me into the backseat of a police car. I was driven to the Keene Police department.

Before I was let out of the car, I heard two police officers criticizing city prosecutor Eliezer Rivera’s actions in calling for backup and demanding that everyone be given summons. “I thought he’d been jumped,” one of the officers said, referring to when he received the call for backup. “90% of it was probably him,” one of them said, referring to Riviera’s hyping of the incident. “He’s out of control.”

I was removed from the car and taken (walking, this time) to a room along with Tim Danforth and Curt (aka Lumpy.) They copied my information from my driver’s license (after finding it in a search of my wallet that I didn’t consent to) and I told them the address of the building where I usually sleep. I was then released and told to appear before the court on May 18 at 1:30pm for an arraignment.

Sam is now in the Westmoreland jail and will likely remain there overnight until his arraignment tomorrow morning. Tim and Curt were also released after giving their information (but Curt resisted for a few minutes.) I was happy to see 10-15 activists outside the station waiting for us. Thanks for being there, guys.

Please move to Keene and help us end this undeserved and unprovoked violence.

While driving in Fort Lee, New Jersey today I came up behind a Fort Lee Police Department car stopped for a red light at Glen Road and Brinkerhoff Avenue at approximately 10:07am. The car number was 464. The officer was talking on what appeared to be his personal cell phone. After the light turned green the officer started to turn left from Brinkerhoff Ave onto Glen Road. As he turned he moved the phone from one side of his head to the other.

His lights were not on nor were his sirens.

The overview from the State of New Jersey website says:

On November 2, 2007, Governor Jon S. Corzine signed into law a bill which amends N.J.S.A. 39:4-97.3 to make the use of a wireless hand-held telephone or electronic communication device by the operator of a moving motor vehicle a primary offense. The complete text of the law amending N.J.S.A. 39:4-97.3 can be found at P.L. 2007, c.198.

• It is a primary offense for a motorist to talk or text message with a hand-held wireless telephone or electronic communication device while driving.
• Use of a hand-held wireless telephone or electronic communication device includes, but is not limited to:
  • Talking or listening to another person.
  • Text messaging or sending an electronic message.
• The fine for violating this statute is $100.00; no points will be assessed for the offense.
• The operator of a motor vehicle may use a hand-held wireless telephone while driving with one hand on the steering wheel only if:
  • The operator has reason to fear for his/her life or safety, or believes that a criminal act may be perpetrated against him/herself or another person.
  • The operator is using this device to report to appropriate authorities: a fire; traffic crash; serious road hazard; medical or hazardous material emergency; or another motorist who is driving in a reckless, careless or otherwise unsafe manner or who appears to be driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
• The amended law takes effect on March 1, 2008.
• The Division of Highway Traffic Safety, in partnership with the Motor Vehicle Commission, will conduct a public education campaign beginning in mid-February.

Additional information is linked from the overview site to here.

The State of New Jersey driver manual also clearly states that using a mobile phone while driving is a stoppable offense.

Here is the legislation: 2007c198_law.pdf

I don’t desire the officer of car 464 to be punished. I want for statutues such as this to be removed from the books. In the least I’d like to see police officers to ignore victimless crimes. Driving while on a cellphone is not a real crime. No one was harmed by his actions. There is no victim. If he was threatening other drivers by eradically driving due to being distracted with his phone conversation he should then be approached and cited but being on the phone in and of itself should not be a stoppable or finable offense.

http://stopthedrugwar.org/…

Ronnie Naulls never saw it coming. The church-going businessman, husband, and father of three young girls knew he was taking a risk when he opened a medical marijuana dispensary in Corona, a suburban community in the high desert of Riverside County east of Los Angeles.

Although he had played by the rules, obeyed all state laws, and successfully battled the city in court to stay open, Naulls knew there was a chance of trouble with law enforcement. He knew there was a chance of the federal DEA coming down on him, as it has done with at least 40 other dispensaries this year alone.

But when they did come down on him, it was far worse than he ever imagined. At 6:00am on July 17, the quiet of Naulls’ suburban neighborhood was disrupted by the whir of hovering helicopters as heavily armed DEA agents stormed his home and collective. They seized cash and marijuana, they seized his property, they seized his personal and business bank accounts. They arrested him on federal marijuana charges.But that wasn’t enough for the DEA. The raiders also called Child Protective Services (CPS). With Naulls already hustled off to jail, his wife sitting handcuffed in a police car, and his home in a shambles after being tossed by the DEA, CPS social workers said his three children were endangered and seized them. Naulls and his wife were also charged with felony child endangerment.

Does anyone out there support this kind of behavior by the government? How do you legally justify prohibition? How do you justify the seizing of property not related to the case without due process? How do you justify similar acts taken out on owners of shops where no charges are made but through asset forfeiture their property is taken, again without due process? This man’s children were hardly in danger nor was this man breaking any legitimate laws. It’s just another wrecked family brought on by the war on drugs.