More than three years after the City of Keene filed suit against Robin Hood of Keene, the parties in the case have filed what should be their final legal arguments at the New Hampshire Supreme Court. Robin Hooders are the activists who have made international headlines for saving thousands of innocent motorists from parking tickets in the small city of Keene.
The city's persecution of the peaceful activists has failed at nearly every legal turn. In its first visit to the NH Supreme Court, only one aspect of the city's harassing case was sent back to the superior court for review. The city gang then lost again at the superior court level and are now appealing that most recent decision to the Supreme Court.
The NH Supreme court has already decided the allegations of “tortious interference”, “civil conspiracy”, “negligence”, and the demand for financial compensation were unfounded and the activities engaged in by the Robin Hooders are protected by the first amendment.
The appeal is for the Supreme court to look ONLY at the lower court’s ruling regarding the request for the “buffer zone” injunction. In their 50 page brief filed with the court in late May, the city, in a footnote, withdraws their request for an injunction against me and Garret Ean. I hardly ever Robin Hood and Garret doesn't even live in Keene anymore!
In a 34 page brief filed by our pro-bono free speech attorney Jon Meyer, he points out, using the Parking Enforcers' own testimony, that there was at no point any kind of threat or even a safety concern:(html comment removed: more)
Question: If any of the Defendants did something which you thought created a danger to themselves or others, should you not report it to the City?
Answer: I would report it to the City.
Question: And have you ever had occasion to make any such report?
Answer: No.
Further, it's clear from the testimony of the parking enforcers that it's the content of Robin Hooders' speech that they object to:
The PEO allegedly harassed by Freeman, acknowledged that it is not uncommon for members of the public to come up and speak to her at close range, closer than Freeman, and she does not find that problematic. Her principal concern with the Robin Hooders is what they said to her and their tone. The other PEO testified that her objection was to what she viewed as “taunting” which included “anything that comes out of his [Ean’s] mouth.”...Again, as in the original set of hearings, the City failed to present any testimony from police or other safety official substantiating public safety or traffic concerns.
Finally, Meyer concludes:
As a matter of First Amendment law as well as equitable balancing, the restrictions proposed excessively burdened the Defendants’ right to directly express “an uncomfortable message” public employees not receptive to that message.
Meyer has requested oral arguments in front of the NH Supreme Court. As always, stay tuned to Free Keene for the latest.
This just shows how far cities and states will go to protect their income. I used to live in Florida, anyone here ever hear of the city of Waldo? It was literally a racket, something out of an old movie, a la "Breaker Breaker". They pulled over anyone with out of state plates, for going even a mile over the speed limit. The state and the feds knew about this for years and did nothing to stop it until AAA made a big deal and started posting billboards. Then finally the feds stepped in and disbanded the police force. They had all violated federal racketeering laws and should have been indicted under the RICO act. But alas, they got a slap on the wrist, an probably a pat on the back from the state for their years of service.
Yes, I also used to live in FL. But then I moved to NH to be with other libertarians and voluntarists, and it's great! When you have a concentration of activists, as we do, you can really ruin the state's game. http://move.shiresociety.com
I moved to Wisconsin, which isn't a very libertarian state. They are making a lot of progress here though and are fairly forward thinking, progress doesn't happen overnight. I just checked your link, that's amazing. I had no idea the Shire Society existed. Will have to read through a little more thoroughly, but I'm excited about the concept. Strength comes in numbers, especially when it comes to political influence!!!
This is exactly what my city does here in Hollywood ca. Seems more cases are lost then won.
They'll always push it as far up the courts as they can when their revenue streams are threatened. See what they defend, and you'll see what truly matters to them :)
Greetings to the libertarian activists of new hampshire!
I has been following some projects there like the "free state project" and other related.
Would be nice to know if this robin hooders group have relation with other many initiatives..!
Some of us moved here for the FSP. Some are NH natives.
If you are libertarian or voluntarist, you should plan your move to NH asap to join thousands of other like-minded folks.
im in Europe and we are creating other free zones, here ;-) Could we worthy to be in touch
Check out Liberland if you haven't yet. http://liberland.org
I so very much love the Robin Hooding attack on State profits!!
So peacefully accomplished too. :^)