Meet the musical, libertarian d'Oudney family

Interviewing Astra: International libertarian, musician, thinker, activist | Examiner.com - Garry Reed:

February 10, 2016 - "If music is an international language it also seems that American-style 'Non-Aggression Principle' libertarianism has also gone global as well, at least in the form of one hot bilingual musician named Astra F. d'Oudney and her musical parents Kenn and Joanna d'Oudney.

"Astra, born in England but living in France, defines herself as 'Chanteuse, Guitarist, Musician, Recording Artist, Singer-Songwriter' on her Facebook page. She does all of the vocals, lead and backup, on her albums but has also performed 450 live concerts in France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany. Her music includes rock, pop, ballads and mood music.

"Astra's parents have played over 1000 concerts throughout Western Europe themselves and founded Scorpio Recording Company Ltd in London in 1983. They're not only a family of musicians but advocate rights and principles familiar to American libertarians.

"Together Kenn and Joanna d'Oudney have written Cannabis: The facts, human rights and the law: The report that includes a Foreword by Milton Friedman. While most Americans want cannabis decriminalized so they can smoke pot without getting arrested The Report, as they condense its title, is much broader and deeper in its scope. According to Astra's own summary 'The Report collates empirical evidence and the findings of fact of official clinical studies which exonerate cannabis and vindicate all cultivation, trade, possession and use. The Report establishes massive ulterior money-motive and perjury behind prohibition; and indicts government. The Report presents irrefutable legal grounds for restoration, relegalisation, amnesty and restitution.'

"Together the three d'Oudneys also run the Democracy Defined Campaign that advocates, among other issues, 'adoption of the genuine Trial by Jury.' By 'genuine' they mean the right and duty of jury nullification. Astra, in short, is not your typical pop diva. To learn more Libertarian News Examiner engaged Astra in this short interview.

Libertarian News Examiner: Do you consider yourself a libertarian in the American 'non-aggression principle' sense?
Astra: We are libertarians who champion individual rights – never impinging upon the rights of others – and 'regulation' of the role of government by jurors through Trial by Jury, as explicitly advocated by co-author of the US Constitution, James Madison; see "James Madison: The Publius Fallacy of Number Ten" in Democracy Defined: The Manifesto by Kenn d’Oudney. The campaign is all-inclusive and we avoid attaching any party-political labels to it....

LNE: You're clearly a second generation libertarian but what else attracted you to libertarianism besides your parents?
Astra: Issues of justice and liberty attracted me to non-party-political support for the constitutional laws which uphold universal secular human values. Without them we lose everything which makes life worthwhile and meaningful."

Read more: http://www.examiner.com/article/interviewing-astra-international-libertarian-musician-thinker-activist
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Silk Road trial sparks jury-rights campaign in NYC

Jury rights activists rally in NYC around Silk Road trial - National Libertarian news | Examiner.com - Garry Read:

January 3, 2015 - "The trial of Ross Ulbricht, accused by the federal government of running the Silk Road 'dark web' site on the Internet, kicks off on Monday, January 5, in New York City. Libertarians see the trial as yet another unjust victimless crime prosecution.

"Jury rights activist James Babb issued a press release Friday announcing a month-long jury nullification campaign in the area around the US courthouse in Manhattan to coincide with the Ulbricht trial. The protest will feature large phone kiosk advertising posters in the area while an army of activists distribute nullification pamphlets in an effort to educate people about their rights and responsibilities as jurors.

"A grassroots Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign launched in December and scheduled to run through February 5 has already raised more than their target goal. 'Early support has come from libertarians and redditors,' George Donnelly of the Jury Rights Project/NYC explained on the Indiegogo site. Because of that six kiosk jury nullification posters are already prominently posted, ringing the area around the courthouse.

"While the immediate goal is to support Ulbricht the long range objective is to end victimless crimes prosecutions in the city in 2015. Many Libertarian News Examiner readers will remember that former Penn State professor Dr. Julian Heicklen was repeatedly arrested and sent to jail or to psychiatric hospitals for distributing Fully Informed Jury Association outreach pamphlets at this same Manhattan courthouse.

"The 30-year-old Ross Ulbricht faces life in prison as the alleged creator and operator of 'Silk Road,' an 'illicit online marketplace' that was shut down by the feds in 2013. Silk Road, according to the libertarian Reason Magazine, was a secretive 'darknet' site operated as an online commerce website like Amazon or Yelp where people around the world could anonymously buy and sell non-legal drugs and have them delivered to their door by their country's postal service."

Read more: http://www.examiner.com/article/jury-rights-activists-rally-nyc-around-silk-road-trial
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Rich Paul is appealing his 81-year prison sentence for selling marijuana

Rich Paul Is Appealing His 81-Year Prison Sentence for Selling Pot | VICE United States - Harry Cheadle:

May 29, 2013 - "Rich Paul, a pro-marijuana activist in Keene, New Hampshire, who was facing 81 years in prison for selling marijuana ... refused plea-bargain deals (including one that would have let him walk away with no jail time) because he wanted to stand up for his principles — weed is basically harmless and you should be allowed to smoke it and sell it to your friends. 'Somebody had to stand up and say that this is wrong, and I thought I might well be that guy,' Rich emailed me. 'I took the risk and now we'll find out whether I bet my life well.'

Two days after he wrote that, the jury found Rich guilty, sending him to prison for a long, long time for a nonviolent crime.... 'I wasn’t shocked,' Rich admitted to me in a video recorded from jail. 'Jury nullification is a long shot.' Even so, he’s planning on appealing to the New Hampshire Supreme Court on the grounds that the judge misled the jury on what nullification is.

"Last year, New Hampshire adopted a law that allows defense attorneys to speak directly to juries and tell them that they have the right to judge the application of the law, not just the facts; that is, they can decide the law shouldn’t be applied in particular cases."

If his appeal is successful, it’ll set a precedent in New Hampshire that juries have to be informed that nullification is both possible and legal, which would presumably make a huge difference — one of the big hurdles for nullification advocates has historically been educating people about it. In order to make his appeal, Rich has to hire a lawyer, and his supporters have started a fundraising campaign to make that possible."

Read more: http://www.vice.com/read/rich-paul-is-appealing-his-81-year-prison-sentence-for-selling-pot
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New Hampshire Jury Acquits Pot-Growing Rastafarian

New Hampshire Jury Acquits Pot-Growing Rastafarian - Hit & Run : Reason.com - Jacob Sullum:

September 24, 2012 - "A few months ago, New Hampshire Gov. John Lynch signed a bill declaring that 'in all criminal proceedings the court shall permit the defense to inform the jury of its right to judge the facts and the application of the law in relation to the facts in controversy.' Although the new law does not take effect until ... January [2013], a case decided ... in Belknap County illustrates the importance of the nullification power it recognizes. A jury unanimously acquitted Doug Darrell, a 59-year-old Rastafarian charged with marijuana cultivation, after his lawyer, Mark Sisti, argued that a conviction would be unjust in light of the fact that Darrell was growing cannabis for his own religious and medicinal use. More remarkably, Judge James O'Neill instructed the jury that 'even if you find that the State has proven each and every element of the offense charged beyond a reasonable doubt, you may still find the defendant not guilty if you have a conscientious feeling that a not guilty verdict would be a fair result in this case.'"

Read more: http://reason.com/blog/2012/09/14/new-hampshire-jury-acquits-pot-growing-r
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