City pays Libertarians $37K for petition shutdown

Jon Lender: Legal Mess Endures Months After Meriden Mayor Had Cops Oust Libertarians From Park - Hartford Courant:

September 7, 2018 - "Minor political parties’ candidates must jump through hoops to get on the election ballot in Connecticut. State law requires them to submit petitions containing thousands of voters’ signatures.... [G]aining ballot access is hard enough without a public official deciding to send the police to chase away party volunteers who are peacefully collecting such petition signatures in a public park.

"But that’s what happened on the sunny Saturday morning of April 28 to Rod Hanscomb, the Libertarian Party’s candidate for governor, and a few companions who were helping him collect ballot petition signatures from passers-by at the entrance to the annual Daffodil Festival in Meriden’s Hubbard Park. Meriden Mayor Kevin Scarpati walked past them and, not long afterward, a police lieutenant approached and told the Libertarians that they had to leave....

"The incident continues to fester today in a Superior Court lawsuit filed three months ago by the Libertarian Party’s state chairman, Dan Reale. He’s named Scarpati as the defendant and is claiming violations of his constitutional rights of free speech and assembly.... Reale said that partly because of being thrown out of Hubbard Park, the Libertarians ended up having to spend tens of thousands of dollars — as much as $50,000 — to supplement their volunteer efforts by paying people to collect signatures, and to hire a fundraising consultant.

"He said that now the state Libertarian Party organization has intervened legally to enter the lawsuit as a second plaintiff, and, during so-far-unsuccessful discussions of a possible settlement, has requested $50,000 in compensation."
Read more: http://www.courant.com/politics/government-watch/hc-pol-lender-libertarian-lawsuit-20180905-story.html

Jon Lender: 'Go After The First Amendment, You'll Pay The Price' — $37K To Settle Lawsuit Against Meriden Mayor - Hartford Courant:

September 28, 2018 - "The city of Meriden has paid $37,000 to settle a First Amendment lawsuit against Mayor Kevin Scarpati over his April 28 order that police oust members of the Libertarian Party, including its state chairman and gubernatorial candidate, from Hubbard Park, where they were circulating ballot petitions.

"'The First Amendment actually matters. We have confirmed that this isn’t Soviet Russia,' Dan Reale, the Libertarian Party state chairman, said Thursday after he and the party’s lawyer filed papers to withdraw the Superior Court action that had been filed in June. 'So, you go after the First Amendment, you'll pay the price'....

"Reale said that a Sept. 7 Government Watch column, which gave statewide exposure to the politically embarrassing situation for Meriden, seemed to increase the city’s willingness to settle the case."
Read more: http://www.courant.com/politics/government-watch/hc-pol-lender-libertarian-lawsuit-20180905-story.html
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FL couple wins fight to paint house like Van Gogh

Couple Wins Fight to Keep Their House Painted Like Van Gogh's Starry Night to Soothe Autistic Son - Foundation for Economic Education - David Gornoski:

August 27, 2018 - "Mt. Dora, Florida, ... is an artsy little hamlet known for its murals and art festivals. A year ago, Nancy [Nemhauser] and her husband Lubomir decided to paint their house wall in an interpretation of Vincent van Gogh's famous Starry Night painting. They had no homeowners association, they checked with city code and no issue was raised. Yet after they painted it, they received a city citation claiming the wall art was graffiti — that the wall had to match the color of the house. So the couple decided to paint the whole house to match to avoid any issue.

"This gesture ... was not received well by the city magistrates. They began to issue rolling hundred dollar fines for every day the Nemhausers failed to comply with their demands.

"Nancy and Lubomir commissioned the mural as a gift to their son, who has autism. They found that the Starry Night painting was a particular source of comfort and fascination for the young man. Also, in instances in which he might get lost from home, his difficulty in communication could be overcome by saying 'the Van Gogh house' to a person looking to help.

"If I do not like the color scheme of my neighbor's house, do I have a right to come to their door and demand that they pay me a hundred dollars a day until they fix it? If they resist long enough, can I bring men with guns to force them out of their home? Such behavior sounds insane. Because it is.

"However, when we form groups, we start to think we can get away with doing really insane or cruel things. Toxic groupthink can be playground bullies mimicking a child's unique speech pattern. It can also produce groupthink in governments that maintain the right to do things they would find abhorrent to do individually — just because a majority of voters in a space hired them.

"Nancy and Lubomir ... violated no law. They were merely victims of an arbitrarily banal exertion of power by busybodies who presume control. However, whether such a code existed or not on paper, the principle at stake here is one that arrests the very nature of what our culture should be.

"Should we ever use the threat of theft — an act of violence — to change a person's nonviolent behavior or choices? Should we have a culture that produces laws to coerce people's expression, personal choices, property use, or means of caring for their children? If there is no flesh and blood victim that can be named in a citation or police report about an event, how could we ever accuse a person of a crime or violation?

"As long as human beings are not stealing, defrauding, or initiating violence, they should enjoy their lives free from meddling.... Private contracts are mutually agreed upon covenants that can be enforced if people violate the terms. However, public contracts — the domain of states — are often arbitrarily decided piecemeal based on the ever-changing whims of the people close to power.... It is our job as role models for future generations to never let the law be used in such a farcical way.

"Thanks to their courage and the Pacific Legal Foundation, Nancy and Lubomir were victorious. Facing a federal battle over constitutional rights and an onslaught of media attention, Mt. Dora reached a settlement. As part of the agreement, the mayor publicly apologized in a press conference.

"Nancy told me the ordeal cost them greatly in health, stress, and many sleepless nights. For painting their house to help their son."

Read more: https://fee.org/articles/couple-wins-fight-to-keep-their-house-painted-like-van-goghs-starry-night-to-soothe-autistic-son/
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CBC ties Bernier to Kochs in 'smear job' interview

Maxime Bernier is furious after being interviewed by the CBC — and he may have a point | The Kingston Whig-Standard - Stuart Thomson:

September 25, 2018 - "After a CBC interview aired Sunday, Maxime Bernier’s Twitter account launched into an angry rant, accusing host Wendy Mesley of a 'smear job' ... arguing that Mesley fabricated a story 'about a libertarian conspiracy funded by US billionaires, and implies with her repeated questions about it that I violate Canadian electoral laws.' Mesley pushed back on the same platform, saying she never made that claim....

"But ... how strong are his connections to the two libertarian American billionaires Charles and David Koch?

"The Koch brothers are two American oil-and-gas billionaires who have become renowned in the last decade for massive donations to free-market think tanks and right-wing politicians. Just like people on the right describe George Soros as the mastermind of all nefarious activity on the left ... the Kochs are the scary billionaires on the right....

"Bernier once worked at the Montreal Economic Institute, one of the nearly 500 think tanks partnered with the Atlas Network, which is heavily funded by the Koch brothers....

"Mesley asked Bernier if he would accept help for his new party from the Koch brothers or the Atlas Network. Bernier explained that Canadian election laws prevent him from accepting money from American billionaires....

"'Later in the interview, Mesley asked Bernier what he would do 'if the Koch brothers call you?' 'I don’t know why you are asking that question,' Bernier responded.

"Twelve of Mesley’s 17 questions or follow-ups are about the Koch brothers or libertarianism.

"It’s hard to make an argument that Bernier’s 13-year-old connection to a think tank that was partly funded by a network of think tanks that is partly funded by the Koch brothers is relevant to the average Canadian....

"CBC producers may have been influenced by an investigation by the left-leaning investigative news site The Intercept, which demonstrated the influence of the Atlas Network on Latin American politics. That movement, which is working in opposition to leftist populism, is distinct from the Trump-style right wing populism that is also sweeping across Europe, which has nationalist and authoritarian overtones. Koch-linked think tanks warily keep an eye on right and left-wing authoritarianism, which they see as a threat to economic freedom....

"Although the CBC interview goes to great lengths to tie Bernier to the Koch brothers ... Bernier’s most controversial policy position — decrying increasing levels of immigration — is at odds with the Kochs.... For Bernier, who has always been stridently libertarian, his immigration position is a diversion from his ideological playbook. It could be a major shift in his thinking or simply political opportunism. And if the CBC gets him back for an interview, that would be a good question to ask."

Read more: https://www.thewhig.com/news/politics/maxime-bernier-is-furious-after-being-interviewed-by-the-cbc-and-he-may-have-a-point/wcm/e52125f5-2a68-4f7a-a135-7f57d76f245a
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BC Libertarian running for township mayor

Libertarian Alex Joehl runs for Township mayor - Langley Times:

September 6, 2018 - "A member of the Libertarian Party has announced his candidacy for Township Mayor. In a Facebook post, Alex Joehl said he will challenge incumbent mayor Jack Froese for the position in the Oct. 20 municipal election.

'There are many amazing people already doing great work here in the Township, but I feel that there are some other ideas out there that will better serve the residents of this town,' Joehl wrote.

"'We’re not trying to serve the majority of Langleyites, we need to serve ALL of them – while we are all unique, no one is special. Government has a track record of being patronizing to its public, even if it is more benevolent than malicious most of the time. But city hall should be here to support the residents, not dictate their lives.'

"This is the first time Joehl is throwing his hat into a municipal race, after running in both federal and provincial elections in the past.... Joehl ran for Langley East MLA in the 2017 provincial election under the Libertarian Party.  He also ran in two federal elections for the Libertarian Party of Canada ... in 2008 and ... in 2011.

"According to the Libertarian Party of Canada website, the party’s mission is to 'reduce the responsibilities and expense of government. This, so that we may each manage our lives to mutually fulfill our needs by the free and voluntary exchange of our efforts and property for the value that best realizes our happiness.'"

Read more: https://www.langleytimes.com/municipal-election/libertarian-alex-joehl-runs-for-township-mayor/
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Alex Joehl on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/alex.joehl

HR 6729 expands Patriot Act surveillance powers

House to Vote on 'Human Trafficking' Bill That Strengthens PATRIOT Act Spying - Hit & Run : Reason.com - Elizabeth Nolan Brown:

September 24, 2018 - "A new bill that borrows language from the PATRIOT Act promises to nab human traffickers using the same surveillance techniques that law introduced to catch terrorists and their associates. We all know how that went... Now, legislators like Rep. Ann Wagner (R–Mo.) hope we won't notice if they feed us the same liberty-poisoning bologna with a new excuse.

"It's 'a disguised effort to expand the #PatriotAct,' tweeted Rep. Justin Amash (R–Mich.) on Saturday. 'GOP leaders put "Fight Human Trafficking" in the title to conceal the bill's true purpose: to give the government more power to unconstitutionally spy on law-abiding Americans without a warrant.'

"Wagner's bill (H.R. 6729) — the deceptively named "Empowering Financial Institutions to Fight Human Trafficking Act" of 2018 — is the latest in a long line of assaults on civil liberties disguised as attacks on the biggest crime panic of the decade, sex trafficking. Wagner [also] brought us the SAVE Act in 2015 and FOSTA in 2018, both of which take aim at online anonymity, web publishing, social media, sex workers, and free speech under the guise of saving children....

"H.R. 6729 would allow financial institutions, federal regulatory bodies, nonprofit organizations, and law enforcement to share customer bank records between them without running afoul of rules regarding consumer privacy and without opening themselves up to lawsuits.... But these entities need not demonstrate that the 'sharing was made on a good faith basis,' according to the current text of the bill....

"Cops working specific cases or pursing specific suspects can already obtain their financial records by going through court channels and using the subpoena process. What they want here is access to wide swaths of (subsequently shareable) financial data on customers accused of no crimes and facing no charges. And they want this data to be served up proactively by bank staffers ... and by nonprofits, who would be empowered to share information gleaned through the provision of social services.

"The language echoes Section 314 of the PATRIOT Act [which] was used by authorities to demand all sorts of information from banks. It also led banks to start dropping people with Middle Eastern surnames.... Jeff A. Taylor wrote here at Reason in 2004 [that] Section 314 turned out to be a 'ticking time-bomb for anyone a buttoned-down banker might consider suspicious'.... It would go on to be used ... as an all-purpose way for the feds to [monitor] random consumer financial transactions. A 2016 bill to directly expand Section 314 of the Patriot Act was narrowly defeated in the U.S. House of Representatives.....

"Introduced on September 6, Wagner's new bill has already received a first vote by the House Committee on Financial Services (44 for, five against) and five co-sponsors.... A full House vote is scheduled for Wednesday."

Read more: https://reason.com/blog/2018/09/24/house-to-vote-on-human-trafficking-bill
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Philadelphia police agree to end policing for profit

Philadelphia Grants Reparations to Victims of Police Civil Asset Forfeiture - CityLab - Brentin Mock:

September 18, 2018 - "Philadelphia ... has agreed to considerably scale back its policies on when and how police can seize private property from civilians. Up until now, Philadelphia police could confiscate a person’s cash, car, or house — evicting people with little notice — if there was suspicion that the person might be associated with a crime.

"Called civil asset forfeiture and dubbed by opponents as 'policing for profit', the practice was a mechanism for padding police coffers and salaries with the funds generated from these confiscations. Meanwhile, the person whose assets were taken would have to prove they were innocent of whatever crime they were suspected of to begin a cumbersome process for reclaiming their property. In one case, Norys Hernandez almost lost her home to police after they arrested her nephew on a drug violation that she was unaware of.

"Under a new consent decree agreement announced Tuesday, police and prosecutors can only seize people’s assets under a very limited set of circumstances — mainly if they can prove that it is evidence for a major criminal case — but those seized assets cannot be used to pay for police salaries or expenses. Also under the new agreement, the victims of past civil asset forfeiture abuse are entitled to reparations.

"The consent decree is the result of a lawsuit filed four years ago by the criminal justice reform organization Institute for Justice against the city.... Philadelphia was taking advantage of Pennsylvania’s law that allowed law enforcement agencies to keep 100 percent of proceeds and property seized from criminal suspects, even without a conviction. A new state law went into effect last summer ... but it falls far short of the kind of reforms that the city of Philadelphia just agreed to, which include:

• "Police now have to provide a detailed receipt of the property seized to the person they seized it from. The receipt must include instructions on how that person can retrieve their property.
• Court forfeiture proceedings papers must be filed within 90 days of a person’s assets being seized or else the assets must be returned. A person can file for immediate return of their property if they depend on it to live or work — a car, for instance, for those who work for Uber or Lyft as their primary job.
• Whereas before prosecutors controlled court forfeiture hearings, now that control belongs to judges. Prosecutors can no longer threaten taking a person’s property for not making repeated returns to court, and property owners can file for a continuance if they can’t make a hearing.
• Instead of using seized assets to pay for police salaries or new equipment, funds will now be given to community-based drug rehab programs.

"A $3 million fund has been set up to help people recoup what police took from them, and also to compensate them for being wronged. People who submit a qualifying claim in time will receive at least $90 for having their rights violated. All cash and property will be returned to those who never ended up convicted of a crime."

Read more: https://www.citylab.com/equity/2018/09/policing-for-profit-in-philadelphia-finally-comes-to-an-end/570622/
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NM Supreme Court KO's one-punch voting option

Court Rejects Johnson-Blocking Straight-Ticket Ballot Change in New Mexico - Hit & Run : Reason.com - Matt Welch:

September 12, 2018 - "In a 5-0 decision that removes a late-breaking obstacle from Libertarian Party nominee Gary Johnson's insurgent Senate bid, the New Mexico Supreme Court today struck down a unilateral move two weeks ago by Democratic Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver to reinstate the Land of Enchantment's 'straight ticket' ballot option, whereby voters can select a political party's entire slate of candidates by filling out just one oval.

"The New Mexico state legislature — with the signature of then-Gov. Gary Johnson — had in ... 2001 repealed the part of the election code specifying that ballots had to 'permit each voter…to vote a straight party ticket in one operation.' It took the 2010 election of a Republican Secretary of State, Dianna Duran, to finally remove the one-punch option from the state's ballots, after which Democratic lawmakers have periodically tried and failed to legislate the option back....

"Oliver ... provoked widespread claims of partisan skullduggery with her Aug. 29 decision, which came without so much as a single public hearing.

"'Until the legislature makes a decision one way or the other, the Secretary of State cannot,' Chief Justice Judith Nakamura said when handing down the decision. 'This power is theirs alone, and the Legislature has indicated its intent to thoroughly regulate how ballots appear.'

"The successful court challenge was filed by the state Libertarian and Republican parties, as well as Democratic write-in candidate Heather Nordquist, and the independent-supporting Unite New Mexico....

"The state Supreme Court decision comes just a week after the 6th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals reinstated Michigan's 2015 legislative ban on the straight-ballot option, and seems to cement the notion that courts aren't fond of either bureaucrats or judges usurping the will of state legislators when it comes to this type of voting mechanism. Combined with the recent trend of states dropping the device, one-punch will now only appear in eight states this November: Alabama, Indiana, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas (which is ending the practice in 2020), and Utah."

Read more: https://reason.com/blog/2018/09/12/court-rejects-johnson-blocking-straight
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