Using a state law against “Stalking,” RSA 633:3-a, anyone can file a request for a temporary restraining order against you, asking the court to shut down your political speech by placing a gag order on you and to remove all firearms and ammunition from your home.
Related: NH Gov. Chris Sununu Vetoes Democrat’s Latest Red Flag Law – HB687 [Updated]
All of this can be done without any due process for the defendant, just an ex parte affidavit from the plaintiff approved by a judge. There is no cost for requesting a restraining order and they’re essentially always approved.
An elected official can, in this way, effectively use the court to block unwanted political speech and require you to remove all political comments made against them or their voting record. This happened to me on August 17, 2020, over a Facebook post which, by the way, met Facebook’s community standards.
The court ordered me to remove my post about this elected official, which had gone viral with over 500 comments and 65 shares in just a matter of days. My purpose was to engage this elected official to reconsider her vote against restoring public school board meetings.
Parents are in a state of upheaval over remote learning and the difficulty of both instructing their children and trying to get back to work. Parents need to be able to voice their concerns but have been marginalized by virtual meetings. For example, my district failed to hold a public hearing on the school budget this year, in violation of state law. Due to virtual meetings, parents have had only one opportunity for public comment in the last six months.
This elected school board member voted against a proposed restoration of public meetings, insisting that it was unsafe for her to leave home to attend a board meeting. She adamantly refused to do so. Then, by chance, I saw her walking into the local post office. I was stunned. What about her safety concerns? I took a picture of her and posted it on Facebook, asking constituents to contact her to restore public meetings, as she was now apparently able to safely leave her home.
In response, this elected official filed a temporary restraining order against me. She claimed I was stalking her and that she feared for her safety and the safety of her grandchildren. A law enforcement officer appeared at my door and explain that I would be arrested if I did not stop speaking about this elected official and did not immediately remove any political posts about her on Facebook.
I served with this elected official on the school board for two years and was very familiar with her exaggerated concerns over safety.
She helped initiate several police investigations regarding “safety.” One was over a letter I posted on Facebook from a constituent that she felt was threatening. It criticized the political actions of another board member and the superintendent. The police recognized it as political speech and found no harm done.
Another investigation was initiated over the behavior of a school board member that she felt was threatening. Again, the police found no harm. A third police investigation was over my sharing an adult student’s political post against a board approved marksmanship program in the high school. Again, the police found no harm.
Despite her history of weaponizing unsubstantiated threats of violence, this elected official was granted a temporary order and asked for a permanent one-year restraining order against me and the removal of all firearms and ammunition from my house.
Even if you do not own firearms, no one wants their house labeled as a “gun-free zone” in the current climate of unrest and street violence. Keep in mind that the plaintiff claimed to the judge, without evidence, that I “hated all blacks and browns” and that I called her grandson a “terrorist.” There is absolutely no basis of truth to her any of her accusations. However, her grandson is a local Black Lives Matter leader.
NH state law, Chapter 633 “Interference with Freedom,” can be weaponized without penalty by elected officials to effectively restrict the free speech of their adversaries, at least temporarily. In my case the temporary restraining order lasted for about three weeks, which just happened to precede the September primary. As the temporary restraining order was granted ex parte, I was allowed to request an expedited hearing. Otherwise, I would still be waiting for relief.
New Hampshire already has a Red Flag law. It can be weaponized to shut down the free speech of political adversaries.
