In all of the hubbub of the weekend, I kinda forgot to keep this going – but after seeing John this weekend, he certainly is not! We continue on with our interview as he is making a run to step up from the the NH House of Representatives (where he is a two term legislator) … Read more
Continuing on with the interview with John Hikel, who is running for NH State Senate in District 20, we started to veer into one of my favorite questions: Should Govt be in the role of selling services and goods? because it always leads to my favorite topics: what is the proper role of Government? For … Read more
If you, as a candidate, are running on a record, it’s nice to know what that record is. It’s also nice to know what the candidate believes his impact has been. So, I asked John what he thought his biggest impact had been amongst all of the bills submitted by all the House Reps: Previous … Read more
GraniteGrok has known NH State Rep John Hikel for a couple of years now an have interviewed him on a number of occasions. This time, it is a little bit different as he has decided to “up the ante” – last night at St. Anselm’s Institute of Politics, we had the chance to interview NH … Read more
There’s an article about the Republican-sponsored bill to allow medicinal marijuana use with a doctor’s counseling and prescription in today’s UL HERE.
So where does our 8-year Democrat Gov. John Lynch stand on the bill? He promises to veto the thing! Idiotic. Here’s my comment at the bottom of the Union Leader article:
Democrat Gov. Lynch is an idiot for supporting the failed and extremely harmful “war on some drugs”…
A proposed NH state constitutional amendment banning the introduction of a state income tax has been voted out of committee with a recommendation that it "Ought To Pass." The full State House will vote on it in January. Not surprisingly, Democrats deplore it—great angst!—because their true agenda is being exposed to open examination and debate. That is…
The House voted today to override the Governors’ veto of Senate Bill 88 on the heels of the Senate voting to override last week. The vote was 251 to 111. It should be important to note that the Governor and his faithful went into overdrive to build support for sustaining the veto, to include a walking tour of Lincoln street area of Manchester in the vicinity of Hayward and Somerville Streets. It was there where Attorney General stated, “And we will be providing drug dealers and street gangsters with a new right to respond using more violence in public places…”
At the Governor’s press conference the morning before the house leaders’ press conference, Chief Robert Wharem, President of the New Hampshire Association of Chiefs of Police, told WMUR, “Senate Bill 88 is one of the most dangerous bills we’ve had come before us in our time…” while he had roughly a dozen other police chiefs gathered around him, seeming to imply he speaks for all New Hampshire Chiefs. The difference here is many likely opted to stay home and not politicize this bill, remaining within the confines of their sworn oaths.
At the end of the day, none of their Charlatanry, pandering or demagoguing held any political water, resulting in the veto override which now means the bill is law. Now SB 88 is law. The streets will not run red with blood and responsible, law-abiding citizens will not be prosecuted for lawfully defending themselves against violent attacks.
But to be expected, whenever there is a gun crime it will be certain that the critics of the bill will point to this law as a manifestation of that crime, ignoring the fact that criminals with guns will still commit crimes. They did so before this law and will continue to do so even after this law.
This law protects law-abiding citizens, not Criminals. On the coattails of Senate Bill 88’s passage we will likely hear be hearing next from the Brady Bunch about the enormous social costs of gun violence. Guy Smith, Author of Gun Facts, has undertaken a most complete compilation of data. Here are just a few examples:
Fact: Because guns are used an estimated 2.5 million times per year to prevent crimes, the cost savings in personal losses, police work, and court and prison expenses vastly outweighs the cost of criminal gun violence and gun accidents. The net savings, under a worst-case scenario, is about $3.5 billion a year.257
Despite the efforts of Governor Lynch, his Attorney General and a hand full of unelected Police Chiefs around the state, The New Hampshire Senate voted this afternoon to 
override the Governor’s veto on a vote of 17 to 7. The Bill now goes to the House where it will become law upon concurrence with the Senate Veto override.
During his walking parade through some of the meaner streets of Manchester, several demagoguery cards were used falsely implying SB 88’s becoming law would empower gang members…Which I find rather bizarre since Local Law Enforcement here will tell you we don’t have a significant gang problem.
During his many rants, Governor Lynch challenged the need for this law, claiming supporters of the SB88, “have not been able to identify a single case in New Hampshire where someone has been wrongly prosecuted for using deadly force to protect themselves or others. In fact, current law puts the burden on the state to disprove beyond reasonable doubt claims of self-defense.”
Well Thanks to Attorney Penny Dean of Concord, who provided reference and source materials, the challenge is accepted….
STATE V. JOSEPH BROWN
Superior Court, Carroll County No. 05-S-358
Joseph Gleason, an over six-foot tall and 200-pound burley fellow with a criminal record for violence, pursued Brown off of a highway, characterized as a fit of “road rage.” The five-foot, four-inch 140-pound Brown (with no prior criminal record) now found himself trapped at a traffic light behind other vehicles, with no route of escape from Gleason, as the 280-pound Gleason exited his vehicle and began screaming, yelling, swearing and pounding on Brown’s vehicle punching on the windows of Brown’s Buick.
With no way to escape, and fearing for his safety, Joseph Brown produced a handgun, merely showing it, but never pointing it at Gleason. Brown was subsequently arrested, charged and forced to stand trial. After considerable legal expense the case was noll prosequied.
During Joseph Brown’s arrest, N.H. State Trooper Beth Keyes asserted, “Your right to self defense is your right to call 911…”.
STATE V. PHILLIP TUFANO
Superior Court, Merrimack County 2008
Tufano of Londonderry was charged with threatening Paul DeFilippo with a handgun in August of 2008 following a road rage incident on Route 93. Tufano charged after he held up his “still-holstered” gun in an effort to diffuse the situation when DeFilippo ran him off the roadway, causing him to fear for his life.
On one October 2007 evening, Boston attorney Simon Glik, was walking past Boston Common where Boston police officers John Cunniffe, Peter Savalis and Jerome Brewster were effecting an arrest. Hearing a nearby person state, “Stop! You’re hurting him!” Glik began video recording the incident from approximately ten feet away, using his cell phone. Shortly thereafter, Glik was arrested and his cell phone confiscated.
Charged with violation of the Massachusetts wiretap statute(Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 272, § 99(C)(1)), In February, 2008, the Boston Municipal Court summarily disposed of the wiretap charge, noting, “the fact that the officers were unhappy they were being recorded during an arrest . . . does not make a lawful exercise of a First Amendment right a crime.”
Glik filed a civil rights action against the officers and the City of Boston in the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts when his internal affairs complaints were ignored. Summarily, The People’s Republik moved to dismiss Glik’s complaint asserting that his allegations failed to adequately support his claims and that officers were entitled to qualified immunity “because it is not well-settled that he had a constitutional right to record the officers.” The court denied the motion and the commonwealth’s interlocutory appeal followed in which they did not prevail.
In its opinion, the court stated, “Gathering information about government officials in a form that can readily be disseminated to others serves a cardinal First Amendment interest in protecting and promoting ‘the free discussion of governmental affairs.’” And the court ruled “a citizen’s right to film government officials, including law enforcement officers, in the discharge of their duties in a public place is a basic, vital, and well-established liberty safeguarded by the First Amendment…”
In the wake of this opinion are the countless arrests in the Granite State for the very same activities, as detailed numerous times in the New Hampshire Union Leader. The one incident that comes to mind is a Sheriff’s Deputy attempting to thwart Representative Gary Hopper from video-recording in the Legislative Office building back in 2010. Finally, House Bill 145 , presently languishes in the Senate and has met with a great deal of resistance from Law Enforcement.
Police are concerned that the bill fails to protect both their privacy and that of the public they serve. Privacy? What privacy? they are Public servants subject to the accountability to that same public they serve!
Americans For Prosperity has released its 2011 Score card for New Hampshire Legislators in the House, and the NH State Senate. The tally is based on eleven bills AFP focused on in 2011 and whether the New Hampshire Representative or Senator took AFP’s position.
A Letter sent to all of the Republican NH State Senators What does it say when a Democrat State Senator in New Jersey wants to get his State out of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) – the state level Cap and Trade scam – but some New Hampshire State Senators (Republicans!) are against the … Read more
Last nite was the monthly meeting of the Belknap County Republicans. Of the two speakers, the first was NH State Senator Jim Forsythe (District 4). His time was spent mostly in answering legislative questions from the attendees (as most now on a variety of bills. You can tell he is paying attention and deftly handles … Read more
Yesterday, JR called in while Ann-Marie Banfield was talking about HB 542 concerning Parental Rights and Choice concerning objectionable material that runs counter to their values and morality. Not getting a chance to more fully explain his viewpoint, we conducted a Special Interview this afternoon: A few things stood out: What HB 542 embodes what … Read more
I do not profess to know the finer details of New Hampshire election law, though more perhaps than the husband of the former State Senator who sat on the election law committee, Elliot Lasky. Mr. Bette Lasky was caught stealing political signs, a clear violation of election law. (I guess Bette didn’t bring that work home with her.)
"Then and now," after historical political tsunami in the Free State: January 1, 2009: 14 Democrats vs. 10 Republicans January 1, 2011: 8 Democrats vs. 16 Republicans. NUMBER OF SEATS LOST BY DEMOCRATS IN NH STATE SENATE: 6.
Nothing says “out of state money” like EMILY’s List (EL) a single issue ideological PAC interested in only one thing—women who will support all abortion, all the time, on your dime. And could you have guessed that EMILY’s List loves New Hampshire democrats? Would you be more surprised at the qualifications these liberal women must … Read more