The Morning Roar: Anti-Spying Bill Signed in New Hampshire, Jury Nullification Billboard Debuts in AZ, and Judge Strikes Down Ban on Gun Carry Rights in D.C.
Your Monday Morning Roar!Anti-Spying Bill Becomes Law in New Hampshire A round of applause for New Hampshire Governor Maggie Hassan, who will be signing into law a bill that goes a long way towards undercutting the gathering of information from devices without a warrant. From Offnow:
House Bill 1533 (HB1533) was passed unanimously by both legislative houses and was ultimately sent to Gov. Hassan’s desk last month. It bans government entities from searching “information contained in a portable electronic device” without a warrant “signed by a judge and based on probable cause.”Any information “obtained in violation” of the new law is banned from use in any “criminal, civil, administrative, or other proceeding” in the state of New Hampshire.Introduced by Rep. Neal Kurk, HB1533 also sets up a direct legal conflict with federal surveillance programs. It reads, in part:“Government entity” means a federal, state, county, or local government agency, including but not limited to a law enforcement agency or any other investigative entity, agency, department, division, bureau, board, or commission, or an individual acting or purporting to act for, or on behalf of, a federal, state, county, or local government agency. “Government entity” shall not apply to a federal government agency to the extent that federal statute preempts state statute.
This will definitely encourage other states to take up the fight against rampant government snooping, and hopefully will lead to a culminating finale on a federal level where this practice is abolished completely.Jury Nullification Education Billboard Debuts in PhoenixWe've discussed jury nullification here before as one of the major powers that juries have to fight back against unfair mandatory sentencing, etc., but very few people know about it. Fortunately, a group is pushing to educate the masses and have debuted a new billboard in Phoenix that will be making an 8 week run. From the Liberty Crier:
Also referred to as conscientious acquittal or juror veto, jury nullification is a traditional, legal authority of jurors to judge the law as well as the facts in any case they hear. Jurors can vote Not Guilty when they conscientiously believe a just verdict requires it, even if they believe the law has technically been broken.“If you are selected for jury duty, the normal instinct is to find a way out of it. That is completely understandable, especially if you don’t understand the incredible opportunity you have as a juror to stop wrongful imprisonment and government tyranny,” said project facilitator James Babb.Funded through crowd-sourced donations contributed by activists around the country and sponsored by Freedom’s Phoenix, who hosted the fundraising effort at FreedomsPhoenix.com , the billboard builds on the initial success of Babb’s efforts last fall that placed billboards in the Judiciary Square metro station in Washington, D.C. On October 29, 2013, The Washington Post reported that D.C. prosecutors were so upset by the educational billboards that they were asking judges to ensure jurors were not influenced by the information they provided.
They are currently working on placing billboards in other major cities.
Federal Judge Strikes Down Washington, D.C. Ban on Gun Carry Outside of Home In a major decision, Federal Judge Frederick Scullin Jr. ruled that the ban in D.C. on residents' ability to carry guns outside of their homes was unconstitutional. From FOX News:
Judge Frederick Scullin Jr. wrote in his ruling in Palmer v. District of Columbia that the right to bear arms extends outside the home, therefore gun-control laws in the nation’s capital are “unconstitutional.”
The decision leaves no gray area in gun-carrying rights.Judge Scullin extensively referenced the Supreme Court decisions in District of Columbia v. Heller (2008) and McDonald v. Chicago (2010) to concluding “there is no longer any basis on which this court can conclude that the District of Columbia's total ban on the public carrying of ready-to-use handguns outside the home is constitutional under any level of scrutiny.”
This is the culmination of a 5 year trial, which is shocking, as one would think this would be a quick ruling for logic and basic 2nd Amendment rights. All's well that ends well I guess.Read The Morning Roar every weekday Monday-Friday!The Lions of Liberty are on Twitter, Facebook & Google+Receive access to ALL of our EXCLUSIVE bonus audio content – including “Conspiracy Corner”, “Degenerate Gamblers” and the “League of Liberty Podcast” by joining the Lions of Liberty Pride and supporting us on Patreon!
