Andy,
Thank you for once again alerting members of the Libertarian National Committee to problems or issues related to the party's petition drives which deserve our attention. I am very sorry that you had to spend time in jail, not to mention undergoing significant expense and inconvenience as a result of being persecuted for exercising your legal rights as a petitioner on behalf of the Libertarian Party and the cause of freedom for which we stand. Indeed it makes me angry to hear how you were treated, and I would like to see justice done.
The full LNC did not hold a conference call on January 28, 2017, however there was an LNC Executive Committee conference call. According to the draft minutes of that meeting (attached), you were a participant on the call. Unfortunately the minutes are rather sparse and do not include any information about what you said or any response that may have been given to your remarks (an example of why I believe minutes should be detailed and not record only motions and such!). Do you recall who said they would take action to have the party send out letters to the Arkansas authorities reminding them of our free speech rights and their legal obligations? You sound certain that such letters were not sent, but I am wondering how you know that.
Assuming you are correct that no action was taken despite the assurances you say you were given, what action do you recommend we take at this time? Do you feel it would be useful for such a letter to be sent to Arkansas Revenue (an apt name for a DMV, if you ask me!) now, or do you think it is too late for that to do any good and that only legal action or the threat of it will produce results at this point? Given that we are in a better than usual situation this year with respect to ballot access, it seems to me that perhaps we ought to be better able than usual to spare the legal resources to take action on issues like those you raise here.
At our meeting in Pittsburgh last weekend, we spoke by phone with LNC counsel Oliver Hall, and as I recall it was decided that he would be added to to this list, but I do not know whether or not that has occurred. Oliver, if you are reading this, perhaps you can respond and weigh in?
Unless Oliver or anyone else has compelling arguments to the contrary, I would request our chair Nick Sarwark ask counsel to send a letter to Arkansas Revenue along the lines suggested by Andy Jacobs, and also to direct counsel to talk with Andy and report back to the LNC on whether, in counsel's opinion, there are sufficient legal grounds for proceeding with a lawsuit or suits against the Arkansas authorities who arrested and prosecuted him along with fellow LP petition circulator Roger Pope in apparent violation of their constitutional rights and against the interests of the Libertarian Party in getting our candidates on the ballot.
Love & Liberty,
((( starchild )))
At-Large Representative, Libertarian National Committee
(415) 625-FREE
@StarchildSF
On Apr 21, 2017, at 2:04 AM, petition guy wrote:
> Back during the January 28th, 2017 LNC conference call. when the subjects of upcoming ballot access drives in Ohio and Arkansas were being discussed, I let everyone on the call know that I heard from multiple sources in the petition industry that there had been a crackdown on free speech in Arkansas. This was in part a response to an onslaught of petitions that happened in Arkansas over the last few years. Last year, there were two medical marijuana initiatives, and a casino gambling initiative (note that there were was also a medical marijuana initiative and a casino gambling initiative that ran in Arkansas in 2012), among other petitions.
>
> There were various special interest groups that opposed these ballot initiatives, and there were attempts made to keep these initiatives off the ballot by kicking petition circulators out of locations.
>
> Petition circulators being harassed, threatened, and run out of locations that carry foot traffic by the police, security guards, and venue managers is something that happens frequently during the course of all petition drives, but my sources told me that things got particularly nasty in Arkansas last year.
>
> One of my sources on this is a name of which some people reading this will be familiar. That is long time Libertarian Party member and petition circulator, Roger Pope. Roger was in Arkansas last year gathering signatures for the medical marijuana and casino initiatives, and he was arrested and given a trespass citation by the police for petitioning in front of a DMV (Note than in Arkansas, the DMV (Department of Motor Vehicles), is called Arkansas Revenue. I use the term DMV, because that is what it seems to be known as in most states, but I know that it goes by different names in some states.). He was apparently put in handcuffs, and taken to a police station, but they did not lock him in a jail cell. They just issued him a trespass citation and then they released him. Roger was given a court appearance for a month or two after the petition drive had ended, but he was told by an attorney who was working for one of the ballot initiatives that he (the attorney) was going to take care of it, and that Roger did not have to return to Arkansas. Well, unfortunately for Roger, the attorney did not take care of it (like he said he would, but he led Roger to believe that it had been taken care of), and a warrant was issued for Roger's arrest for not making the court appearance. I am not sure what the latest status of this case is, but the last time I spoke to Roger, which was several weeks ago, the case had yet to be settled.
>
>
> Now as some reading this may recall, I had my own nasty run in with the government goons with shiny badges in Arkansas back in 2015 at Arkansas State University in Jonesboro during the LP petition drive. Note that I had gathering petition signatures at Arkansas State University in Jonesboro during the LP drive in 2011, and there were no problems. I was there for three days and nobody no campus official ever said a word to me. I went back there during the LP drive in 2013, and some campus bureaucrat called the police on me, and I was told by the police that I had to stand in a "free speech zone" where I was cut off from talking to a lot of people, which reduced the number of signatures I could get per hour significantly. I contacted the ACLU of Arkansas, and fortunately, I got a response (NOTE THAT IT IS GENERALLY DIFFICULT TO GET ANY HELP FROM THE ACLU, BECAUSE THEY ARE USUALLY BACKLOGGED WITH CASES, SO DON'T THINK THAT WE CAN RELY ON THE ACLU TO FIGHT OUR BATTLES FOR US.). Not too long before this, Paul and I had also been hassled at Pulaski Technical College in North Little Rock, and the University of Central Arkansas in Conway, and the ACLU contacted both of those institutions, and both quickly backed down and we were able to gather signatures after that. I had hoped that the same thing would happen after the ACLU contacted Arkansas State University in Jonesboro, but unfortunately, after going back and forth with an ACLU attorney, the officials at ASU Jonesboro continued to insist that I could only gather signatures in the "free speech zone" where I was cut off from talking to lots of people. So I ended up leaving Jonesboro (I never found any other good places to gather signatures there without getting chased off by security guards or managers or police) because it was not worth my time to stand in their "free speech zone" and get less signatures per hour than I could get otherwise.
>
>
> I decided to go back to ASU Jonesboro in 2015. I thought that the situation may have been resolved, in part because I knew that "free speech zones" on college campuses had been ruled unconstitutional in several court rulings from around the nation in between 2013 and 2015. If ASU Jonesboro still had not gotten this message, I figured that the worst thing that would happen would be that I'd be told to stand in the "free speech zone" again. So I went there, started gathering signatures, and things were going well for around an hour and half, but then I was accosted by the campus police. This time (these were different cops than I had encountered there in 2013) they did not tell me to go to the "free speech zone", they told me that I could not gather signatures anywhere on the campus, and that I had to leave. I tried to explain the law to them, and I tried to show them legal papers, and I tried to get them to look up the law, and they refused to look at any relevant court rulings or statutes or the US or Arkansas Constitution. They wrote me out a trespass citation, and after they gave it to me I said, "OK, I will leave, but I believe that this is an illegal trespass citation, and I intend to show it to an attorney, and if an attorney concurs that this is an illegal trespass citation, I may return to the campus at a future date to gather petition signatures." After I said this, they ended up grabbing me, without warning, and they ripped my cell phone out of my hands, they bent my arms and wrists back in a position to break them, and then they put handcuffs on me (which were on too tight), put me in the back of a police car (the campus cops all drive Dodge Chargers as police cars), and then drove me to a local jail which was several miles away from the university.
>
>
> Long story short, I ended up spending about two days in jail (I would have sat in jail longer if I had not had enough money to bail myself out). I got charged with trespassing, disorderly conduct, resisting arrest, and making terrorist threats, all of which were lies. They actually ended up dropping the trespassing charge (which was the pretext for them accosting me in the first place) before I got out of jail. The jail was pretty uncomfortable. They blasted a television 24 hours a day, and they would not allow anyone to change the station or turn the volume down. They also kept the lights on full brightness 24 hours a day. They kept the temperature cold, and they gave you a tiny blanket and no pillow. The mattress on the bed was hard as a rock. If you tried to ball up the blanket into a pillow you'd get cold, plus the bright room lights would shine directly in your eyes. So it was difficult to get much sleep. The food was terrible. Fortunately, I did not have any problems with other inmates. I did not talk to everyone who locked up there, and I imagine that some of them were bad people, but out of the ones to whom I spoke, not one of them was in for something that would be a crime in a libertarian society. The inmates I spoke to were all in for things like drug possession (mostly marijuana), or some kind of victimless vehicle infraction (like driving with an expired license, and things of that nature; one guy was in for refusing to pay a ticket that he thought was unjust), or for missing a court date over a victimless drug or vehicle offense (one guy got arrested because he went to his father's funeral and missed a court appearance over a drug possession charge; he went to court to explain why he missed the court appearance, and he showed them his father's obituary, and instead of just rescheduling the court appearance, they locked him up).
>
>
> I was hit with court appearances that happened after the 2015 LP of Arkansas petition drive ended, so I remained in Arkansas after the drive was over. I was free to leave the state, but the problem was I did not have anywhere to go that was close enough to not be inconvenient to return to Arkansas, plus I did not know how many court appearances there would be, as they kept jerking me around. What happened was I'd go to court, sit there for a little while, and then get handed a sheet of paper that said to come back on some other date. I never even got a chance to speak. I ended up sitting there and getting strung along for about two months. There were times that I could have left and come back, but I did not want to drive a long distance, only to have to turn around and either drive back, or shell out more money for a plane, train, or bus ticket to return to Arkansas, and given that Jonesboro is off of the main transportation routes, I would have had to have taken a plane, train, or bus to either Memphis or Little Rock, and then gotten a rental car to drive to Jonesboro, therefore costing me even more money. I had also been led to believe during this time period that the LP was about to start a petition drive in Oklahoma. Arkansas borders Oklahoma, but Jonesboro is on the other side of Arkansas from Oklahoma, but still, I was closer to Oklahoma than I was to other places I was considering going during that time period, so going to Oklahoma would have worked out due to its proximity to Arkansas, but unfortunately, the Oklahoma petition drive got delayed until late August. I found out about a decent paying petition drive ($3 per signature on a statewide) in another state, so I finally left Arkansas shortly after the 4th of July. I burned up over $2,300 on motel rooms during this ordeal of getting jerked around with court appearances where I never got to speak.
>
>
> I went to Oklahoma for the LP in the latter half of August in 2015, but in September, I had to drive 400 miles from Oklahoma City back to Jonesboro, for another court appearance. I had been told over the phone that this time I'd get to speak, but after I drove 400 miles to get there, shelled out more money for a motel room, and then went to court the next morning, I once again sat there for a little while, only to get handed a piece of paper that said to come back in January! Then I drove 400 miles back to Oklahoma City. So I drove an 800 mile round trip for nothing.
>
>
> The January court appearance got postponed until March. The March court appearance got postponed until June. The June court appearance got postponed until September 1st. The September 1st court appearance got postponed until September 15th, but before that happened, they dropped the disorderly conduct and resisting arrest charges, and then they postponed the next court appearance until November. Then in October, they dropped the making terrorist threats charge, therefore eliminating the November court appearance. All of the charges were fabricated. They knew that they had nothing on me (I save copies of the petition sheets that I had gotten that day at ASU Jonesboro just in case I'd need to use anyone who signed as a witness), and I think that they kept jerking me around because they hoped that I'd miss a court date, and then they kept postponing court dates because they did not want to admit that I had been falsely arrested.
>
>
> This SHOULD BE a big lawsuit, but I can't get anyone to step forward to help (one would think that the LP could even sign on as a co-plaintiff since ASU and the police were attempting to keep the LP off the ballot), I am determined to sue, and if I have to end up doing it myself, even if it means going pro se (as in representing myself), then I may end up doing that.
>
>
> Getting back to the present situation with Arkansas Revenue (what the DMV is called in Arkansas), on Thursday, April 20th, I was at an Arkansas Revenue location which I have gathered signatures at several times in the past (I have petitioned in Arkansas on 6 occasions, and I have worked this Arkansas Revenue location many times in the past with no problems). This particular location is in Little Rock, and it is in an area where there are a lot of government offices. I am pretty sure that this location is a 100% government owned and operated facility, as in it is not part of a shopping center, and I doubt that it is being leased, but even if it were in a shopping center, or if it was being leased, this is not relevant, because courts have already ruled that people can gather petition signatures and engage in other 1st amendment activities on the side walks leading up to the entrances of DMV's. See the Groene vs Seng case out of Nebraska, which was settled in the federal circuit court of appeals for one example (Nebraska is in the same federal district court as Arkansas).
>
>
> I was standing there for about 20 minutes, and was doing pretty good, gathering 12 signatures during this time period, and I had several positive responses from the public. I was then accosted by a police officer and a man in a suit. The man in the suit said that he worked for Arkansas Revenue, and that I had to leave. I informed them that I had gathered petition signatures at this location on many occasions in the past, including in 2015. They said that Arkansas Revenue no longer allows any solicitors. I told them that I was not soliciting, that I was gathering signatures on a state mandated ballot access petition that is necessary to place candidates on the ballot for the 2018 election. They said that they do not care, and that I had to leave, and that they were going to call back up and have me arrested. I brought up the Groene v Seng case, as well as section of Title 18 of United States Code, and the 1st amendment to the US Constitution, and they did not care. I then told them that I would leave, but before I go, I'd like to get a card so we know who it is who told me to leave. The man in the suit gave me his card, and in case where a person's name is appropriate for their personality, his name was Walter Anger (and yes, he was an angry jerk of a human being).
>
> Mr. Anger cited a case that happened in Arkansas last year where some petitioner got kicked out of an Arkansas Revenue office, I believe it was somewhere around Fayetteville (he did not say which one, but my own research leads me to believe that it was not the same place where I was, and where Roger Pope got arrested, and I think it happened at some location in the Fayetteville area).
>
> I know that there have been multiple law suits against DMV's (or whatever name they go by in various states), and that our side has prevailed in these lawsuits, and that these are usually places where petitioners can gather signatures. I have gathered petition signatures at DMV's in Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Alabama, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Arkansas (previously), Nebraska, Wyoming, Arizona, Nevada, and California.
>
> If these government officials get away with taking away our access to Arkansas Revenue offices, it is going to make this, and future petition drives in Arkansas more difficult, plus it could embolden government officials at other locations in Arkansas to do the same thing, and it could also embolden government officials in other states (like Tennessee, which borders Arkansas, and where there are Libertarians who want ballot access), to do the same thing. So I believe that action needs to be taken over this.
>
> I WARNED the LNC about this BACK IN JANUARY. It was said during the conference call that the LNC attorney was going to be contacted, and that letters were going to be sent to government agencies in Arkansas (and I SPECIFICALLY MENTIONED ARKANSAS REVENUE DURING THAT CONFERENCE CALL) to remind let them know that the LP was going to be conducting a ballot access petition drive, and to remind them of what the Constitution says about free speech. Now where were are in April, the petition drive in progress, and there is a problem with the Arkansas Revenue office BANNING petitioning, just as I had warned, and NOBODY TOOK ANY ACTION.
>
> We can't let these government thugs get away with this. If they can ban petitioning at the DMV, they can ban it at the library or the college campus or anywhere else, and believe me, there are people out there who'd prefer to shut down all petitions (and free speech in general), and would like to see alternative parties like the Libertarian Party just disappear, and have the country turn into a dictatorship.
>
>
> Here is the contact information I have for Mr. Anger:
>
> State of Arkansas Department of Revenue and Finance
>
> Deputy Director, Commissioner of Revenue
>
> 1900 West 7th St., Room 2440
> P.O, Box 1272
> Little Rock, AR 72203
>
> Office: 501-682-7000
> Mobile: 501-590-7135
> Fax: 501-682-1683
>
> walter.anger(a)dfa.arkansas.gov
>
>
> Note that Mr. Anger and the police officer with him (I did not catch her name), were quite rude as the interrupted me from peacefully gathering ballot access petition signatures in a location where I had gathered signatures many times in past years, without a problem. They did not care that we need those signature to be on the ballot, nor did they care that we have a deadline to make, nor did they care that they were depriving the people of Arkansas of a choice on the ballot, nor did they care what the Constitution says, and they threatened to have me arrested for engaging in a constitutionally protected activity and trying to fulfill the state's ballot access requirements. I would like to see Mr. Anger and his police accomplice prosecuted for Deprivation of Rights Under Color of Law, and interfering with the election process, and they and the agency they represent ought to be sued for monetary damages. If I were ever elected to the office of Sheriff, I would just love to arrest government officials that trample on people's rights, such as these individuals.
>
>
> In liberty,
> Andrew Jacobs
> 702-785-4738
> Libertarian Party member since 1996
> Libertarian Party ballot access petitioner since 2000
>
>
