You may want to discuss what would be involved with a "title 42" action
(violation of civil rights). I don't know what your odds would be, but
Dave could answer that for you, along with your odds.
Bernie
It was January of 1994 when Janet Reno came to town and 70+ activist were holding signs that criticized Waco and Ruby Ridge and the Jackbooted thugs and such (most right wing guys). But, by themselves were a few Libertarians with a large banner (2' x 7') that said, "Legalize Freedom Register Libertarian". When told we all had to leave, everyone of those 70+ did. But not the Libertarians. Reno kept circling the Auditorium until we would be gone due to our being in line with her assigned parking spot and the TV Cameras. Long story short, I was arrested. But would not give in by signing anything and insisted on an arrainment. So 30 min. later I was released and went right back where they tried to stop me again with all their mirrored sunglassed secret service guys and cops and shit. We then filed civil right s violation suit and Brown & Bain went the full distance with John Buttrick as the attorney. Two weeks later Ferd Haverly, publisher of "The Current" newspaper was arrested for passing out fliers at the "open" meeting and vote of the Stadium District Board of Supervisors when they voted in the tax for the BankOne Stadium.
In the end the court said that even though it was a public event where Reno came to speak, my 1st Amendment rights would have been protected in the auditorium but didn't extend to the "public" parking lot. But Ferd's rights didn't allow him to pass out copies of his newspaper (that hammered the proposed tax) INSIDE the auditorium and that if he was outside it would have been OK.
It all depends on where the TV Cameras are man.
Starting to get the picture?
Gather your ammo and be prepared to dump it on them when you decide the time is right. Yes, you do need to challenge every abuse and to say no to tyranny as often as possible. But, do not expect a judge to rule in your favor no matter how clear cut you think the issue. If you weren't ready to win the PR battle from the begining then a judge's ruling would not do you any good anyway. Knowing this, you will not put every spare moment into the court case and spend all of your time and money trying to get more time and money. I argued my election laws case of 40+ election laws to the 9th circuit court of appeals for about $500 and 60 hours of work on my part. An Arizona State Supreme Court Special Action for less than a $100 and forced the politicians to realize that paying back $145 Million from check kiting was in their best interest. 2 law suits against the Stadium District Tax (Jerry Colangelo) equaled about $300 and a total of about 70 hours worth of work (and most of that was with the press and meetings with other groups).
I have learned that the least amount of effort and expense is the best policy when taking on the government. They have unlimited resources and little imagination. So rely on your imagination far more than trying to spend alot of resources. 80% of the press that you'll ever receive on a lawsuit or initiative or campaign will be when you first file it. So make the filing the press release and hit 'em hard.
The press covers anything that has A GOVERNMENT NUMBER. Initiatives have Government Numbers, Campaigns have Government Numbers, Lawsuits have Government Numbers, Referendums have Government Numbers.
Focus your attention where you get the most effect with the least amount of effort.
Here's the challenge! You pick the issue you want forwarded (that is freedom oriented, logical and rational and I guarantee press ink with less than an hours worth of work if a government # can be assigned to it in one of the forms described above.
Remember Ricky Duncan's "Declaration of Intent to Carry a Concealed Weapon"? That declaration was done by filing it with the County Recorder as a Notice and getting a......................that's right. A GOVERNMENT NUMBER. A government number where no other government number existed.
I'm the first to say that, "I don't need no stinking number". But the media does. It insulates them from the rath of Big Brother. It is a stamp of approveal to print, announce and televise.
UNDERSTAND HOW THE SYSTEM WORKS. Do not let it drain you of all of your energy!!!!! That is what they want!
They love for you to file lawsuits and spend all of your effort trying to get their paid employee to rule in your favor, they love for you to use the political process as a method TO WIN ELECTIONS when they control them. Stop wasting your fucking time and start having an effect. There is enough energy in every one of you as individuals to drive them insane with bad press. Stop waiting for a declaration by a committee to coordinate something. JUST DO IT!
Do What? How the hell should i know what you have time for or would enjoy. I'll tell you this, I do not start anything that I am not willing to finish and I I make sure up front that I know how much effort it will take (as little as possible I assure you. When SAFE started to make regular press and started to appear in books and stuff ( I get letters all the time from people that have read "101 Things to do Before the Revolution" & Send in The Waco Killers" wanting to "join" SAFE. And this is what I tell everyone of them. "SAFE is a clearly stated philosophy of NO-Fucking-Compromise of the Second Amendment, now go forth and be SAFE. But if you claim to be a SAFE Contact and use our name and logos in a compromising way....... well, that would be very bad"! And that is all SAFE is. When we need the name and or logo to add a face to something that the press or politicians need to pay attention then I or others use it. If we need have a direct link to the Libertarian position on Gun Issues then we use LSAC ( Libertarian Second Amendment Caucus - headed by L. Neil Smith). But very very little effort is wasted on the organization itself, we put that effort into the ISSUE. This is another Government Number trap they have set for us. Do all of this crap so you can have a number..... and here's the little carrot to go along with it. Then they threaten to take away you number if you don't play nice by their rules. Well sometimes you need to put yourself in that position to expose the trap to others. But mostly your just traped.
The government loves numbers. They fear greatly unnumbered individuals at any event. Don't believe me? Just go to any protest at any government location and wait about 10 min. An assertive uniform will ask, "who's in charge here" followed by "where's your permit". When he learns that no one is in charge and individuals don't need permits he 90% of the time just evaporates to the shadows. The other 10% of the time is what you need your camcorders for.
Movements are done by individuals NOT organizations. History books will always show some "organization" that jumped in front of parade that was already started by individuals, but it was the individuals that started the movement.
Now go fucking be an individual!
Sorry,
It just felt so good to say this.
I do understand ,
Ernest Hancock - Indifuckingvidual