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First Amendment

Welcome to beautiful Wisconsin—home of cheese, beer and, hopefully, tighter voting laws.

Three years after an initial probe into the 2004 voting problems in Milwaukee, the police have issued a report recommending the elimination of same-day voter registration and requiring photo ID of voters.

The governor of Wisconsin, Jim Doyle, isn’t a big fan of the recommendations:  “I’m not sure why the Milwaukee Police Department should be the one deciding what the voting policy is of the State of Wisconsin.”

The report attributes blame to poor record keeping and error-prone poll workers. Keep in mind this is the state where, back in January, a Milwaukee man was sentenced with a felony charge for voting while still on probation from a previous felony charge. Such mix-ups would happen less often if states like Milwaukee would just get their voting systems in shape. 

When you think of small-town America, do visions of the friendly mayor and policemen on the Andy Griffith Show typically spring to mind

Not so in Eastover, SC, where a suspended mayor and police chief are standing trial for conspiring to intimidate witnesses in a town council race where absentee ballots changed the results. Six people were running for two positions, and two days after the winners were announced, a review of challenged ballots knocked one of the winners out of the race, with a completely different candidate taking their place by a substantial margin. The court hearing should take about a week to decide. 

While Mayberry only exists in TV Land these days, it’s not too much to expect that our government officials be fair and disinterested when it comes to races for elected offices.   

Paul Jacob's co-defendant Rick Carpenter as well as AFP-OK director Stuart Jolly spoke at the event in Oklahoma City two weeks ago. Check it out here!

Last week, pop star Britney Spears was taken to a psychiatric ward (which may or may not be a surprise) in an ambulance amid cop cars, helicopters, and a crowd of some 60 photographers. The ensuing chaos has prompted the L.A. city council to impose restrictions on the paparazzi, legislating that they cannot overstep Spears’s “Personal Safety Bubble” of 20 yards. Some speculate that such “safety bubbles” may become a new status symbol for celebrities everywhere, like Martha Stewart’s GPS anklet.

This ruling, perhaps unconsciously, gives rise to another potential status symbol that celebrities may attain, and one that is more sinister to American interests:  being so famous that you can get the local government to impose laws that suit you personally. Since when does Britney Spears’ celebrity status have more say in local legislation than, say, the First Amendment?

Last time I checked, we have freedom of speech in this country, and don’t legislate where the press is allowed to go. If we start handing out safety bubbles from the press to celebrities, how long will it be before we start distributing them to individual citizens, businesses, elected officials, and government buildings?

For now, Britney’s where she needs to be. Now let’s get the local government where IT needs to be—in support of the Constitution.

A few dozen people joined Paul Jacob, Rick Carpenter, State Senator Randy Brogdon, State Rep. Mike Reynolds, Kim Wright, Charlie Meadows, Stuart Jolly on the OK City Courthouse steps to rally for the unhindered right to the citizen initiative process.

At yesterday's press conference in support of Paul Jacob and the "Oklahoma 3," our namesake sent a message in support of the citizen's initiative process.

If you're having difficulty reading it, this is the quotation on the facade of the Oklahoma City Courthouse, where Paul, Susan and Rick were indicted (again) yesterday...and where they, again, pled not-guilty:

"He who has the most zeal and ability to promote public felicity, let him be the servant of the public."

Are you listening, Drew?

I'll have video from yesterday's event online before the end of the day. Stay tuned... 

I'm in Oklahoma City, OK today to cover the SECOND arraignment of Paul Jacob and the Oklahoma 3.

It's a beautiful day outside, but it's going to be anything inside the courtroom, where the Oklahoma Attorney General's dream of crushing the citizen initiative process takes another step forward...unless we, the people can stop him.

Check out today's press release, including Paul's latest statement on this assault on our First Amendment rights:

"I have committed no crime," said Paul Jacob, president of Citizens in Charge. "What is my actual offense but that of daring to help Oklahoma voters hold an election to decide an issue?"

I'll have video and images from today's press conference online tomorrow, so check back soon, and be sure to visit two websites for the whole scoop of what's going on: FreePaulJacob.com and FreetheOK3.com. 

When Oro Valley, AZ resident Art Segal endorsed two candidates for City Council on his blog, he began to hear from city officials that he needed to register as PAC. Is this America?

If we define it as the "home of the red-tape," then I guess the answer is "yes."

According to the Arizona Daily Star, an unnamed citizen registered a complaint with the town clerk, which prompted the town attorney to give Segal, the operator of the Let Oro Valley Excel blog a ring:

Sidles [the interim town attorney] also asked the blogger if he would be willing to add links to the Web sites of the three incumbent candidates, as he had done for challengers Salette Latas and Bill Garner, Segal recalled.

Sidles, now the town prosecutor, said he only asked Segal if he planned on adding the Web links: "It was more of a curiosity question."

Yeah, curiosity.