News Archives – 2003

(NOTE: Some of these older links might not work)

(NOTE: Links with ??? are not functional.)

January 2, 2003

A Wyoming report by Greg Garber and Peter Saint-Andre has been added to the state reports; an essay about the FSP on USA Daily has been added to the articles section; the press release announcing the Christmas Eve meeting in Houston has been archived in the press releases section.

January 6, 2003

The FSP was written up in the latest issue of Chronicles magazine. We've obtained permission to reprint the article on the website: "Finding the Right State for States' Rights". We've also posted another article by the same author, Sean Scallon, on "The Non-Partisan League of North Dakota: Lessons for the Free State Project". Finally, an article by Director of Member Services Tim Condon called "Beginning the Migration" has been added.

January 7, 2003

The state comparisons spreadsheet has been updated ( Mac-friendly version here). Accordingly, a new state research essay, "A Re-Examination of the State Comparison Matrix", by Jason Sorens, has been posted.

January 8, 2003

Gary Snyder will be speaking about the Free State Project at the Manhattan Libertarian Party convention this Saturday the 11th. Jason Sorens will be delivering the keynote address at the Vermont Citizens for Property Rights meeting on February 1st and leading a discussion on the Free State Project at the California Libertarian Party convention on February 15th. For more information on all these events please see the events page. The local groups page has also been updated with new groups and new meetings.

January 13, 2003

Jason Sorens has been confirmed as a speaker at the Delaware Libertarian convention on March 8. See the events page for more details. "Establishing a Beachhead for Liberty" by Jason Sorens, "The Soft Underbelly of American Politics" by James G. Maynard, and "Rational Review Smackdown: Trinward versus Knapp on the Free State Project" have been added to the articles section. We have also added an Alliance for the Separation of School and State banner to the links section. All FSP supporters should sign their proclamation.

January 16, 2003

Check out the Cass County Libertarians' poll on the FSP. Gary Snyder has been confirmed as the FSP speaker at the New Jersey Libertarian convention on March 1st in Trenton; details on the events page.

January 18, 2003

The New Hampshire Libertarian Party has voted unanimously to "officially endorse the Free State Project" and to "commit resources to promote New Hampshire as the choice for the FSP." New Hampshire thus joins Maine as the two state Libertarian parties who have endorsed the FSP and seek to promote their state to the FSP membership in advance of the state vote. Jason Sorens will be the guest on an evote.com public chat at 8 PM Eastern on Tuesday January 21st.

January 21, 2003

We've just discovered that there was a problem with our Join script which has prevented anyone from signing up since January 15th (Wednesday)! You should have gotten an error message if you tried to sign up during that time. The bug is now fixed, so please sign up again if you tried to sign up during this period.

January 24, 2003

The transcript of Tuesday night's evote.com chat session with Jason Sorens has been posted.

January 28, 2003

A new article about the FSP in the San Francisco Bay Guardian has been added to the media articles section.

January 31, 2003

The State Data page and state comparisons spreadsheet ( Mac-friendly version) have been updated. An article about the FSP in the Reno News-Review has been added to the media section. Remember that the Action*of*the*Week is updated every Wednesday, so bookmark it!

February 4, 2003

The press release that was sent out to Vermont media in advance of Jason Sorens' appearance has been archived in the press releases section. Click here to read it. To read Jason's personal observations on the weekend, which was taped by NPR for "This American Life," a national weekly program, click here. There will be an announcement here when we find out when the program will run.

February 5, 2003

The media section has been updated with "Free State Project may target Delaware," a front-page story from the Wilmington News Journal.

February 6, 2003

The press release we sent out to freedom-friendly media for reaching the 2,500-member milestone has been posted here. The Mid-Atlantic FSP has set its next meeting for February 22 in Annapolis, Md.; the Dallas Area Porcupines have set their next meeting for February 22 in Dallas, Tx.; and the Montana/Idaho Porcupines in conjunction with the Montana Libertarian Party have scheduled a major conference for May 24 and May 25 in Missoula, Montana: Jason Sorens will be among those attending. For information on all these events see the local groups page.

February 8, 2003

The South Dakota report has been posted. There are now reports on all ten candidate states.

February 10, 2003

A somewhat biased, occasionally erroneous blurb about the Free State Project appears in this week's Newsweek. It has been archived in the media section.

February 13, 2003

The Libertarian Party of New Hampshire's "Welcome to the Granite State Committee" and the Northern New England Porcupines will be holding a summer "Escape to New Hampshire" vacation to promote the Free State Project in New Hampshire. The event will take place June 21-29; for details see the local groups section.

February 18, 2003

Jason Sorens' speech to Citizens for Property Rights, entitled "The Free State Project and Property Rights," has been published by Liberty for All.

February 23, 2003

New local groups have been formed for Southern Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. See the local groups page. New events have been announced: the FSP will have representatives at the Libertarian conventions in Maryland and Colorado, and a Libertarian meeting in Clark County, Nevada. For more information see the events page. Minutes of yesterday's Mid-Atlantic FSP meeting have been posted on their email list.

February 24, 2003

The Baltimore Sun ran a story about the Free State Project on Saturday, and yesterday it was picked up by several other newspapers around the country. You can read the original story and one of the spinoffs in the media section.

February 25, 2003

If you would like to look at the Free State Project's monthly income and expenditures for 2002, you may do so by downloading this spreadsheet.

March 5, 2003

The "freestateproject.org" email addresses, which were down for a short time, are working again. NPR's documentary on the Free State Project will be airing this Saturday! The documentary is a segment of "This American Life," a weekly program. The documentary features interviews with Jason Sorens and several other FSP members. Check your local NPR station for show times.

March 6, 2003

"This American Life" has emailed us to let us know that the promos going out on some NPR stations are incorrect. The feature on the Free State Project will probably be running on the 15th, not the 8th, but it is not absolutely certain. In other news, the Vermont Libertarian Party has announced their endorsement of the Free State Project. The Executive Committee of the party passed the following resolution unanimously: "The Vermont Libertarian Party endorses the goals of the Free State Project and urges the Free State Project to choose Vermont." The Libertarian Party organizations in all three New England states under consideration have now endorsed the FSP.

March 11, 2003

At the Delaware Libertarian convention on Saturday, the convention voted to endorse the Free State Project on a unanimous voice vote. So far the Libertarian Party organizations of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, and Delaware have endorsed the FSP and announced their plans to lobby Free State Project members to vote for their respective states. Although the Free State Project is in no way affiliated with the Libertarian Party, we continue to seek the endorsements of the state Libertarian organizations in our candidate states, because as member-driven, broadly pro-freedom groups organized in every state, the Libertarian state parties have both the interest and resources to promote the FSP and their own states. You can read the press release sent out before Jason Sorens' appearance in Delaware here; FSP Media Director Jan Helfeld also participated in the presentation. FSP Vice-President Elizabeth McKinstry will be talking about the FSP at a forum at Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington on April 4 and then again in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho on April 5. Gary Snyder will be addressing the Libertarian Party of New York convention on April 26, and Kevin Carroll will be addressing the Libertarian Party of Colorado convention on April 5. For more information on all these events, click here. Finally, we've heard reports that some NPR stations are already running the "This American Life" program with the FSP segment. If you miss it, the show will be archived on thislife.org.

March 13, 2003

"Paradise Lost: Time to Regain It!" has been added to the articles section.

March 15, 2003

Jason Sorens will be addressing the Libertarian Party of Tri-Cities in Johnson City, TN on Thursday evening, March 20th. He will also be participating in a forum on the Free State Project sponsored by the Libertarian Party of Buncombe County in Asheville, NC on next Thursday evening, March 27th. There will be an informational meeting about the FSP in Nashua, NH on March 19th. For more information on these events click here.

March 25, 2003

The April issue of The Quill, the FSP's new monthly newsletter, is now available online. New events have been scheduled: an informational meeting in Dover, NH on April 21st and a speaking appearance by Ken Harden at the Washington Libertarian Party convention on April 26th - Elizabeth McKinstry's April 5th appearance in Coeur d'Alene has also been confirmed as to location and time; please see the events page for all the details.

March 26, 2003

Four new state reports have been posted: "Mea Culpa: It's No Longer North Dakota!" by Tim Condon and "Best for Liberty? An Analysis of Three Leading States" by Robert Hawes, both which end up supporting Wyoming, a third, wide-ranging state climates report, by Keith Carlsen, and a massive report on state legislatures by Joe Swyers.

March 28, 2003

The press releases sent out for Elizabeth McKinstry's upcoming tour of Northern Idaho and Spokane have been added to the press releases section, and "Have You Joined the Free State Project Yet?" by George Reich, published in the Libertarian Party of New Hampshire newsletter, has been added to the articles section.

April 5, 2003

The agenda and venue for the Grand Western Conference have been finalized.

April 7, 2003

Steve Cobb's essay for The Multiracial Activist, "Still Just Three-Fifths of a Man", has been linked in the articles section. Americans facing the upcoming Tax Day will be reminded of how similar they have become to the slaves of centuries past.

April 14, 2003

Tim Condon's essay "Making History with the FSP" was published by The Sierra Times and has been added to the articles section. The Join page has been updated with a clarification of policy on those who opt out of all states but the one in which they already live.

April 16, 2003

Three media articles from the Spokesman-Review have been added to the media section. An upcoming meeting in Hockessin, Del. and an event in San Antonio, Tex. have been added to the events section. The state data page and state comparisons spreadsheet have been updated. Finally, a new and extremely in-depth Wyoming Report has been posted.

April 17, 2003

The "This American Life" documentary on the Free State Project should definitely be running this weekend. Check your local NPR station for times.

April 23, 2003

James L. Payne's essay, "Voluntarism in a Free State", has been added to the articles section, as has a link to an audio file of the recent NPR documentary.

April 25, 2003

A new report on Idaho has been added to the State Reports page. New media articles have been added to the media page.

April 28, 2003

The FSP has garnered a great deal of media attention in the last few days. A representative sampling of articles can be found in the media section. Dada Orwell's essay, "The Booster Plan: One Way to Make a Good First Impression in the Chosen State" has been added to the articles section.

April 30, 2003

The May issue of The Quill is now available. Member Services Director Tim Condon's arrest at the NRA national convention for simply handing out FSP flyers on the sidewalk has generated considerable attention, especially since Tim is an NRA member and was a registered member of the convention. The press release we sent to Florida media outlets is now available for all to read. The media section has been updated with more coverage. The FSP was profiled on the front page of stateline.org today; despite some minor factual errors, it is a fine article.

May 4, 2003

A video clip of Elizabeth McKinstry's appearance on MSNBC has been added to the media section. We expect to have a higher-quality version soon. "New Kid on the Block" by Eric Swegle has been added to the articles section.

May 5, 2003

You can check out a ??? Condorcet practice poll here. You can vote for your favorite free-market thinkers. The Free State Project was endorsed by the Alaska Libertarian Party at their convention; you can read the text of the endorsement here. An essay about using the state spreadsheets by Paul Bonneau has been added to the state reports page.

May 6, 2003

The full program for the Escape to New Hampshire Getaway Vacation has been posted here. Details about Debra Ricketts' upcoming appearance in Casper, Wyoming are now available on the events page.

May 13, 2003

Nine of the ten candidate states now have their own e-mail lists. See the Discussions page for details. A second Montana Report by Quincy OrHai has been added to the state reports section.

May 19, 2003

Tim Condon proposes five reforms for the Free State. The Libertarian Enterprise ran a teaser for this essay. In other news, the Wyoming Libertarian Party voted at their May 17th meeting to endorse the Free State Project.

May 20, 2003

A story about Tim Condon's arrest in the Orlando Weekly News, an op-ed in the Billings Gazette, and coverage in the Casper Star-Tribune have all been added to the media page.

May 22, 2003

Libertarian International has started a European version of the Free State Project. You can check it out at europeanfreestate.org.

May 29, 2003

The essay "50 Things All States Have in Common," Debra Ricketts' speech to the Clark County Libertarian Party, Debra Ricketts' speech to the Wyoming Libertarian Party, Jason Sorens' GWC speech, and Jason Sorens' report on the Grand Western Conference have been added to the articles section. An article on the conference in the Missoulian, Gary Marbut's report on the conference, Ben Irvin's report on the conference, and an article by J.J. Johnson have all been added to the media section.

June 3, 2003

Mary Lou Seymour's "Liberty Action of the Week" columns related to the FSP have been archived on our articles page. The FAQ and local groups pages have been updated.

June 4, 2003

The media archive has been updated with a Reuters story and a blurb from Playboy.

June 9, 2003

The June issue of The Quill is now available.

June 12, 2003

Coverage from the Orange County Register and the Minneapolis Star-Tribune has been added to the media section.

June 17, 2003

The state data page and state comparisons spreadsheet have been updated with some new figures. "101 Reasons to Vote N.H." and "An Analysis of Presidential Elections" have been added to the state reports section. The Escape to New Hampshire agenda has been updated.

June 20, 2003

Tentative dates for the state vote have been set. If membership growth continues as expected, the Free State Project will reach 5000 in early August. Thus, state ballots will be sent out to existing members on July 15, and August 15 is the tentative deadline to sign up in order to participate in the vote. The deadline to return your ballot will be September 8, and the ballots will be posted on the website by member number so that each voter can check to make sure his ballot was counted correctly. The result will be officially announced by September 15. Watch this space for a detailed description of the ballot and voting process. Coverage from the Rapid City Journal, doingfreedom.com, and the Idaho Observer has been added to the media page.

June 26, 2003

For all the latest coverage of the New Hampshire Escape, see the media page. Wyoming Report #4 has been added to the state reports.

July 1, 2003

"North to the Future: Alaska Report #2" and South Dakota Report #2 have been added to the state reports. More media coverage has been archived; more local meetings and outreach events have been announced. "Homeschooling in N.H." has been added to the articles section.

July 5, 2003

The 4000 member press release is available. New Hampshire Report #3 has been added to the State Reports page. Tom Condon's speech to the New Hampshire Conference and an article about anarchy in the Free State has been added to the articles page. The July 2003 issue of The Quill is now available, and we have some new endorsements.

July 7, 2003

This is it, folks! The Ballot Report is now available for viewing. Included in this is a sample ballot.

July 8, 2003

We absolutely need your help RIGHT NOW with one thing: funding. Also, read Debra Ricketts account of the recent theft of FSP funds.

July 16, 2003

A Press Release has been issued with details about the upcoming vote count. Also, more media articles have been added the media list.

July 18, 2003

Debra has informed us that Paypal has issued chargebacks for ALL the disputed charges! New membership stats are now available after a short hiatus. Also new items on the articles and state reports pages.

July 23, 2003

The ballots for the state vote will be going out Friday. If you've had an address change that you haven't submitted yet, please do it now. You can submit address changes by e-mailing Tim Condon at members@freestateproject.org. Other membership questions are answered in the member services section.

July 26, 2003

Elizabeth McKinstry, VP of the Free State Project, will be appearing on the sunday MSNBC show (titled MSNBC Live) at 12:30 pm ET, approximately. She will be interviewed by Virginia Cha, for about 5 minutes, via remote uplink from the Detroit area.

July 31, 2003

The ballots for the state vote were delayed in being sent out for a few days. We have now confirmed that they started going out on 30 July 2003. Keep an eye on those mailboxes!

August 5, 2003

In order to ensure that the first 5000 members all have a chance to receive their ballots, vote, certify, and return, the deadline for returning ballots has been moved up to September 22, 2003. The announcement date has also been moved accordingly to October 1, 2003.

August 8, 2003

A Press Release has been issued announcing that the Governor of New Hampshire has joined as a "Friend" of the Free State Project. New articles (including a video of Amanda Phillips' speech to the LPCT) have also been added.

August 9, 2003

New member stats have been posted. A new state report on Montana has been uploaded. The FSP has a new endorsement!

August 13, 2003

The Voting and Certification Process is now available for viewing. Also check out the latest media articles about the FSP.

August 14, 2003

New member stats have been posted. Also check out the blurb given about the FSP by Paul Harvey in the media section. Some members are reporting getting ballot packets in the mail.

August 21, 2003

More people have been receiving their ballots. Please be patient if you haven't gotten yours yet. It should be in your hands soon! Please note that all personal information (copy of drivers license, etc.) will be shredded ASAP after your ballot is received.

August 26, 2003

Another report comparing WY and NH has been put on the State Reports page.

September 2, 2003

Some nice new articles have been posted. We're also less than a month away from the Big Announcement. Details about venue and time of the press conference will be posted as soon as it's confirmed.

September 4, 2003

The September issue of The Quill is now available.

September 6, 2003

The State Reports page has been updated with a new report on New Hampshire. The Media Page has also been updated.

September 17, 2003

Read the latest Board of Director's meeting minutes

September 19, 2003

Check to see

September 21, 2003

The venue for the Press Conference announcing the results of the state vote will be at the 1050 Restaurant, Skyline Hotel, 10th Ave. at 50th Street, New York City. It will take place on 1 October 2003 and start at 11am. There are approximately 80 seats available, with additional standing room for about 50.

September 23, 2003

A media advisory has been issued concerning the upcoming vote results and state announcement on 1 October 2003.

October 8, 2003

Board of directors meeting minutes for 27 Sept and 4 October are now available. Lots of new media articles. The new Quill is available, with an in-depth analysis of the voting results.

October 13, 2003

Kelton Baker has been appointed Interim President of the FSP. Doug Hillman has been appointed interim Vice president. Applications for permament position to these two offices will continue to be taken. Please send them to Mary Lou Seymour.

October 15, 2003

2003 Liberty Expo, Nov. 1, 2003, Manchester NH, sponsored by LPNH – an exciting day of speakers, workshops, vendors, information, networking, with fantastic speakers: the Governor of New Hampshire, Craig Benson and long-time Libertarian activist Richard Boddie of CA. • The FSP brochure and flyer have been updated, to include NH. These (large) pdf files are on the help page in the section "Distribute information about the FSP".

October 27, 2003

Article in today's New York Times about the FSP. • Minutes of the October 11th and 25th board meetings are now available.

October 29, 2003

Constitution Class by Michael Badnarik (LP presidential hopeful) Sunday, November 2nd, in Manchester, NH.

Election recap: New Hampshire was announced October 1st as the Free State choice, read the press release here and a sampling of the news coverage here. See how New Hampshire won it! Download the individual voting results and Condorcet tables here (XLS format). EEMBC Certification Labs has issued their final vote certification report, and three reports on the voting results and patterns.

October 31, 2003

Membership stats have been updated.

November 3, 2003

The November issue of The Quill is now available. • Membership stats have been updated. • The New Hampshire info page is available. • Over 70 media articles have been archived in the last month or so. • Minutes of the October 29th board meeting now available.

November 10, 2003

The freestateproject.org redesign is up! Please report bugs and suggest improvements on the message board.

November 23, 2003

Beautiful FSP logo pins & magnets now available! Check them out on the FSP Merchandise page.

December 10, 2003

» New FSP Archives section contains old state reports, state data, vote results, etc.
» Left side-bar ("Liberty in our Lifetime") has been updated.
» New Hampshire Info page is a clearinghouse of information about the state of NH, for FSP members moving there.
» Many links that were broken during the website redesign are now fixed. (If you notice any others, please notify us).

December 13, 2003

» December Quill now available!
» Some kind words about the FSP, from The Objectivist Center. See more on our endorsements page.

December 15, 2003

» Happy Bill of Rights Day! December 15.   Summary • Detail
» Cute song The Ballad of the Porcupines in our Essays section.

December 16, 2003

» FSP ad makes a splash! See the ad and a related AP news story.

December 22, 2003

» Additional Goose Creek ad placements.
» New Walter Williams article mentions FSP.
» Several new essays.
» Combo special on beautiful FSP magnets/pins.
» Member count updated.
» Web site tweaks: new "Archives" menu; "Community" menu now has "NH Info"; search engine (in right sidebar); clicking on member count (upper left side bar) goes to Membership Info page; bottom bar now has FSP email/phone and TOP icon; miniature porcupine may appear in your browser URL box and/or bookmark.

December 24, 2003

» The Twelve Liberty-minded Days of Christmas by Phil Denisch

December 26, 2003

» Videos from the state-announcement Press Conference (held 10/01/03 in New York) are now available online. Several interesting interviews are included among the 10 files. Thanks to Steve Cobb and friends for putting this together.

December 29, 2003

» Fantastic Trip Report: NH by Varrin Swearingen in the Essays section.
» Several new media articles including a couple by our friend Walter Williams and a nice Fresno Bee article featuring FSP President Kelton Baker and Varrin Swearingen (author of above trip report).