Property Rights

Interest Groups

Interest Groups

While the FSP is looking for activists who support liberty for all, we can find libertarians in many different communities of ignterest, each with its own priorities and reasons for valuing freedom. It makes sense for some members of these communities to interface with their own, since they are more likely to empathize and speak the same language, figuratively speaking. This has been going on informally since the FSP's inception, but we are formalizing it a little.

Below is a list of interest groups and people assigned as liaisons. The list is not exhaustive, and the people are not exclusive. We ask that the liaisons make efforts to reach out to their communities, and we ask that anyone else doing so keep the liaisons informed, so as to coordinate activities.

Feel free to suggest additional interest groups, especially if you are willing to volunteer as a liaison yourself, if you believe that connecting with them will help further the FSP mission. Please send any feedback to the Coordinator: Wade Bartlett.

Also, you can visit the Interest Group Liaisons discussion board in the FSP Forum.

Free Staters Talk Drugs, Activism, Immigration and Real Money

For Immediate Release

January 4, 2008

PORCUPINES TALK DRUGS, ACTIVISM, IMMIGRATION AND REAL MONEY

Nashua, NH - The first day of presentations for the 2008 Liberty Forum covered the broad themes of the War on Drugs, citizen activism, school choice, immigration and real money. "All these topics are important for moving liberty forward, which is the overall theme of the forum", said Forum organizer Chris Lawless.

Over the afternoon, attendees had the choice of presentations, covering drugs, activism and immigration. The session on the War on Drugs was led by Peter Christ, former undercover narcotics officer, who highlighted the origins in the government policy and what it has done to policing in America. In short, it has made everything worse.

Those interested in citizen activism at the federal level could hear Bob Schulz of We The People, which currently has a writ in front of the U.S. Supreme Court being heard today to hear a case to validate the right to petition for redress of grievances against the government; the Court will issue its decision on Monday morning. The writ was filed after all prior petitions concerning the income tax, the Iraq war, the Patriot Act and the Federal Reserve were ignored by the federal government.

For more local activism, Don Gorman, former state legislator and political director of the NH Liberty Alliance, gave a stirring appeal for people to move here and how they can become effective activists right away. Carla Howell of the Center for Small Government, discussed the ballot initiative in Massachusetts to eliminate the state income tax and what effect that could have on the rest of the country.

The panel on Education Choice covered homeschooling, private schools and public school choice. Gardner Goldsmith discussed the history of immigration laws and the repeated arguments of the 1800's being used today against foreign workers. He outlined his federalist position to let the states handle immigration rather than the federal government, since it has no constitutional authority to do so.

Rounding out the day was a session on the NH real estate and job market, which is a primary interest to the many would-be movers. Artist Peter Bagge of Reason Magazine related many funny stories of his journalistic endeavors.

A full exhibitors' hall featured many local citizens groups, a job placement agency, political parties, presidential campaigns and even silver merchants.

The keynote dinner featured Bernard von NotHaus, founder of the Liberty Dollar. He spoke about sound money, and how "we cannot gave good government without good money". He pointed out that the last time the global economy collapsed was the fall of Rome, which resulted in 1000 years of no liberty and no money, and how we are headed for a similar disaster if we do not take control of our money. "We are Americans. It is our duty to fix it" he said, stirring the crowd to applause.

NotHaus also announced that the Liberty Dollar is still in business with a new 2008 minting featuring an MSRP and a private barter currency marker. He said a $1 silver liberty from 1999 recently sold for $700 on eBay, showing the huge demand for an appreciating currency in contrast to the depreciating federal reserve note.

The Liberty Forum continues until Sunday at the Crowne Plaza in Nashua. Full details are at http://www.freestateproject.org/libertyforum

Eminent Domain Protester

Eminent Domain Protester 'believes Absolutely In What She's Doing'

Woman declines legal help after her arrest for refusing to leave NL City Hall

By RICK KOSTER · Features · Published on 9/21/2005 [in The Day, New London, CT]

New London— There haven't been too many would-be tenants clamoring for apartments in the Fort Trumbull neighborhood.

Lauren Ann Canario, however, is an exception.

A few weeks back, Canario, a resident of Las Vegas and member of a New Hampshire-based group committed to reducing the role of the government in society, contacted Bill Von Winkle, owner of a three-story building on Smith Street in Fort Trumbull.

"She asked if I owned a building there and, if so, did I have an apartment for rent," Von Winkle said. "I told her I did, and she said, 'I'll take it.' And she did. I was insistent that she be interested in nonviolent solutions."

Von Winkle was one of the plaintiffs in the Kelo v. New London case that went to the U.S. Supreme Court in an effort to stop the taking of private property for redevelopment in the Fort Trumbull neighborhood. Although the court ruled in favor of the city in June, some of the property owners, including Von Winkle, remain adamant about not relinquishing their land, buildings and houses.

Von Winkle said others from across the country have called and expressed willingness to occupy his property in defiance of eminent domain.

"Some wanted to come to town and bring high-powered sniper rifles," he said. "Obviously, I did not respond to them. But Lauren seemed to be level-headed. She's absolutely a smart and nice person."

Canario, a member of the nonprofit Free State Project, wants to build a community bulletin board in the Fort Trumbull neighborhood where people can post concerns, Von Winkle said.

"A lot of people stop by on a daily basis to express support and see what's going on," he said. "This would be her way of allowing that to happen where everyone could see it."

Canario, 48, was charged Monday night with first-degree trespass, refusal to be fingerprinted and interfering with police after refusing to leave a City Hall stairwell after a city council meeting had been canceled. The council had been scheduled to vote on a resolution declaring no confidence in the New London Development Corp., which has been the city's agent in the eminent domain project.

Canario's bail was originally set at $5,000.

Von Winkle hired New London attorney Renee Houle to represent Canario, but he said Tuesday afternoon that Houle had withdrawn representation.

"(Canario) refused to be fingerprinted and then refused to speak to the judge," Von Winkle said, "so he raised bail to $10,000. She doesn't want any help."

Houle could not be reached for comment.

Canario's husband, Jim Johnson, who lives in Las Vegas and is also a member of the Free State Project, plans to join his wife in New London. He said by phone Tuesday that he and his wife expect to eventually move to New Hampshire. He also said that he has been unable to contact his wife after her arrest and that he read about the incident in an online story in The Day.

"I called the duty sergeant (Monday) night," Johnson said, "and they wouldn't let me talk to her. But she believes absolutely in what she's doing."

According to Johnson and Von Winkle, one of the main tenets of the Free State Project is to fight eminent domain. As described in the group's Web site (www.freestateproject.org), they are attempting to draw "20,000 libertarians" to move to New Hampshire and "exert the fullest practical effort toward the creation of a society in which the maximum role of civil government is the protection of life, liberty, and property."

The city council's plan to consider a vote of no-confidence in the NLDC had been brought on by the NLDC sending eviction notices last week to several Fort Trumbull property owners without informing state officials or the council of that plan.

Monday's council meeting was canceled after an overflow crowd was remanded to a stairwell and attempts to hold the meeting fell into chaos. In July, the fire department found a City Hall fire escape in disrepair and then set the crowd capacity for council chambers at 49 people until repairs were made.

Von Winkle said that Canario represents 6,700 people who will come to New London to prevent through nonviolence the seizure of Fort Trumbull property by the city.

"The (process servers) will have to get through all those people to get to me. It will be nonviolent, but Canario is very serious about this issue. I don't know, she'll burn the papers," Von Winkle said. "She represents the strong feelings of a lot of people who will be here to stop the government from seizing property. This woman is not afraid of the government."

Johnson, her husband, said, "Lauren knows the law. She took the civil fight as far as she could (Monday), and she was arrested. Our idea is to go to town meetings and speak, and you hope to persuade others. Which is why she was at the meeting and what she was prevented from doing."

When asked about Von Winkle's assessment that 6,700 people will be in New London if the government attempts to take the Fort Trumbull property, Johnson said, "I don't know the exact number, but I would think there are a lot of groups like ours that will be there."

About Canario's resistance to the arrest process, Von Winkle said, "Yeah, I'm still trying to digest why she's staying in jail. She's got to come out at some point. But I definitely thought she was capable of this sort of commitment. She told me that she will absolutely be one of the people who refuses to leave the property when they try to take it. She was adamant about that."

These media articles are maintained on a non-commercial basis by The Free State Project, a non-profit organization, for historical, educational, scholarship, and research purposes. (For information regarding "Fair Use", see US Code Title 17, Chapter 1, Section 107).