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Old Dominion Liberty Letter Issue #3
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This issue distributed on Wednesday, January 28 2009.
CONTENTS
1. SLAPP'ing Citizens
2. January 24 SCC Meeting Report
3. Next SCC Meeting April 2009
4. Video of the Week: Andre Marrou on Larry King Live 1992
5. Featured Web Page: The LPVA Calendar
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1. SLAPP'ing Citizens
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In July 2008, four of seven Gloucester County Board of Supervisors members
(Teresa Altemus (R - York District), Michelle Ressler (Ind. - At Large), Robert
Bobby Crewe (R - Gloucester Point district), and Gregory Woodard (Ind. - Ware
district) as well as the county sheriff Steve Gentry (Ind.) were indicted by
a grand jury finding the supervisors had violated state open-meetings law,
unlawfully removed computers from two top county officials, and illegally
pressured the county planning director to rule in favor of a politically
connected developer. In total, the supervisors were indicted on 12 misdemeanor
counts.
After the indictments, 40 county citizens began a petition drive to remove them
all from office, eventually turning in over 6,000 signatures of county
residents who agreed with them. It's indicative of the state of affairs in the
county that residents were so ticked off with secret meetings, back-door plots
and shameless disregard for conflict of interest or accountability that 6,000
of them would sign the petition.
However...
On October 31, however, the criminal charges against the Gloucester Four were
dropped by another government employee, Virginia Beach special prosecutor S.
Catherine Dodson. Dodson was appointed to prosecute the case after a judge
removed Gloucester County Commonwealth's Attorney Robert Hicks. Dodson claimed
there was insufficient evidence against the supervisors, and said the
supervisors' actions were not criminal. She wrote that while the evidence
presented to the grand jury showed the supervisors "deliberately acted to
circumvent" open meetings law, it did not prove they violated the law.
[Editor's note: Huh? Dodson speaks what language, again?]
She said that since the seized computers were county property, the supervisors
did not break the law when they took them, and added that pressuring a county
employee is not illegal.
Once the deck was wiped clean of criminal charges, yet another government
employee, Suffolk judge Westbrook J. Parker, ordered the 40 petition
circulators to pay $80,000 of $125,000 in legal expenses incurred by the supes
in defending themselves against removal. The supes fiercely battled removal
with months of pricey legal representation charging up to $525 an hour.
"Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation" or "SLAPP" lawsuits are those
that are designed to punish people for being involved in the political process,
and for questioning the actions of a body. See the complete explanation at:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SLAPP
One might have thought such suits were prohibited in Virginia, but apparently
that is just a delusion.
The GlouCo Four have varied partisan histories. Altemus
http://www.vpap.org/donors/profile/index/123362 was a Republican vendor and
donor, but in the spring of 2008 fell out of favor with the local GOP and was
ousted from their committee. Perhaps indicative of her current leanings is the
fact that she attended the inauguration, missing a scheduled BOS meeting in the
process. Gregory Woodard also attended the inauguration. Ressler ran as an
independent; while Crewe is identified as a Republican.
Because of Parker's ruling (which practically begs for an appeal), two local
Republican members of the Virginia House of Delegates delegates Tom Gear of
Hampton and Harvey B. Morgan of Middlesex have filed bills to protect
citizens from being forced to pay extortion for attempting to remove
[politicians; whether in the form of removal costs, attorney fees or other
sanctions.
If either measure succeeds, the outrage judge Parker perpetrated last month
upon petition organizers in Gloucester won't happen again in Virginia.
In the "it wouldn't hurt" department: Send a message to the GlouCo Four, and
suggest that they should feel ashamed of themselves for their behavior:
http://www.gloucesterva.info/registrar/PDFFiles/ElectedOfficialswebpage4.pdf
Further reading:
http://www.dailypress.com/news/dp-local_tamara_0116jan16,0,7359499.column
http://weblogs.dailypress.com/news/local/breakingnews/blog/
http://www.dailypress.com/news/dp-local_glosupes_0107jan07,0,4879594.story
http://hamptonroads.com/2008/10/charges-against-gloucester-county-supervisors-dropped
QUESTION OF THE DAY: Can the same thing happen in YOUR county?
ANSWER OF THE DAY: Make sure it doesn't by GETTING INVOLVED.
http://lpva.com/Archives/Tips/s99/first.html
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2. January 24 SCC Meeting Report
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RICHMOND -- After a tasty lunch at the Bleu Bistro on Saturday, January 24, the
State Committee of the Libertarian Party of Virginia convened its quarterly
meeting.
After approving the minutes of the previous meeting and adopting an agenda, the
Committee formally accepted the new LP-NoVA committee pending the Secretary
checking the membership status of the petitioners.
Pursuant to a discussion rgearding whether the state LP would adopt a platform
in 2010, the chairman (Jeff Bowles) appointed Louis Gifford and Bob Lynch to
study state-level platforms and the national "program" of 1991. There was no
objection to the Chair's appointment.
The committee then adopted a Resolution calling on Tim Kaine to eliminate the
conflict of interest inherent in being both DNC chairman and Virginia's
governor, by picking one or the other.
The committee passed another resolution, this one in support of DangerousID
legislation currently in the Virginia General Assembly: "Whereas Virginia has
been a leader in supporting personal freedom and the liberty to travel without
undue harassment, the Libertarian Party of Virginia support for legislation
such as HB 1587 and the companion SB 1431, which direct the Virginia government
to remain independent from the federal real id program."
In other business, the Committee listened to a report on the 2010 State
Convention from Jim Lark, and offered suggestions for formatting and length;
heard a report that the chair will conduct inquiries regarding the LPVA
Treasury; discussed an internet domain name issue; noted the training and
opportunity to socialize with other states' LP leaders coming up in the form of
the State Chairs Conference; and passed an official resolution of the body
thanking Scott Wakeman for his past service to the Libertarian Party of
Virginia.
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3. Next SCC Meeting April 25 2009
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The next meeting of the state committee will occur on April 25 at 12:00 pm,
with an 11:00 am lunch preceding. It will again be held at the Bleu Bistro.
Bring your appetite, your ideas, be ready to roll up your sleeves, and help us
win a free country!
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4. Featured Video: Andre Marrou in 1992!
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Our featured video this week is one of of an interview by Larry King of Andre
Marrou, the Libertarian Party's presidential candidate in 1992. Marrou, a
former Alaska state Legislator, did a wonderful job of explaining eye-opening
Libertarian positions to the television audience. Here's part one:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HqMhWHxF_ko
Here's the 2nd part:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wAiDZGwzkXI
SUGGEST A VIDEO! Please send your recommendations to <[email protected]> or
<mailto:[email protected]?subject=featuredvideo>
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5. Web Page of the Week - The LPVA Calendar!
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Ever wondered "what was going on" in the Virginia LP, whether in your own
neighborhood or around the state?
Then take a look at our official-as-it-gets LPVA Calendar:
http://lpva.com/Calendar/default.php
You will find as many notices of local meetings in your area as we are able to
find information about. Don't see your local meetings there? Send details to:
<[email protected]> or click:
<mailto:[email protected]?subject=add_calendar_item_please!>
Try to give us a few days advance notice (even better is a couple of months!!)
-- we don't live on our computers!!
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Old Dominion Liberty Letter Issue #3
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Text herein published under Creative Commons License "Attribution Share Alike"
by Marc Montoni.
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Publishing Schedule: Weekly - But it depends on YOU!
Publisher: Marc Montoni
Distribution: 500 + readers, via LPVA-Announce
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Sign up for the latest news from The Libertarian
Party of Virginia:
http://www.LPVA.com/html/EmailLists.asp
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Got a news tip? Click: <mailto:[email protected]?subject=vlw>
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WHAT'S GOING ON where you live? Make sure all
Virginia Libertarians are informed of your
activities. Send announcements and news to
<[email protected]> or <mailto:[email protected]?subject=vlw>
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JOIN THE PARTY - Never been a member of the
Libertarian Party of Virginia? There's no time
like NOW to become a member of Virginia's third
largest political party.
http://Membership.LPVA.com
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RENEW YOUR MEMBERSHIP - Have you been a member in
the past, but for one reason or another chosen not
to renew? Renew today and resume the fight for
Liberty!
http://Membership.LPVA.com
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BEGIN YOUR PLEDGE - Are you ready to make the
ultimate commitment? Join the LPVirginia Pledge
Program and help us promote our Libertarian
ideas to all your friends and neighbors!
http://Contribute.LPVA.com
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NOTES: This newsletter will be migrated to a CMS with an RSS feed (which our
webmaster has been very generous in setting up!) sometime soon. This version
is primarily to guage interest. If you want it to continue, then participate!
-- end --
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Have an announcement you'd like to post? SCC members & many
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your announcements to the List Master:
<mailto:[email protected]?subject=announcement>.
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Libertarian Party of Virginia
http://www.LPVA.com
Phone: 703-715-6230
