journalist Sam Dodson: proving that in the Land of the Free
today exercising your right to remain silent can get you slapped
in the slammer. (photo courtesy of freekeene.com)
People who just can't get enough of the authoritarian way of life love to tell us, "If you're innocent of wrongdoing you have nothing to fear from government."
The Fifth Amendment of the US Constitution states, in part: "No person shall ... be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law..."
And every American human who has ever watched a cop show on TV or police opera on the silver screen over the past 40-plus years has memorized at least part of the Supreme Court mandated Miranda warning:
“You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to talk to a lawyer and have him present with you while you are being questioned. If you cannot afford a lawyer, one will be provided for you at government expense.” – Miranda warning version adopted by California and popularized by "Dragnet" TV show, circa 1966.
So why has Sam Dodson been held indefinitely, on $10,000 cash bail, without access to legal council for 19 days, in an unsanitary jail cell in the Cheshire County Correctional Facility in Keen, New Hampshire, since April 13th?
Answer: because he had the audacity to exercise his Miranda, Constitutional, and big government-hugger right to remain silent.
Journalist Sam Dodson was hauled off to the hoosegow for putting the public in imminent danger by committing the horrifyingly violent act of videotaping in the lobby (not the courtroom but the lobby) of the Keene District Court. A "public" building, paid for and belonging to every taxpayer, by the way.
He was asked to state his name. He chose to remain silent. Now he's behind bars.
How's that for having nothing to fear from our government, authority lovers? How about prosecuting you for committing the crime of exercising your right to freedom of speech? How about clapping you in irons for criminally exercising your right to religious freedom? How about the death penalty for performing an act of press freedom?
“It is not supposed to work to where somebody in America is thrown in a jail cell and left there to rot until they cooperate and give up their rights in order to get whatever rights the government wants to hand out.” - Sam Dodson during a live interview on the Free Talk Live radio show.
Dodson is a native son of Texas. He was born in Dallas, grew up in Plano, and worked for a couple of big name electronic firms in the Metroplex before opting out of the corporate life. He moved to New Hampshire where he became a freedom activist, filmmaker and entrepreneur.
In describing his journalistic activities, a press release from the libertarian Arm Your Mind For Liberty website may have inadvertently revealed Dodson's true "crime" in the eyes of the power-lusting Granite State statists:
"Sam’s media company, Obscured Truth Network, educates viewers about the inner workings of government."
Dodson's videos can be viewed on Obscured Truth Network.
His mail from jail can be read at freekeene.com.
And the faces of the Pollyannas who claim that innocence is enough to protect you from a power-lusting government can be laughed into anywhere.
Comments
That's a really good point you make. Sam hasn't done anything wrong it seems and yet he is in jail indefinitely. Wow.
Thanks for this informative article! We need to read about these incidents; we need more journalists who are willing to expose these atrocities! I'm sending this link to interested friends.
"Where have all the heroes gone? Where are all the pioneers? Where are the visionaries? Where are the true statesmen? Where are the defenders of freedom? What has happened to the American Spirit of life and liberty?
I guess they're all at the mall or Starbucks and are too fat to get up out of their chair and fight. Or they're looking forward to retirement and the "good life" after spending their life being a good soldier and playing by the rules. Certainly they can't be asked to risk all that for something as silly as their children's futures. How selfish of me.
We're pathetic."
Part of a great paper by Don Cooper. Read the rest here:
tinyurl[DOT]com/cg7r69
You get what you deserve. How do you like my country now?
When the president, himself, makes fun of freedom of speech, every government official is more likely to take it away. Just imagine, if he had been one of the Nazi-sympathizers in America, he would be free to go about his business now.
New Hampshire was the state chosen to put the FREE STATE PROJECT on the map. The declared intention of such a maneuver was to take over the state govt and convert New Hampshire to a LIBERTARIAN STATE. The purpose was to exhibit how libertarianism, in practice, allows freedom to flower.
The events described in the article lead me to one question: WHAT HAPPENED TO THE EXPERIMENT??
So, 1A and 5A are gone. What do we do now?
2A?
Best place for compilation of info - freesamdodson.com
Sam's Jail Blog along with updates - freekeene.com
Financially support people like Sam - cdevolution.org
To send him mail in jail for FREE - mail-to-jail.com
Call me crazy for calling common sense on this one, but isn't it a slight bit suspicious for someone to *not* be willing to give out their name? The response is unwarranted, granted, but what was he trying to prove by withholding it, exactly?
Got something to say?
Examiner.com is looking for writers, photographers, and videographers to join the fastest growing group of local insiders. If you are interested in growing your online rep apply to be an Examiner today!