Big Win for the Good Guys!

VICTORY!!!

May 11, 2009

Friends,

I'm pleased to ann our efforts paid off today, and Chris Pentico received virtually NO penalty. NO fine, NO court costs, NO jail, NO no-contact order.

He got 30 days probation, at the end of which, he will receive a withheld judgement and the charge will be dismissed.

Idahoans for Liberty spearheaded the campaign to help Chris. We publicized the situation in the Republican Party, and contacted many other local political groups. Thanks to those from the Idaho Freedom Foundation, Idaho Liberty Watch, Tea Party, Idaho Values Alliance, Treasure Valley Pachyderms, John Birch Society, Sons of Liberty, Constitution Party, 912 Project-Idaho and all other Idaho Citizens who showed up. We achieved the goal of packing the courtroom. There were about 80 people, filling every seat, spilling out into the aisles and hallway.

I am sure this impressive turnout helped convince the judge that Chris was not a threat to anyone, that the charge was unacceptable to us, and that he should receive a light sentence.

Unfortunately, the fact that politicians and jack boots still have the power to throw any citizen off PUBLIC property, and arrest them for trespass if they return, remains.

That's why we marched to the Governor's office after the hearing to deliver a formal petition for redress of grievances. We are demanding that he issue an executive order stating that the trespass statute Chris was convicted of does not apply to public property, and that state police cannot enforce it on public property. We also demanded that he come up with policies and procedures for removing someone from public property that do not violate constitutional rights.

While the Governor was not there, we held out for half an hour to talk to his Chief of Staff, Jason Kriezenback, who is also a precinct committeeman in District 19. He tried to use the classic bureaucratic tactic of divide-and-concur: he refused to meet with the whole group and would only talk to a spokesman. We refused it, and talked instead as a group to the deputy Chief of Staff. He promised that Otter would issue a written response to our petition. When we get it, we will post it. If its insufficient, we will continue to use any type of political pressure at our disposal to remedy this situation.

We wanted to let you all know how much we appreciate your pulling behind this man, whether you spread the word behind the scenes by forwarding emails or whether you showed up in person. If you did anything to help him, you have made a difference.

Fulfilling your civic duty is fun!

Below are many articles and links to TV coverage of the events today. Channel 6's coverage is good, because they track Otter down and ambush him with questions about this situation.