Democracy Gone Astray

Democracy, being a human construct, needs to be thought of as directionality rather than an object. As such, to understand it requires not so much a description of existing structures and/or other related phenomena but a declaration of intentionality.
This blog aims at creating labeled lists of published infringements of such intentionality, of points in time where democracy strays from its intended directionality. In addition to outright infringements, this blog also collects important contemporary information and/or discussions that impact our socio-political landscape.

All the posts here were published in the electronic media – main-stream as well as fringe, and maintain links to the original texts.

[NOTE: Due to changes I haven't caught on time in the blogging software, all of the 'Original Article' links were nullified between September 11, 2012 and December 11, 2012. My apologies.]

Thursday, August 16, 2012

Adam 'Ademo' Mueller, CopBlock.org Founder, Sentenced To 3 Months For Wiretapping After Reporting School Police Brutality

Adam "Ademo" Mueller, co-host of radio show Free Talk Live and founder of CopBlock.org, was found guilty Monday of illegal wiretapping and sentenced to three months in jail.

Although Mueller maintained no wrongdoing, Assistant Hillsborough County Attorney Michael Valentine said Mueller's intentions were "to disrupt, to be disobedient, to slow down the court system and clog it," the New Hampshire Union Leader reports.

Mueller was found guilty of secretly recording conversations with Manchester police Capt. Jonathan Hopkins, Manchester High School West Principal MaryEllen McGorry and school secretary Denise Michael without their consent. The recordings were Mueller's response to an incident last October, when video surfaced of 17-year-old Frank W. Harrington being lifted from his seat in the New Hampshire school's cafeteria by a school police officer and slammed face-first into a table.

The student, who said he was "just messing around" with his sister, was suspended for 12 days and charged with disorderly conduct and resisting arrest. When Mueller became aware of the incident, he took to CopBlock.org to defend Harrington and Michael Proulx, the student behind the video. CopBlock.org is an online project that, according to its site, seeks police accountability and "curtail the all-too-common rights-violations and unaccountability that today exists."

Mueller called the local police and school officials searching for answers, but chose to record the conversations -- and included soundbites in a video post. A few months later, he was charged with three felony counts of wiretapping, each of which carried a seven-year maximum penalty.

"The defendant doesn't want to follow the law and he's essentially asking you to join him in not following the law," Valentine told jurors Monday, according to the Associated Press.

Still, Mueller pleaded his case, noting that he "didn't cause them any harm -- physical or otherwise," adding that he called the officials while they were at their public jobs. He sought "jury nullification" of the state's wiretapping law, which bars recording without consent.

New Hampshire recently passed a jury nullification law that permits defense attorneys to inform jurors of their right to vote on conscience and void bad laws through "not guilty" verdicts.

"I don't regret what I did," Mueller said. "I don't think jails were built for people who make phone calls or chalk buildings." He added that jail time would not prevent him from continuing his activism.

Republican state Rep. Mark Warden attended the hearing, later telling AP that prosecuting Mueller was "a travesty and a total waste of taxpayer dollars," adding that the case should push the Legislature to overhaul the vague wiretapping law to boost public official accountability.

Original Article
Source: huffington post
Author: --

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