Also on today’s menu:
Manchester Police Officer Kills Robbery Suspect
Manchester Woman Crashes Car During Police Chase
The discussion yesterday at the News Café was about how the nation’s Founders developed a constitution that sought to balance power and prevent the new nation from reverting to a monarchy in which one person wielded all the control. They believed in citizens’ “unalienable” rights and worked to balance individual freedoms with the need for a national structure that would ensure that those rights would be preserved.
Prior to the drafting of the United States Constitution, the Founders tried through the Articles of Confederation to leave most of the power at the state level, but when some of those states refused to honor their obligations to pay their portion of Revolutionary War debts, they drafted a constitution that assigned greater power to the federal government, and the states (sometimes grudgingly) agreed to do so.
Now Representative Jason Gerhard (R-Northfield) is sponsoring legislation to put the question of seceding from the union before New Hampshire voters. Two years ago, it was Representative Michael Sylvia that was promoting secession; that bill failed in the House, 13-323. This year, public testimony at a legislative hearing was “largely favorable” according to reporter Garry Rayno, and he attributed the support to concerns about the mounting federal debt, which now stands at $34 trillion.
The debt is entirely due to Republicans’ tax cuts, Garry said. “If all those tax cuts had not been made, there would be no national debt, and social security and Medicare would be in good standing.”
Gerhard, who served12 and a half years in prison for his role in the armed standoff of Edward and Elaine Brown in Plainfield after their conviction for tax evasion, still believes that the Internal Revenue Service is “an extortion racket” and, by seceding, New Hampshire residents would be able to avoid having to pay their share of the federal debt.
Discussion: The prospect of New Hampshire going it alone is absurd, and would not work, even if it were to somehow align itself with Texas, which is making a similar secession attempt. The bill has no chance of passing with the requisite 60 percent majorities in the House and Senate (240 votes in the House and 15 in the Senate). Even if the New Hampshire Legislature were to pass the bill, the question would go before the voters where it takes a two-thirds (66.67%) vote for adoption. To quote George H.W. Bush, “Not gonna happen.” With all that said, there is nothing wrong in proposing the amendment: People with grievances have a right to make their complaint known. Rather than vilifying the sponsor, as everyone did with Michael Sylvia and are likely to do with Jason Gerhard, residents and their elected representatives should engage in conversation about the matter. If it’s the deficit, discuss why the country is facing such a deficit, and how to address it. Addressing solutions is why constitutional amendments are allowed, and why there is a high threshold for passage: There has to be a very good reason to make a change. Article 1 of the New Hampshire Constitution provides that “All men are born equally free and independent; Therefore, all government of right originates from the people, is founded in consent, and instituted for the general good.” Article 7 states, “The people of this State have the sole and exclusive right of governing themselves as a free, sovereign, and independent State; and do, and forever hereafter shall, exercise and enjoy every power, jurisdiction, and right, pertaining thereto, which is not, or may not hereafter be, by them expressly delegated to the United States of America in Congress assembled.” And, finally, Article 10 states, “Government being instituted for the common benefit, protection, and security, of the whole community, and not for the private interest or emolument of any one man, family, or class of men; therefore, whenever the ends of government are perverted, and public liberty manifestly endangered, and all other means of redress are ineffectual, the people may, and of right ought to reform the old, or establish a new government. The doctrine of nonresistance against arbitrary power, and oppression, is absurd, slavish, and destructive of the good and happiness of mankind.” Gerhard’s argument is about selfishness, rather than the common good, but the deficit is a legitimate topic of discussion that should be met with “other means of redress” — such as asking the wealthy to pay their fair share of taxes. A greater threat than the deficit is that the federal government will come to serve “the private interest or emolument of any one man, family, or class of men” — and that is a very real possibility.
Manchester Police Officer Kills Robbery Suspect
The New Hampshire Department of Justice is investigating the fatal shooting of Jake Chiaradonna, 35, by a Manchester police officer on January 12.
Manchester police, responding to a request to be on the lookout for Chiaradonna, who was wanted in connection with a January 11 robbery, spotted a suspicious person later identified as Chiaradonna in the area of Pine and Plummer streets. They pursued him until they found him hiding inside a stolen vehicle. Chiaradonna refused to exit the vehicle, but eventually opened the door. Officers were unable to subdue Chiaradonna with “less-lethal force” that included deploying a K-9 unit: Chiaradonna stabbed the dog with a screwdriver before fleeing on foot. Both police and the K-9 continued following Chiaradonna who again assaulted the K-9 and confronted officers around the side of a building. At that time, one officer fired on Chiaradonna, who was taken to a local hospital where he died several hours later.
An autopsy on January 14 confirmed that his death was due to a gun injury.
Discussion: Sometimes a police shooting is unjustified or seems to be avoidable, but, if the information presented here is accurate, Chiaradonna twice assaulted the K-9 who, after all, is an “officer” of the law. It seems clear-cut to me. (The K-9 was taken to a veterinarian where it was treated for its wound and later released.)
Manchester Woman Crashes Car During Police Chase
Kaitlyn M. Muise, 31, of Manchester is facing charges of reckless conduct with a deadly weapon, disobeying a police officer, operating a vehicle without an alcohol ignition interlock device, operating after suspension for driving under the influence of intoxicating liquor or drugs, operating a vehicle with a suspended registration, misuse of plate, and a defective equipment violation, after she fled from a New Hampshire State Trooper and crashed her car on January 15.
Trooper Shane Mason had stopped Muise on the F.E. Everett Turnpike in Bedford about 8:43 a.m., but as he approached her Silver Hyundai Santa Fe, she fled onto Raymond Wieczorek Drive, reversed direction, and went north on the Everett Turnpike, then onto Interstate 293 North, turning south on Interstate 93. The vehicle crashed on the 9S off-ramp and overturned.
Muise was able to get out of the vehicle and, after she was medically cleared by emergency medical technicians, police took her into custody. They released her on bail and she is scheduled for arraignment in Merrimack District Court on March 26.
Discussion: She’s in a heap of trouble.