Free Republic

With all the buzz and anticipation surrounding the final rulings by the U.S. Supreme Court the past week, there has been little attention to an interesting legal development in New Hampshire: On June 18, Governor John Lynch (no relation) signed HB 146 into law and it becomes effective on January 1, 2013. HB 146 concerns “the right of a jury to judge the application of the law in relationship to the facts in controversy.” It’s popularly known as “the jury nullification bill.” In this post, I will try to explain what impact this new law may have in the New...

The New York Times has updated their electoral map, moving Wisconsin and Pennsylvania into the toss-up category.Unlike the Huffington Post which shows Obama has 254 electoral votes locked down, the Times shows him with just 185 plus 32 leaning for a total of 217. He needs 53 among the toss-up states to put him over 270, still less than Romney, who needs 64 with solid states and leaners included.I've therefore listed the 9 states and electoral votes of each in the toss-up category in order of likelihood to vote GOP: Virginia - 13 Florida - 29 Ohio - 18 New...

In yet another vote bucking the state's executive office, New Hampshire's Republican controlled-legislature overrode Democrat Gov. John Lynch’s veto of a voter ID bill on Wednesday. New Hampshire is now the latest on a growing list of states to require that voters present photo ID when voting. In New Hampshire, different forms of identification are accepted, or residents have the option of signing an affidavit. The list will be shortened in 2013, and student ID cards and documents more than 5 years old will no longer be accepted. Lynch was opposed to the restrictions. The votes weren't even close, with...

PETERBOROUGH — Jackie R. Whiton of Antrim had been a six-year employee at the Big Apple convenience store in Peterborough until a single transaction sent her job up in smoke. The store clerk was fired after she refused to take a customer's Electronic Balance Transfer card to pay for cigarettes. Whiton said a young man came in to the store to buy two packs or cigarettes on May 29. When she asked him for his ID, he handed her his EBT card. EBT cards are used for both food and cash assistance programs. There are two types of cards: one...

Jackie Whiton, a six-year employee of the Big Apple, said she was fired after a dispute with her boss over accepting EBT cards as payment for cigarettes. I gave two weeks' notice and tried to bow out gracefully," said Whiton, of Antrim. "But the next day, I was fired." Whiton said she declined to accept an EBT card as payment for a package of cigarettes. The Electronic Benefit Transfer cards are used by state benefits departments to issue cash to recipients, and they can be used like debit cards. Whiton said her boss told her she can't refuse to sell...

Listing the reasons why Americans should vote for him, President Barack Obama told an audience at a high school in New Hampshire on Monday that failure to subsidize abortions and contraception is the same as “restricting access” to those services. “In this election, on every single challenge that we face, you’ve got the final say,” Obama told the crowd at Oyster River High School in Durham, N.H. “You can decide that instead of restricting access to birth control or defunding Planned Parenthood, we should make sure that in this country, women control their own health care choices. That’s up to...

DURHAM, N.H. (CBS) – An anonymous donor has agreed to pay a New Hampshire town’s extra security costs for President Barack Obama’s visit on Monday. Durham officials say they didn’t mean to raise a ruckus, but they didn’t have the money budgeted for police, fire and EMS services needed for President Obama’s visit, and the Obama for America campaign said they wouldn’t pay. “Some people are very positive about the position that the town has taken to date, and others have been very critical. Some have expressed it as being ‘un-American’ the position we have taken, others feel it is...

NEW YORK, June 20, 2012 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- Beginning August 4, 2012, New Hampshire will require notification that 6-month-olds should not be routinely fed infant formula mixed with fluoridated water to avoid discoloring babies' unerupted teeth (fluorosis), reports the Fluoride Action Network (FAN). Passed by the House, 253-23, unanimously by the Senate, and signed by the Governor, HB-1416 reads: "If a public water supply is fluoridated, the following notice shall be posted in the water system's consumer confidence report: 'Your public water supply is fluoridated. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, if your child under the...

In a case attorneys say has no precedent in New Hampshire, a federal appeals court is weighing whether the owner of a handgun used to kill three people at a Conway military surplus shop in July 2007 could be held liable for their murders. Lawrence Secord didn't do enough to secure the .22-caliber handgun he kept at his camp in Wentworth Location, enabling his grandson, Michael Woodbury, to steal it and open fire in the Army Barracks store several days later, according to a lawsuit brought by the mother of one of the victims. A federal judge decided Secord didn't...

PORTSMOUTH — The owners of Redhook Ale Brewery hired an independent investigator to probe the cause of a keg explosion that fatally wounded an employee in April. Craft Brew Alliance, Inc., Redhook's parent company, provided new information about the industrial accident last week in a communication sent to members of the brewing industry. In a June 1 message, CEO Terry Michaelson wrote CBA has not yet determined what caused the plastic keg to explode, killing an employee who was cleaning the vessel with compressed air. With the source of the keg failure still a mystery, CBA hired an independent investigator...

Can Any of These House Underdogs Survive? Stuart Rothenberg June 8, 2012 · 1:48 PM EDT Remember their names: Reps. Charles Bass (R-N.H.), John Barrow (D-Ga.), Bobby Schilling (R-Ill.), Jim Matheson (D-Utah) and Robert Dold (R-Ill.). If any of these five House incumbents survive, it will surprise most dispassionate observers (including some in their own parties). But upsets happen, and each of these candidates has a scenario for victory. Moments after Bass was declared the winner in November 2010, most political insiders figured he would be doomed in 2012. But considering his past electoral success, reports of his political demise...

Both House, Senate pass income tax ban amendment By TED SIEFER CONCORD – New Hampshire voters will be able to decide whether they want to prohibit an income tax at the November general election after both the House and Senate today approved CACR 13 The House approved CACR 13 by the necessary three-fifths majority to place the question on the November ballot. The House vote was 256-110. In the Senate, the vote was 19-4. The amendment would prohibit “an assessment, rate, or tax on income earned by a natural person other than taxes in effect on January 1, 2012, and...

The Navy is evaluating whether it's worth spending millions of dollars to repair the USS Miami, the nuclear-powered submarine damaged in a fire in a Maine shipyard. If the submarine is scrapped, the fleet could feel the effects for years. The number of attack submarines like the Miami is projected to drop as they are deactivated faster than they are replaced, and Navy leaders already have been trying to find new ways to keep up with demands from combatant commanders. ... The Miami was in dry dock at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery, Maine, for an overhaul when the fire...

UP FOR GRABS (85): Colorado (9) — Long a reliable GOP state, but Colorado's conservative profile is changing. Young professionals and Hispanic voters were central to Obama's victory in 2008, but the sluggish economy has hurt his standing. Female voters in Denver's suburbs could play a big role. Florida (29) — Florida is the prime target for both campaigns. Obama won in 2008, but the housing crisis, high unemployment and gas prices are dogging him. Romney won the primary in January and has picked up the endorsement of GOP Sen. Marco Rubio. Obama's organization has a large advantage. Iowa (6)...

Vice President Joe Biden admitted to a group of supporters in New Hampshire this afternoon that the President would have been able help the economy "much, more" if the Tea Party hadn't taken the House. Biden showed the audience the Obama campaigns chart of job growth during the President's first term in office and accused the Tea Party for stalling the recovery, because of the debt limit fight. "Imagine where we'd be if the Tea Party hadn't taken control of the House of Representatives," Biden said adding that they were "a group set on obstructionism."

Each held Saturday on $1.5 million bondTwo Broward County men were among three arrested this week in a nighttime police raid after they planned to attack four police stations, President Barack Obama's campaign headquarters and Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s house, according to court documents. The men arrested Wednesday in an apartment building in the Bridgeport neighborhood. They're accused of trying to make Molotov cocktails ahead of the two-day summit that starts Sunday. They were each held Saturday on $1.5 million bond. Brian Church, 20, of Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.; Brent Vincent Betterly, 24, of Oakland Park, Fla. and Jared Chase, 24, of...

President Obama has opened up a double-digit lead in New Hampshire, according to a survey from left-leaning Public Policy Polling released on Tuesday. Obama leads with 53 percent over Romney at 41 percent. Romney led by 2 percent in the same poll conducted in July.

Charlotte, NC --(Ammoland.com)- Important pro-gun legislation needs your IMMEDIATE help. There is only ONE week left for the state Senate to act on House Bill 536. If the Senate does not take action on HB 536 by Thursday, May 17, law-abiding residents of New Hampshire will lose an opportunity to expand their gun rights. Introduced by state Representative J.R. Hoell (R-13), this Right-to-Carry reform legislation would repeal the existing law that requires a person to have a concealed firearm license in order to carry concealed. However, HB 536 would not eliminate the current carry permitting system, which will still be...

by John HillStand With Arizona Thank you, Granite State! The New Hampshire Senate yesterday joined the House in passing a resolution (full text below) proclaiming that "the state of New Hampshire fully supports the State of Arizona’s right to protect its borders and citizens" by passing its immigration law S.B. 1070. The resolution's path to passage was very contentious, with opponents testifying hysterically against it in both chambers, and Democrats trying all manner of procedural gimmicks to try and derail it - all in vain. House Concurrent Resolution 2 (HCR2) passed the Senate 15-9 last evening after slapping down an...

CONCORD, N.H. — New Hampshire Senate is considering a resolution supporting Arizona's SB1070.