Mike
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THIS JUST IN! OpenCarry.org has obtained a video of Pennsylvania State Police Trooper Shawn L. Schexnaildreon the job, investigating future crimes:
Video at http://tinyurl.com/5eus6b
Second Video at http://tinyurl.com/5h224x is in German - OpenCarry.org has not yet determined which language State Police Trooper Shawn L. Schexnaildre actually uses primarly on the job as he patrols Pennsylvania keeping it safe from future crimes. It is believed though that Trooper Schexnaildre speaks English fluently.
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NOTE 1: In the story below, note how Trooper Shawn L. Schexnaildre notes that in Pennsylvania having a political agenda is now an element of a crime. And postings on web sites to encourage others to meet in a park is nefarious, not protected by First Amendment freedom of assembly. Interestingly, there is no crime in Pennsylvania of merely "intending" to disrupt a meeting - here is the actual statute, entirely inapplicable to people merely assembling in a park where no meeting is being held:
"18 Pa. C.S. § 5508. Disrupting meetings and processions
A person commits a misdemeanor of the third degree if, with intent to prevent or disrupt a lawful meeting, procession or gathering, he [actually] disturbs or interrupts it."
A Pennsylvania court in Commonwealth . v. Siwert reversed a jury trial gulty verdict for a violation of 18 Pa. C.S. § 5508 where a woman was proved to have interupted a church minister for 5 minutes and refused to leave the prmises, holding that "[t]hough willful, [disturbing behavior] will not constitute an offense if it is done in the reasonable exercise of a right.” 4 Pa. D. & C.3d 589, 596, 1977 WL 461, 4 (Pa.Com.Pl. 1977) (citing 2 Wharton's Criminal Law and Procedure, §813, 674-76 (Anderson Ed. 1957)).
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Note 2: Now as for the Disorderly Conduct charge, Trooper Schexnaildrejustifies this charge against Mr. Noble merely because, he alleges, "Noble’s wearing the gun was alarming to others around him." Bill Vidonic, Industry man charged with disorderly conduct, Beaver County Times, September 5, 2008.
"18 Pa.C.S. § 5503. Disorderly conduct
(a) Offense defined.--A person is guilty of disorderly conduct if, with intent to cause public inconvenience, annoyance or alarm, or recklessly creating a risk thereof, he:
(1) engages in fighting or threatening, or in violent or tumultuous behavior;
(2) makes unreasonable noise;
(3) uses obscene language, or makes an obscene gesture; or
(4) creates a hazardous or physically offensive condition by any act which serves no legitimate purpose of the actor.
(b) Grading.--An offense under this section is a misdemeanor of the third degree if the intent of the actor is to cause substantial harm or serious inconvenience, or if he persists in disorderly conduct after reasonable warning or request to desist. Otherwise disorderly conduct is a summary offense.
(c) Definition.--As used in this section the word "public" means affecting or likely to affect persons in a place to which the public or a substantial group has access; among the places included are highways, transport facilities, schools, prisons, apartment houses, places of business or amusement, any neighborhood, or any premises which are open to the public."
But the Pennsylvania Supreme Court hasemphasized repeatedly that "the offense of disorderly conduct is not intended as a catchall for every act which annoys or disturbs people; it is not to be used as a dragnet for all the irritations which breed in the ferment of a community." E.g., Commonwealth v. Hock, 728 A.2d 943, 947 (Pa. 1999) (reversing disorderly conduct conviction for uttering profamity at police officer in public).
Further, judicial scrutiny of a disorderly conduct conviction does not end where conviction is proper under the statute - a subsequent constitutional analysis is applied to determine if the application of the statute interferes in the Constitutioal rights of the accused, i.e., to assembly, speak, and carry a gun. Without any doubt, carrying a bible and holstered gun is "expressive conduct."
"The First Amendment generally prevents government from proscribing speech, or even expressive conduct." R.A.V. v. City of St. Paul, Minn., 505 U.S. 377, 382 (1992) (holding disorderly conduct conviction unconstitutional) (internal citations omitted) (emphasis added). See also Virginia v. Black, 538 U.S. 343, 358 (2003).(holding Virginia statute making all cross burning presumptively unlawful as facially invalid because "[t]he First Amendment affords protection to symbolic or expressive conduct as well as to actual speech").
"Regulation of speech activity on governmental property that has been traditionally open to the public for expressive activity, such as public streets and parks, is examined under strict scrutiny."United Statesv. Kokinda, 497 U.S. 720, 726 (1990) (emphasis added). Further,the First "Amendment rests on the assumption that the widest possible dissemination of information from diverse and antagonistic sources is essential to the welfare of the public." Associated Press v. United States, 326 U.S. 1, 18 (1945).
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http://www.timesonline.com/articles/2008/09/05/news/top_stories/doc48c1e34b0d2ee040519053.txt
Industry man charged with disorderly conduct
By Bill Vidonic, Times Staff
Published: Friday, September 5, 2008 10:39 PM EDT
An Industry man intended to disrupt an Aug. 29 Barack Obama rally in Beaver by wearing a loaded gun holstered on his hip, state police said Friday.
John A. Noble, 50, of 1063 Willowbrook Drive, has been charged with one count each of disorderly conduct and disrupting meetings and processions.
In court documents, police said Noble “came to this proceeding with an agenda and a plan,” as he posted on a Web site prior to the rally that he was going to take his gun “to test what would happen.”
Noble said Friday evening, “Why would there be a test? I was just inviting others from our group. There was no test about it.”
Police said Noble posted messages on the Pennsylvania Firearms Owners Association under the user name “Mtn Jack,” which Noble confirmed is his user handle, urging other gun owners to join him.
In filing charges, state police Trooper Shawn L. Schexnaildre said “the accused’s political agenda and intent to disrupt the proceedings at the Obama rally were clearly evident by his own statement and actions.”
However, Schexnaildre pointed out that Noble did not violate the law by simply having the gun, as it’s legal in Pennsylvania to wear a weapon out in the open without a permit.
Police and Beaver County deputy sheriffs earlier said that Noble was in McIntosh Square, adjacent to Irvine Park. A witness saw the gun, a Glock 9mm handgun holstered on Noble’s waist, and notified deputies more than an hour before Obama arrived. Noble also had fliers about gun rights.
Schexnaildre said that when police first questioned him, Noble said he didn’t know Obama would be in Beaver until his wife told him about it just prior to their arrival. Schexnaildre wrote that was obviously untrue because of the Web posting.
Noble had a Bible in one hand, and when he was questioned as to why, Schexnaildre said, Noble responded that he “was there to show Senator Obama that Pennsylvanians do, in fact ‘cling to their guns and religion.’ ”
Obama was criticized for a San Francisco speech in April in which he said small-town Americans are “bitter.”
Schexnaildre said Noble’s answers indicated “his intent was to disrupt the proceedings.” The trooper added that Noble said “he did not think he would get within a mile of the senator, but was apprehended within 100 yards of the podium after crossing the outer perimeter barrier tape and being in a position to see no less than a dozen police officers.”
After being interviewed for a couple of hours after he was taken into custody, Noble was released and his gun confiscated.
Police and deputy sheriffs said Noble did not threaten anyone and did not try to reach for his gun when approached by officers.
Schexnaildre said Noble’s wearing the gun was alarming to others around him, thus the disorderly conduct charge.
Noble said, “I wasn’t trying to go to the rally. I wasn’t at the rally. I just wanted to see people walking around.”
Bill Vidonic can be reached online at bvidonic@timesonline.com.
CALL TO ARMS?
John A. Noble of Industry admits that he posted the following messages on the Internet prior to the Barack Obama campaign rally Aug. 29 in Beaver:
•In a posting dated Aug. 29, apparently just hours before the Beaver rally, Noble wrote, “Bring your gun and Bible to Beaver tonite, lets show Obama how we hug our Bibles and guns.”
•On the Web site OpenCarry.org, Noble posted a similar message, part of which read, “Come to beaver tonite and show Obama what a Bible toten gun owner really looks like. My women and i will be there with both in the open.”
THIS JUST IN! OpenCarry.org has obtained a video of Pennsylvania State Police Trooper Shawn L. Schexnaildreon the job, investigating future crimes:
Video at http://tinyurl.com/5eus6b
Second Video at http://tinyurl.com/5h224x is in German - OpenCarry.org has not yet determined which language State Police Trooper Shawn L. Schexnaildre actually uses primarly on the job as he patrols Pennsylvania keeping it safe from future crimes. It is believed though that Trooper Schexnaildre speaks English fluently.
--
NOTE 1: In the story below, note how Trooper Shawn L. Schexnaildre notes that in Pennsylvania having a political agenda is now an element of a crime. And postings on web sites to encourage others to meet in a park is nefarious, not protected by First Amendment freedom of assembly. Interestingly, there is no crime in Pennsylvania of merely "intending" to disrupt a meeting - here is the actual statute, entirely inapplicable to people merely assembling in a park where no meeting is being held:
"18 Pa. C.S. § 5508. Disrupting meetings and processions
A person commits a misdemeanor of the third degree if, with intent to prevent or disrupt a lawful meeting, procession or gathering, he [actually] disturbs or interrupts it."
A Pennsylvania court in Commonwealth . v. Siwert reversed a jury trial gulty verdict for a violation of 18 Pa. C.S. § 5508 where a woman was proved to have interupted a church minister for 5 minutes and refused to leave the prmises, holding that "[t]hough willful, [disturbing behavior] will not constitute an offense if it is done in the reasonable exercise of a right.” 4 Pa. D. & C.3d 589, 596, 1977 WL 461, 4 (Pa.Com.Pl. 1977) (citing 2 Wharton's Criminal Law and Procedure, §813, 674-76 (Anderson Ed. 1957)).
--
Note 2: Now as for the Disorderly Conduct charge, Trooper Schexnaildrejustifies this charge against Mr. Noble merely because, he alleges, "Noble’s wearing the gun was alarming to others around him." Bill Vidonic, Industry man charged with disorderly conduct, Beaver County Times, September 5, 2008.
"18 Pa.C.S. § 5503. Disorderly conduct
(a) Offense defined.--A person is guilty of disorderly conduct if, with intent to cause public inconvenience, annoyance or alarm, or recklessly creating a risk thereof, he:
(1) engages in fighting or threatening, or in violent or tumultuous behavior;
(2) makes unreasonable noise;
(3) uses obscene language, or makes an obscene gesture; or
(4) creates a hazardous or physically offensive condition by any act which serves no legitimate purpose of the actor.
(b) Grading.--An offense under this section is a misdemeanor of the third degree if the intent of the actor is to cause substantial harm or serious inconvenience, or if he persists in disorderly conduct after reasonable warning or request to desist. Otherwise disorderly conduct is a summary offense.
(c) Definition.--As used in this section the word "public" means affecting or likely to affect persons in a place to which the public or a substantial group has access; among the places included are highways, transport facilities, schools, prisons, apartment houses, places of business or amusement, any neighborhood, or any premises which are open to the public."
But the Pennsylvania Supreme Court hasemphasized repeatedly that "the offense of disorderly conduct is not intended as a catchall for every act which annoys or disturbs people; it is not to be used as a dragnet for all the irritations which breed in the ferment of a community." E.g., Commonwealth v. Hock, 728 A.2d 943, 947 (Pa. 1999) (reversing disorderly conduct conviction for uttering profamity at police officer in public).
Further, judicial scrutiny of a disorderly conduct conviction does not end where conviction is proper under the statute - a subsequent constitutional analysis is applied to determine if the application of the statute interferes in the Constitutioal rights of the accused, i.e., to assembly, speak, and carry a gun. Without any doubt, carrying a bible and holstered gun is "expressive conduct."
"The First Amendment generally prevents government from proscribing speech, or even expressive conduct." R.A.V. v. City of St. Paul, Minn., 505 U.S. 377, 382 (1992) (holding disorderly conduct conviction unconstitutional) (internal citations omitted) (emphasis added). See also Virginia v. Black, 538 U.S. 343, 358 (2003).(holding Virginia statute making all cross burning presumptively unlawful as facially invalid because "[t]he First Amendment affords protection to symbolic or expressive conduct as well as to actual speech").
"Regulation of speech activity on governmental property that has been traditionally open to the public for expressive activity, such as public streets and parks, is examined under strict scrutiny."United Statesv. Kokinda, 497 U.S. 720, 726 (1990) (emphasis added). Further,the First "Amendment rests on the assumption that the widest possible dissemination of information from diverse and antagonistic sources is essential to the welfare of the public." Associated Press v. United States, 326 U.S. 1, 18 (1945).
--
http://www.timesonline.com/articles/2008/09/05/news/top_stories/doc48c1e34b0d2ee040519053.txt
Industry man charged with disorderly conduct
By Bill Vidonic, Times Staff
Published: Friday, September 5, 2008 10:39 PM EDT
An Industry man intended to disrupt an Aug. 29 Barack Obama rally in Beaver by wearing a loaded gun holstered on his hip, state police said Friday.
John A. Noble, 50, of 1063 Willowbrook Drive, has been charged with one count each of disorderly conduct and disrupting meetings and processions.
In court documents, police said Noble “came to this proceeding with an agenda and a plan,” as he posted on a Web site prior to the rally that he was going to take his gun “to test what would happen.”
Noble said Friday evening, “Why would there be a test? I was just inviting others from our group. There was no test about it.”
Police said Noble posted messages on the Pennsylvania Firearms Owners Association under the user name “Mtn Jack,” which Noble confirmed is his user handle, urging other gun owners to join him.
In filing charges, state police Trooper Shawn L. Schexnaildre said “the accused’s political agenda and intent to disrupt the proceedings at the Obama rally were clearly evident by his own statement and actions.”
However, Schexnaildre pointed out that Noble did not violate the law by simply having the gun, as it’s legal in Pennsylvania to wear a weapon out in the open without a permit.
Police and Beaver County deputy sheriffs earlier said that Noble was in McIntosh Square, adjacent to Irvine Park. A witness saw the gun, a Glock 9mm handgun holstered on Noble’s waist, and notified deputies more than an hour before Obama arrived. Noble also had fliers about gun rights.
Schexnaildre said that when police first questioned him, Noble said he didn’t know Obama would be in Beaver until his wife told him about it just prior to their arrival. Schexnaildre wrote that was obviously untrue because of the Web posting.
Noble had a Bible in one hand, and when he was questioned as to why, Schexnaildre said, Noble responded that he “was there to show Senator Obama that Pennsylvanians do, in fact ‘cling to their guns and religion.’ ”
Obama was criticized for a San Francisco speech in April in which he said small-town Americans are “bitter.”
Schexnaildre said Noble’s answers indicated “his intent was to disrupt the proceedings.” The trooper added that Noble said “he did not think he would get within a mile of the senator, but was apprehended within 100 yards of the podium after crossing the outer perimeter barrier tape and being in a position to see no less than a dozen police officers.”
After being interviewed for a couple of hours after he was taken into custody, Noble was released and his gun confiscated.
Police and deputy sheriffs said Noble did not threaten anyone and did not try to reach for his gun when approached by officers.
Schexnaildre said Noble’s wearing the gun was alarming to others around him, thus the disorderly conduct charge.
Noble said, “I wasn’t trying to go to the rally. I wasn’t at the rally. I just wanted to see people walking around.”
Bill Vidonic can be reached online at bvidonic@timesonline.com.
CALL TO ARMS?
John A. Noble of Industry admits that he posted the following messages on the Internet prior to the Barack Obama campaign rally Aug. 29 in Beaver:
•In a posting dated Aug. 29, apparently just hours before the Beaver rally, Noble wrote, “Bring your gun and Bible to Beaver tonite, lets show Obama how we hug our Bibles and guns.”
•On the Web site OpenCarry.org, Noble posted a similar message, part of which read, “Come to beaver tonite and show Obama what a Bible toten gun owner really looks like. My women and i will be there with both in the open.”