HB1385: establishing the protection of liberty act.

HB 1385 - AS INTRODUCED

2003 SESSION

03-2038

04/01

HOUSE BILL 1385

AN ACT establishing the protection of liberty act.

SPONSORS: Rep. Itse, Rock 80; Rep. Weyler, Rock 79; Rep. Morris, Rock 84; Rep. Welch, Rock 79

COMMITTEE: Criminal Justice and Public Safety

ANALYSIS

This bill establishes the protection of liberty act and specifies penalties for offenses against liberty.

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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.

Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]

Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.

03-2038

04/01

STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Three

AN ACT establishing the protection of liberty act.

Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:

1 New Chapter; Protection of Liberty Act. Amend RSA by inserting after chapter 644 the following new chapter:

CHAPTER 644-A

PROTECTION OF LIBERTY ACT

644-A:1 Protection of Liberty Act. This chapter establishes the protection of liberty act which protects a person's right to freedom and liberty under the following provisions of the New Hampshire constitution: article 2-a, the Bearing of Arms; article 14, Legal Remedies to be Free, Complete, and Prompt; article 15, Right of Accused; article 17, Venue of Criminal Prosecutions; article 18, Penalties to be Proportioned to Offenses; True Design of Punishment; article 19, Searches and Seizures Regulated; article 22, Free Speech; Liberty of the Press; article 32, Rights of Assembly, Instruction, and Petition; article 34, Martial Law Limited; and article 91, Habeus Corpus.

I. The following acts shall be considered offenses under this chapter:

(a) The confiscation of firearms for a cause not permitted by law or without due process of law.

(b) Refusal to give remedy by recourse to the laws of this state.

(c) Causing a person to answer for a crime for which such person has not been given due process of law.

(d) Depriving a person of their liberty, property, estate, immunities, or privileges without due process of law.

(e) Trying a person for a crime which occurred beyond the borders of the jurisdiction in which the crime was committed without the consent of such person.

(f) Subjecting a person to a punishment which is not proportional to the crime.

(g) Searching or seizing a person's property without a warrant duly issued in accordance with the law.

(h) Arresting a person without a warrant duly issued in accordance with the law.

(i) Denying a person the right to speak or write in a manner consistent with the laws of this state and which does not endanger the public.

(j) Preventing any person from peaceably assembling.

(k) Subjecting a person who is not a member of an active military unit to martial law, except when martial law is declared by the governor of this state.

(l) Denying a person the right of habeus corpus.

II. Any person who has committed any act listed in paragraph I within this state or against a citizen of this state shall be:

(a) Guilty of a violation for a first offense.

(b) Guilty of a class B misdemeanor for a second offense.

(c) Guilty of a class A misdemeanor for a third or subsequent offense.

III. Any evidence gathered during the commission of an offense under this chapter shall only be admissible for the purpose of proving the commission of any act set forth in paragraph I and not in any other criminal or civil suit.

2 Effective Date. This act shall take effect January 1, 2005.