Libertarian Party slams Big Government persecution & jailing of Bitcoin exchange vendor Randall Lord - past Libertarian candidate & Conscientious Objecter.

in #life7 years ago (edited)

Big Government continues their persecution, attacks on Liberty and harassment of those awake enough or gutsy enough to peacefully oppose and protest the fraudulent systems put in place.

So much for the 1st Amendment in the States, the Bill of Rights, the Constitution, Natural Law or the Charter of Rights and Freedoms in the rising police state of Canadastan.



Via my personal newsfeed, souce named at end of blog post. (Libertarian Party in the USA) and arrived via a Linked In group.


Nicholas Sarwark, Libertarian National Committee chair, official statement this week:


The Libertarian Party vigorously condemns the trumped-up case against Randall Lord, a former Libertarian candidate, who was sentenced to 46 months in prison for the victimless “crime” of operating an unregistered money service business involving Bitcoin, a digital currency.

Trading bitcoins is perfectly legal. Major retailers such as Microsoft, Expedia, Dell, Overstock, and Whole Foods accept bitcoins. Prosecutors targeted Lord for not being registered with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), a bureau of the U.S. Treasury, and for not being licensed to operate as a money service business in his home state of Louisiana.

Despite Lord’s conscientious objections to government control of currency, the Shreveport resident attempted to comply with the laws and regulations governing Bitcoin. He filed for registration with FinCEN, but the bureaucracy misplaced his filing, for which he now faces almost four years in prison.

Lord was not licensed in Louisiana because state officials had told him that Bitcoin is not a currency, and therefore he didn’t have to have a license to operate. Then in March 2013, FinCEN expanded the definition of “currency” so they could pull exchanges like Lord’s under their regulatory control.



Lord pleaded guilty to not having a state license, but later he proved to the court that the state did not require one. Then a federal court ruled that “unlicensed” could also mean “not registered with the Treasury Dept.” and refused to allow him to withdraw his guilty plea and take this issue to trial.

Every aspect of this case is a travesty:

  • politicians’ insatiable addiction to spending, which they finance by printing dollars out of thin air, devaluing the dollar and in turn creating the demand for alternative currencies such as Bitcoin;

  • the contemptible government regulations these very politicians enacted to obstruct Bitcoin trading, and which were used to prosecute Lord;

  • the bumbling FinCEN regulators whose ineptitude set Lord up for prosecution (unless it was deliberate that they “misplaced” Lord’s filing);

  • the use of multiple taxpayer-funded federal agencies—the IRS, FBI, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, and U.S. Postal Inspection Service—to go after Lord for openly trading a legal commodity and harming no one;

  • the failure of prosecutors to show any intent by Lord to violate the law;

  • the harsh sentence imposed on Lord, which appears intended to intimidate others who trade in bitcoins, much like the life sentence imposed on Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht; and

  • the government’s as-yet uncertain plans to confiscate Lord’s assets, including possibly his home, adding to his family’s distress.

Randall Lord has long opposed the federal government’s tax-and-spend policies and the Federal Reserve Bank’s manipulation of the dollar. He did his part to try to change these onerous laws and regulations when he ran for U.S. House on the Libertarian ticket in 2014 and 2012, receiving 27 and 25 percent of the vote, respectively.

This case illustrates that the problem is not a well-meaning, civic-minded family man like Randall Lord who offers a service to people aiming to preserve the value of their hard-earned money.

The problem is overspending by federal politicians, their manipulation and regulation of currencies, and grandstanding prosecutors who get rewarded for convicting people rather than for achieving justice.

The solution is to overturn the sentence of Randall Lord, repeal onerous laws and regulations, and stop federal government overspending so that the dollar will stop losing value, jobs will be plentiful, and Americans will be financially secure.

Please add your voice to ours in demanding freedom for Randall Lord.

Listen to an interview of Randall Lord in a Lions of Liberty podcast here.

http://lionsofliberty.com/2017/06/02/felony-friday-074-randall-lords-story-bitcoin-trader-sentenced-46-months-prison/


Thanks for reading, have a nice day!


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Img. Sources: America's Freedom Fighters, thecollaboratory.wikidot.com, FPRN Radio, www.libertyunderattack.com,

thenonconformer.wordpress.com (Canadian reference)

Article was essentially one long statement so it needed to be quoted verbatim and here is the link that showed up in my mailbox - via Linked In: https://www.lp.org/libertarian-party-condemns-government-persecution-of-bitcoin-exchange-vendor/




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Man, I wish I could say I am surprised but the police state fascism has been in full swing within the States for over 15 years now. It has become a "capitalist" version of the soviet union. My deepest sympathies to Mr. Lord and hopefully someone can advise the jurors in this case of "jury nullification".

Judges are actually NOT ALLOWED to inform jurors that they have such a right to nullify the charges being brought forth as a "general verdict". I've served as a foreman on a jury in NY and the whole trial made me sick to my stomach. Attorneys attempting to sway jurors using showboating and emotions rather than factual evidence. We deliberated for over a week, but ultimately the verdict we returned was NOT GUILTY, due to the fact that the burden of proof is on the State and they did not produce a factually valid case. I had to remind jurors of this reality, as several participants were extremely quick to throw around "he's guilty, lets just go home" sentiments. This was almost 10 years ago, now it seems the defendant is expected to produce proof of innocence when they stand accused before a corrupt federalized inquisitor. We need to decentralize and opt-out of this madness. Keep spreading the word.

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I have no liquid steem to send or I would, what a great response all round, so I will UV this comment at full power instead!

Great stuff by you, thanks for that!

I like the way you think.

Utterly abominable and despicable behavior by state actors.
Not at all surprising, but no less unconscionable. Thank you for bringing this to my attention, Barry.

The state is an evil beast that needs to be put down.
😄😇😄

@creatr

I always enjoy hearing your input on things and Liberty and today was no different my friend!

Thanks! ;) Glad to be curmudgeonly about it! :D

LOL!

I have honestly really enjoyed hearing from you again lately, I am glad for it.

Thanks for making time for me man.

It is appreciated.

I have no fancy gif that says I appreciate you but I do LOL

Barry, thanks for the insight and sharing. Indeed the banking cartel and governments are indeed trying to control the blockchain ecurrencies space. I will continue to invest and share on Steemit and pray for the best...

No problems, thanks for commenting and sharing today!

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