When elected officials are criminals, only criminals will be elected as officials. Claire Wolfe call your office.
An Indecipherable Embarrassment of Regulatory Incoherence
Duplin County Regulation 2009
Duplin County Regulation 2008
Duplin County Regulation 2007
Raleigh Constituent drops by with another editorial for the files:
Dear JohnJacob,
Now that Turkey Hunter Clyde Coffey’s life has been sacrificed on the altar of incomprehensible law enforcement policies I thought it might be useful to study the legal terrain Hunter “Joe Rifleman” must traverse in his adventures afield.
I quickly discovered this topic cannot be reasonably covered by an encyclopedia, let alone a book or a few articles. In fact, this maybe the first in an unending series of comments so difficult is it to plumb the depth of knavery and tomfoolery embedded in North Carolina hunting regulations.
The word “quagmire” only begins to describe the situation. The IRS code is an Elementary School “Dick and Jane” reading primer by comparison.
Below please find a brief (?!) overview of the topic.
To begin know it is said amongst the knowledgeable North Carolina is sprinkled with a number of “sweet spots” where a fellow can stand in an open field and box the compass in four opposite directions (North,East,South and West) for a few hundred yards and find himself under four conflicting sets of hunting regulations.
I know not personally if this is true, but a quick perusal of the hunting regulations certainly reveals it to be plausible.
You have your International Treaty Laws and regulations, your Federal laws and regulations, your State laws and regulations, your local (rural) county laws and regulations and your local (urban) city and town laws and regulations.
There are separate laws and regulations that govern conduct on State Game Lands and another separate set of laws and regulations that govern conduct on Military Reservations and yet another set of laws and regulations that essentially ban hunting from mining operations and facilities even if the owner were inclined to give permission.
“Working Agriculture Operations” (farms) have their own set of exemptions and rules.
Dare and Currituck Counties have their own countywide Game and Wildlife Commission.
Every year the Hunting Regulations Digest issued to hunters with their license purchase helpfully highlights regulation changes in red. Every year there are at least fifty changes, some quite significant.
In the August 2008 issue of North Carolina Sportsman Magazine (CLICK LINK HERE) author Craig Holt reported Judge Timothy Lee Paige ruled the definition of “take” was “unconstitutionally vague” when he dismissed a charge of “hunting over bait” against bear hunter Charles Smith
Craig Holt concluded his report with the comment if the ruling stands “WRC (Wildlife Resources Commission) will have to rewrite the bear baiting law for the third time in two years, then get new wording adopted by the General Assembly”.
In the 2007 archives of the North Carolina Bear Hunters Association website these comments are included in a discussion of Senate Bill 1246:
Senate Bill 1246
Regrettably, the NCBHA and the Wildlife Resources Commission (WRC) found themselves faced with vastly opposing viewpoints on how best to stop an unexplained flood of bear baiting enforcement citations.
The issue came close to ruining an effective working relationship that had spanned over 20 years.
At issue was a sudden and mysterious increase in bear baiting enforcement citations.
Hunters were charged without particular evidence or conditions that would normally cause an enforcement officer to write a citation.
There was remarkable evidence that suggested poor enforcement practice and possible violations by law enforcement personnel in District 2.
Hunters on several occasions met with WRC executive staff trying to find out what was behind the incidents.
In the face of incredible evidence, the WRC did not demand that the rash of enforcement abuse stop.
If anything, arrogance and intimidation, in addition to poor law enforcement was the response. Hunters loudly voiced concerns and the NCBHA leaned hard against the WRC.
All of the above examples do not even begin to describe the local regulations that attempt to outline geographical areas where certain practices are restricted.
They are couched in genuinely obscure and arcane language such as that found for Franklin County.
This is what the Franklin County paragraph says, I kid you not:
(It is illegal to) hunt game from the right-of-way of any public road in that part of the county bounded on the north beginning at the Tar River at the Granville County line east to US 1, then south along US 1 to the intersection of NC 56, then east along NC 56 to the intersection of US 401,then north along US 401 to the intersection of NC 39, then south along NC 39 to the intersection of NC 98, then east along NC 98 to the Nash County line.
So now you know, when it comes to hunting, local sovereignty still rules over both State and Federal Highways! And you thought all that stuff was forever relegated to the musty past with the Magna Carta and the Constitution!
Nope, when it comes to hunting the Bolshevik “greatest good for the greatest number” is unapologetically replaced with good old fashioned local sovereignty.
Anything goes if it cudgels an unenlightened activity like hunting into submission.
But I am not finished!
Here is one more really great example of indecipherable regulatory incoherence. The leading (current) contender for complete Alice-In-Wonderland-Mad-Hatter “the law is ours to know and yours to find out” bureaucracy is DUPLIN COUNTY.
On page 67 of the North Carolina Regulations Digest the Duplin County portion contains this instruction: For information concerning hunting from the roadway in Duplin County contact the County Attorney.
When you call Duplin County you will be told by staff they have a guideline sheet that must be A. Mailed or B. Faxed or C. Picked up in person. It CANNOT be emailed or posted on the Duplin County Website.
So there is a genuine mystery here. The mystery maybe related to the number of times the regulation for Duplin County has been changed in the last five years as demonstrated by these JPEG images.
(Posted At Top)
Some knowledgeable commentators have said Duplin County has two diametrically opposed and unenforceable statutes regulating the same activity.
If so, what could the County Attorney possibly include in a super secret guideline sheet to reconcile the conflict? And why would that guideline sheet be unavailable under the Public Documents Law?
Only Alice’s Mad Hatter knows for sure.
Here is the North Carolina General Statute for Duplin County.
Presumably it is the current “controlling legal authority” Or maybe not. (CLICK LINK HERE)
My suggestion is for all 500,000 hunters who have a copy of the North Carolina Regulations Digest call Duplin County Attorney Wendy Sivori at (910) 296-2233 and asked to be mailed their own personal copy of Duplin County’s Super Secret Hunting Guidelines so they will be in compliance and not be shot by some zealous Game Warden whose grasp of the law may be no better or worse than the people who create them.
Hunters are not second class citizens and should stop allowing government to treat them as though they were. If tourism dollars are welcome, so should recreational hunting dollars be welcome.
Clyde Coffey rest in peace. Apparently you were just in the wrong place at the wrong time: hunting on your own land, minding your own business. (CLICK LINK HERE)
Real Hunting: Game Wardens Gone Berserk
A good example of just how treacherous modern hunting has become. Regulation trumps common sense and everyone is guilty until proven innocent.
Sickening excerpt:
Elk hunters held at gunpoint: Local men were acting legally in Brinnon, say state and county law officials
By Barney Burke and Allison Arthur of The Leader
Two fathers and their sons went hunting in Brinnon on Saturday, but after legally downing an elk with a muzzleloading rifle, they found themselves staring down the barrels of guns pointed at them by uniformed officers of the Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe.
“The whole thing was handled way wrong,” said Don Phipps, who shot the elk. “I’ve never had anyone pull a gun on me in my whole life. I didn’t understand it.”
Phipps, his son Danny, 22, and friend Adam Boling, 28, were handcuffed for two hours while bystanders watched from nearby U.S. Highway 101. Also with the three men was Boling’s 2-year-old son, Taylor.
All eventually were released at the scene and allowed to take the elk home for butchering, but the whole experience has left them wondering why the tribal police handled the incident in the way that they did.
According to Washington and Jefferson County law enforcement officials, Phipps was in full compliance with state and local laws on hunting and the use of firearms.
Back To The Future, Comrade
While the Three Percenters and Oath-Keepers waver and dither and fight yesterday’s wars with yesterday’s weapons, the future takes place before our very eyes almost without comment.
This is the stuff of some Mad Max science fiction come to life.
If you do not have a plan to deal with it, well……. “all your ration are belong to us”, comrade.
Tantalizing Excerpt:
Robocops Come to Pittsburgh
…and bring the latest weaponry with them
by Mike Ferner
As intimidating as this massive show of armed force and technology was, the good burghers of Pittsburgh and their fellow citizens in the Land of the Brave and Home of the Free ain’t seen nothin’ yet.
Tear gas and pepper spray are nothing to sniff at and, indeed, have proven fatal a surprising number of times, but they have now become the old standbys compared to the list below that’s already at or coming soon to a police station or National Guard headquarters near you.
Proving that “what goes around, comes around,” some of the new Property Protection Devices were developed by a network of federally-funded, university-based research institutes like one in Pittsburgh itself, Penn State’s Institute for Non-Lethal Defense Technologies.
Cops Shoot Fire Chief In Dispute Over Traffic Tickets
Heavens to Betsy! Just when you think things could not possibly get more idiotic, THEY DO!
I resolved to post only the most egregious Feral Cop stories after I contemplated posting two statutory rape cases from two different jurisdictions in one week.
Somehow, I now believe it impossible to limit Feral Cop stories in any way. They are too frequent, too outrageous and too, did I mention, idiotic?
Read this story.
A town with 174 residents where the last business was just shuttered has SEVEN Police Officers who spend all their time writing traffic tickets.
When the Fire Chief went to Court to complain he left on a stretcher with a .40 Caliber slug in his hip.
The DA says he will not prosecute the Officer. The Judge has resigned. The Mayor is unavailable. The Sheriff wants to know why all the money from the traffic tickets has disappeared.
Good Grief, television soap operas should be so lucky to have such a rich texture of farce in their daily broadcast.
Hysterical Excerpt:
Now the police chief has disbanded his force “until things calm down,” a judge has voided all outstanding police-issued citations and sheriff’s deputies are asking where all the money from the tickets went. With 174 residents, the city can keep seven police officers on its rolls but missed payments on police and fire department vehicles and saw its last business close its doors a few weeks ago.
“This used to be America!” “It ain’t no more, OK?”
Must see video, fresh off the townhall circuit taken on Tuesday, August 25th, 2009 at Rep. Jim Moran’s (D-VA) Town Hall meeting.
A man with a badge and a gun arrives to explain which signs are verboten in the new America. After he advised the hapless Citizen this “ain’t America no more” he went on to include the obligatory all purpose “I can charge you with anything I want.”
Anybody remember Brett Darrow?
The Police culture in this country has become universally homogenized and downright creepy.
Tantalizing Excerpt:
When I said to Officer Cheeks, “This used to be America!” his response was: “It ain’t no more, OK?”
Fred On Everything-The TSA Menace
Good ole Fred! Still churning them out even at his ripe old age. One of his kinder, gentler columns. Maybe he is losing it after all. (CLICK HERE TO READ FULL TEXT)
Tantalizing Excerpt:
TSA and Its Brethren
Going in a Bad Direction Without Wanting To
August 18, 2009
I discussed the matter with a group of friends who, like me, are roughly in their mid-sixties—that is, who remember the United States as it was years ago. We agreed that we are seeing an anger in the United States, chiefly directed at government, that is new to us. There was widespread anger during the war in Vietnam, but it was directed at the war, not the government in general. Today we have something different.
There is a sense that the government now is not only hostile to the public, which it never was before, but out of control. The degree of intrusiveness has grown from almost none to almost unrestrained—or so people feel.
The Ultimate Feral Cop Compilation Video
Much like David Codrea, I have no real desire to become some kind of cop bashing blog.
But once my toe dipped into Issues RKBA I realized how different the world looks in a parallel universe.
There is actually a GoodCopNews Post. (Really, CLICK HERE TO SEE) No one ever visits to see it. BadCopNews? (CLICK HERE TO SEE) Almost the single most popular post on my humble little blog.
When Cops clean up their Cop Shops it will no longer be necessary for people like me to post their dirty laundry in public.
Meanwhile most of the clips in this video are sadly familar to those of us who keep up with this issue.
CLICK HERE FOR BACKGROUND DETAILS ABOUT THE SELECTED SEGMENTS
Update: Be sure to visit the Traffic Stop and Police Encounter Tutorial CLICK HERE
Ed & Elaine Brown Income Tax Trial Update
The Intrepid Dave Ridley reports from the Ed & Elaine Brown Trial in New Hampshire.
Professor Gates, President Obama: Clyde Coffey Is Still Dead
It would be hard to find a better example of the self absorption exhibited by children of the “Age Of Aquarius” than the inane discussion conducted by President Obama and the Nattering Nitwits of the National Press about the arrest of Harvard Professor Henry Louis Gates by Cambridge Police.
Seriously folks, We, The Public, should shed crocodile tears over the arrest of a Professor with more degrees than intelligence because he could not talk his way out of a routine investigation? And he teaches where? At Harvard? AND he wants to make the incident into some kind of racial issue?
Geez. A small reality check is in order.
In just five years, writer David Codrea CLICK HERE has amassed nearly 3,500 Police Misconduct Incidents in his (TM) “Only Ones” File; incidents that range the gamut from (but are not limited to) murder to rape to child molestation among other charges.
Before David Codrea’s (TM)”Only Ones” File there came the now defunct Bad Cop News, where, as the description on their masthead stated: Bad Cop News:10’s Of Thousands Of “Isolated Incidents” – Our Tax Dollars At Work
Before that, JJ Johnson of the equally defunct Sierra Times maintained an archive dubbed the Whack’em and Stack’em Files.
I, myself, here in this small humble blog of a few hundred daily hits have uncovered a ridiculous number of police misconduct reports to the point where I tire of the chronicle.
Police who invade the wrong address in SWAT Team garb, police who gratuitously shoot the family pet dog, who terrorize women and children over fabricated charges of illegal food sales(?!) and just generally leave a trail of mayhem and mischief where ever they go.
A surprising number of these incidents, if not the overwhelming majority, occur between white cops and white citizens.
Which brings us to the strange case of Clyde Coffey in North Carolina. CLICK HERE
In April of this year 76 year old (Caucasian) (male) (taxpayer)(Citizen)(Landowner) Clyde Coffey was turkey hunting on a remote parcel of land he owned in Wilkes County, North Carolina as he had for 25 years without incident when he was approached, shot and killed by (Caucasian) (male) Wildlife Enforcement Officer Mark Minton who alleges Clyde Coffey was engaged in illegal bait tactics.
In spite of a severely contaminated crime scene (caused by Emergency Medical Personnel and others) the State Bureau of Investigation has exonerated the conduct of Wildlife Enforcement Officer Minton and the County DA has declined to even present the case to a grand jury.
In a State that brought (recently) disgraced Prosecutor Mike Nifong to national attention, the inaction of the Wilkes County DA seems to reach the level of routine procedure.
Where is the national discussion or outrage over this case?
Professor Gates, President Obama, get over yourselves.
The issue is hardly racial profiling. The issue is Police Training.
Who writes the curriculum for these people and how have they become so isolated from their fellow Americans (Black or white?) that they shoot, kill and terrorize with impunity?
Professor Gates had a mild experience, probably because he is black.
Clyde Coffey is still dead.
Update: Be sure to visit the Traffic Stop and Police Encounter Tutorial CLICK HERE
