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[Ward Griffiths]

Ward, have you published any defaults on contracts? If so, could you describe some of them or copy them for us? Why would such publication have any effect?

I don't accept majority rule either. Unanimous rule is the only appropriate form of rule by those of sound mind. Authoritarians are not of sound mind. Self-defense is not authoritarian. Authoritarians like anarchists, because the latter don't unify to defend themselves from authoritarians.

By the way, prejudice against political words, like "government", is irrational. Collaborative self-government is reasonable and responsible.

I would, but mostly I've been lucky in who I contracted with.  My late wife was not so stringent, which is why it took me five months to use the New Jersey legal system to evict the guy renting our first floor after he stopped renting and started squatting.  Apparently the judge in Jersey City accepted his claim that alcoholism was a disability under the current legal structure protecting "disabled" people.

[Luck]

Case-Winning Paperwork - Part 1

How to Win in Court
866-LAW-EASY ( 866-529-3279 )

Want to drive your opponents nuts? Tie them down with word-power! What you'll learn will empower you to stuff your opponents in a word-box and win your case hands-down!

Most pro se people never understand this ... so they lose, needlessly. Many lawyers never understand this ... so they also lose, needlessly ... and take their client's money anyway!

Short sentences. Powerful sentences. Sentences with ONE VERB. Sentences with ONE SUBJECT. One subject. One verb. And only the absolutely necessary adjectives and adverbs. If it's important to say your opponent's nose was gigantic, say so. Otherwise, leave it out! Each sentence is a complete thought.

Mrs. Edgerton taught me that in Second Grade, and it's helped me win countless court battles. Winning in court is all about effective communication. The "How to Win in Court" course will show you how!

Case-Winning Paperwork - Part 2

What is the goal of legal writing? Think about this question ... think really, really hard and long! What is your goal? Impress the judge? Confuse the opponent? Or, win the case?

Everything we do in life has in one sense or another a particular goal. Some things we do are automatic, like breathing, yet there is always a goal.

In business, the goal is to provide a benefit to others that they will want to pay for. In sports, the goal is to perform to the highest of our athletic ability. In law, the goal is to achieve certain well defined benchmarks!

Here is where most lawyers and nearly all pro se people miss the boat ... they get sidetracked! Every word, spoken in the courtroom or written on paper filed with the clerk and served on the other side, must aim toward a specific goal. Any words not aimed at the goal must go!

Most of what I've seen from pro se people (and quite a bit from the dozens of lawyers I had to deal with since 1986 when I first started as a licensed attorney) read more like a long-winded story.

Legal writing is NOT "story-telling"! Every word has a purpose. Any word that can do nothing substantial to achieve the goal (which is winning, by the way) must go. Say what needs saying and stop! Aim every word at your goal.

You don't need a "novelist's eye" or a "bartender's ear", like Jimmy Buffett. You're assembling the parts of a powerful engine.

Learn how at HowToWinInCourt

---

Get Your Evidence Admitted ! ! !
How to Win in Court
866-LAW-EASY (866-529-3279)

Don't end up like this poor fellow! Here he is in the heat of trial. He's trying to offer documents he's been counting on to win his case. He's trying to present them for the first time on the day of the trial. Big mistake!

His documents can do nothing unless and until they are admitted as "admissible evidence". He will lose ... needlessly! He thought he'd be tricky and surprise his opponents. He hid his "evidence", waiting till the last minute to "spring it" on his opponent at trial, hoping it would be too late for his opponent to respond effectively.

Bad idea! Ambush rarely works at trial ... no matter what you see on TV or in the movies. If you don't get your evidence in before trial, you'll likely not get it in at all. Then you will lose ... needlessly!

Why not be prepared? You only get one bite at the trial apple. Why wait till trial to test evidence for admissibility. Never trust what a witness promises she will say. Never trust that a document will be admitted ... even if it's sealed with royal wax imprinted by a king's ring and draped with silk ribbons.

If you assume you have "evidence" to spring on your opponent at trial, you are playing a dangerous game, risking everything for no advantage whatever. If you wait to present "secret evidence" at trial, you're betting on the wrong horse!

Evidence that isn't admitted isn't evidence! Authenticate before trial. Learn how at How to Win in Court

[Luck]

Offers of Proof in Court
If you start to offer evidence and, before you can get it before the court, the other side objects and the judge sustains your opponent's objection, you must move the court to allow you to make clear on the record what your evidence was going to be and what it would tend to prove! This is making an offer of proof. Expect your opponent to try to stop you. Be prepared to make an offer of proof immediately ... or risk losing needlessly! An offer of proof shows the court on the record: What the offered evidence is and What the evidence tends to prove Failure to get evidence admitted is fatal! If you don't get your evidence admitted and don't make an offer of proof, you'll have nothing to appeal if you lose! If you don't make an offer of proof, the record will not show the appellate court what the evidence would have been. There'll be nothing in the record for the appellate court to review! Appellate courts will not examine evidence that wasn't made part of the record at the trial level. You can't introduce evidence for the first time on appeal. Like baseball umpire say, "Them's the rules!" Evidence that doesn't get in is no evidence at all. Learn how to make offers of proof at How to Win in Court

The Burden of Proof ... Who Must Do What and Why!
You must understand who has the burden of proof ... and why it matters! If you're being sued, the other side has the burden of proof. If the other side files a motion, they have the burden of proof. But, sometimes the burden shifts back-and-forth. Knowing who has the burden is critical. Don't be victimized by lawyers tricking you into thinking the burden is yours, making you struggle to "disprove" a fact or the application of law ... when the burden is not on you! The burden is always on the party asserting a fact or law to prove what he asserts. It's never your job to disprove what he asserts! In more than 27 years as a case-winning lawyer, I've won many cases simply by forcing the court to require my opponent to "put up or shut up". Think how this can be applied to foreclosure or credit card cases! A credit lender asserts his alleged debtor owes, and far too often the alleged debtor spins his wheels trying prove he doesn't owe ... instead of forcing the creditor to prove what he claims or be dismissed! Knowing how to shift the burden is power to win! Why be tricked by other members of my profession? Learn more about the burden and more at How to Win in Court

[Luck]

Use Judicial Notice Motions!
How to Win in Court 866-LAW-EASY ( 866-529-3279 ) Why struggle to prove obvious facts? Enter to Win!Every court (state or federal) provides an easy way to prove obvious facts. The method is called "Judicial Notice". Like everything else about "How to Win in Court", it's easy to do! And, you should do it whenever you can. Make your opponents' legal bullets bounce harmlessly off your educated chest by moving the court to take judicial notice of obvious facts. Don't spend valuable court energy trying to prove what the court must admit when you move it to do so. Once the court takes judicial notice of a fact, the court's order settles the issue for all purposes. Here's a true story from one of my early cases:   My client hired me to recover a security deposit from her former landlord, who claimed she owed him for cutting down a tree.   The tree was a Brazilian Pepper tree, a nuisance plant here in Florida, related to poison ivy, poison oak, and poison sumac.   I didn't spin my wheels trying to prove that tree was worthless.   I said, "Your honor, I move the court for an order taking judicial notice that Brazilian Pepper trees have been deemed a nuisance plant in Florida and therefore have no commercial value to justify this landlord's witholding my client's security deposit."   The judge smiled, pleased at the opportunity to tell us what he knew of this pesky bush. He leaned back in his leather-backed chair and put his hands behind his head as if he were going to tell a story to his grandchildren. He talked about those nasty trees for at least 10 minutes, detailing problems he and his family had and reciting concern officials have with the invasion of this plant from Argentina where it was seen as an attractive ornamental. He talked about rashes he received on his own hands after whacking away at one of the menace trees in his own backyard.   Suddenly, he leaned forward, turned toward the landlord, pronounced, "Motion granted. Judgment for the plaintiff." My client got her deposit money. If a fact is commonly known, move the court to take judicial notice. Learn how at How to Win in Court

[Luck]

Recommended by Future School:
Re: FUTURE SCHOOL (Get Smart Blog)
« Reply #23 on: September 18, 2016, 09:53:45 pm »

How to Avoid Pro Se Problems: Learn Court Procedure in 2 Days

From: "How to Win in Court" (Win@HowToWinInCourt.com)
Win Without a Lawyer
by Attorney Frederick D. Graves, JD
Learn Court Procedure in 2 Days - Click Here!
https://www.howtowinincourt.com

Why Pro Se Litigants Have a Hard Time.
Whether it's the high cost of lawyers' fees or growing distrust of lawyers in general, there is a mounting trend these days for more people to fight without a lawyer. The American Bar Association (ABA) reports
    60% of the public can't afford a lawyer.
    20% simply don't want to spend the money.
    50% just don't trust lawyers!
Yet ½ of all court proceedings involve at least one pro se party. Too many pro se people lose ... needlessly! Ever wonder why you were never taught anything about court procedure or the rules of evidence in your tax-supported schools?

Who benefits from your legal ignorance? You guessed it. Lawyers!
    Most pro se people know nothing about the official Rules of Evidence that control the judge and all parties and their lawyers.
    Most pro se people know nothing about the official Rules of Procedure that control the judge and all parties and their lawyers.
    Most pro se people have no idea what "due process" really is.
    Most pro se people can't recognize the opposing lawyer's dirty tricks.
    Most pro se people assume what "admissible evidence" is and don't know what stuff isn't.
    Most pro se people draft their pleadings and motions incorrectly - usually with far too many words!
    Most pro se people don't know why it's vital to write proposed orders for the judge to sign.
    Most pro se people don't know why, when, or how to make effective objections in court.
    Most pro se people don't understand what facts are critical to winning a case and what facts are of no consequence.
    Most pro se people muddy the legal waters with court-confusing insignificance.
    Most pro se people don't know how to find and cite controlling appellate opinions in support of their motions.
    Most pro se people don't arrange in advance of every proceeding to have a court stenographer present, so they can control the judge.
    Most pro se people waste valuable court time with non-essentials, fail to appreciate the needs of others who have other problems to bring before the court and, as a consequence, tend to make judges dread pro se cases and hate pro se people.

People using our course are winners!
Win Without a Lawyer!
Learn Court Procedure in 2 Days - Click Here!
https://www.howtowinincourt.com

[Luck]

22939
(Recent post subject above is Learn Court Procedure in 2 Days.)
(This whole thread has a lot of good info on how to prep to defend yourself or friends in court.)

How to Dodge a Lawsuit
http://HowToWinInCourt.com
866-LAW-EASY (866-529-3279)

Need to dodge a lawsuit? Whether you're a plaintiff or defendant, you must know what smart defendants do to dodge lawsuits.

If a defendant is served with a complaint, he may dodge the lawsuit by filing motions to avoid filing an Answer! This is called the "flurry of motions". Once a defendant files an Answer, he's locked in and misses this chance to dodge the lawsuit altogether. Don't file an Answer if you can dodge the lawsuit with a "flurry of motions".

Inexperienced lawyers and pro se people make the avoidable mistake of filing an Answer to plaintiff's Complaint ... instead of using the flurry of motions.
    Motion to Dismiss
    Motion to Strike
    Motion for More Definite Statement

Each of these motions postpones the necessity of filing an Answer to the Complaint ... and gains you valuable time and evidence-gathering opportunities! In some cases it puts an end to the case. Period!

Failure to use the Flurry of Motions weakens your case. Know how to use the Flurry of Motions.

[Luck]

24327
Open technology for land rights documentation
https://opensource.com/article/17/1/land-rights-documentation-Cadasta

Mullum locals dive in to help save Great Barrier Reef
http://www.echo.net.au/2017/01/mullum-locals-dive-help-save-great-barrier-reef

Oregon Homebuilders Association vs Community Rights
http://www.eugeneweekly.com/20170112/letters-editor/letters-editor-2017-1-12

Right to Local Self-government: Muting Goal One Goal: Citizens fight aerial sprays
http://www.eugeneweekly.com/20170112/guest-viewpoint/muting-goal-one%C2%A0goal

Screening: “We The People 2.0” Bellingham, WA
http://kgmi.com/events/screening-we-the-people-2-0-2

[Luck]

24464
(UPDATE: Last 4 articles are new here.)

Community Rights Movement Rising
http://nwcitizen.com/entry/community-rights-movement-rising

Study shows that involving communities in mangrove management makes them more sustainable
http://www.cifor.org/press-releases/study-shows-involving-communities-mangrove-management-makes-sustainable

Himachal CM assured Govt. committed to implement Forest Rights Act: Van Adhikar Manch
https://himachalwatcher.com/2017/02/07/himachal-cm-assured-govt-committed-to-implement-forest-rights-act-van-adhikar-manch

National Media in Nagaland: Bull in a china Shop
http://morungexpress.com/national-media-nagaland-bull-china-shop

24548
Pro Se Basic Information
http://caught.net/prose/prose.htm

Court Myths
http://caught.net/caught/myths.htm

Constitution Society: GUIDELINES TO FILING YOUR OWN CASE IN FEDERAL COURT
http://www.constitution.org/pro-se/pro-se.htm

Firearm Laws and Regulations
http://legalhelp.org/firearm-laws-regulations

Pro Se Assistance Program for Inventors
https://www.uspto.gov/patents-getting-started/using-legal-services/pro-se-assistance-program
Pro Se Assistance Program is the United States Patent and Trademark Office's comprehensive pilot to expand outreach to inventors who file patent applications without the assistance of a registered patent attorney or agent (also known as "pro se" filing)

[Luck]

SUPPORT THIS LEGISLATION

NH Rep Ellen Read recently sponsored CACR19, a state constitutional amendment that would guarantee local community rights
https://forum.freestateproject.org/index.php?topic=28491.msg300461#msg300461

SEE ALSO:

Barrington NH Declaration of "Independence"
https://forum.freestateproject.org/index.php?topic=17550.msg299175#msg299175
https://forum.freestateproject.org/index.php?topic=17550.msg299176#msg299176

Free Town Requirements
https://forum.freestateproject.org/index.php?topic=17550.msg300463#msg300463

New Hampshire Community Rights Network
https://forum.freestateproject.org/index.php?topic=28491.msg299182#msg299182

Why we must amend the NH Constitution
https://forum.freestateproject.org/index.php?topic=28491.msg299261#msg299261

Ohio Community Rights Action Example
https://forum.freestateproject.org/index.php?topic=28491.msg299401#msg299401

Pennsylvania Community Rights Action Example
https://forum.freestateproject.org/index.php?topic=28491.msg299402#msg299402

Local Self-Government: Community Rights educator Paul Cienfuegos
Local Communities Dismantling Corporate Rule, part 1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Prylnj4NQ8

[Luck]

29737
JACKASS COURTS & BIG BUSINESSES (OIL COMPANIES ETC) PRETEND (AS USUAL) THAT BIG CORPORATIONS' RIGHTS TO EXPLOIT ARE SUPERIOR TO COMMUNITY RIGHTS TO SURVIVE

Press Release: Federal Court Sanctions Lawyers for Defending Community’s Right to Say “No” to Frack Wastewater Injection Wells
https://celdf.org/2018/01/press-release-federal-court-sanctions-lawyers-defending-communitys-right-say-no-frack-wastewater-injection-wells/

Jan 5, 2018
Court Awards $52,000 to Oil and Gas Company and Calls for Disciplinary Action Against Attorney
 
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Mari Margil
mmargil@celdf.org
(503) 381-1755
_MERCERSBURG, PA:  Today, the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania issued an order imposing sanctions on two attorneys defending a Community Bill of Rights Ordinance adopted by Grant Township, Pennsylvania.  The Township has spent years fighting to stop frack wastewater injection wells from being sited in the community with assistance from the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund (CELDF).
_Injection wells – which involve the high pressure underground dumping of millions of gallons of frack wastewater, which contains toxins, carcinogens, and other chemicals – cause earthquakes, can contaminate drinking water, and bring other environmental and public health impacts.
_Today’s ruling comes as part of a lawsuit in which Pennsylvania General Energy, LLC (PGE) is suing Grant Township to overturn the Township’s ban on frack wastewater injection wells.  (Pennsylvania General Energy Company, LLC v. Grant Township)
_Not satisfied with suing the community and questioning its authority to protect the people and environment of Grant Township from injection wells, the company decided to punish its lawyers by seeking monetary sanctions against them.
“At a time when Americans more and more are looking to the courts for reason and justice, today we find neither, as corporate forces once again have been able to wield our institutions of government to punish those working to elevate the rights of communities over fossil fuel corporations,” stated CELDF’s Associate Director Mari Margil.
_Magistrate Judge Susan Baxter earlier found that the Township’s prohibition on injection wells violated the corporation’s constitutional rights.  The case is scheduled for a jury trial in May, at which PGE will seek hundreds of thousands of dollars from the Township, claiming that it suffered harm because the company has been prevented from dumping frack waste in a residential area next to the Township’s sole source of drinking water.

[Luck]

33131

POLITICAL ACTIVISM

Granite Bridge pipeline project Taxpayers Moneypit?

Thursday, September 27th, 6:00 – 8:00 p.m.
Harvey-Mitchell Memorial Library
151 Main St.
Epping, NH  03042

Liberty Utilities has proposed the Granite Bridge pipeline project, a 27 mile, 16 foot-diameter, high pressure natural gas pipeline to span state land along Route 101 between Manchester and Stratham, New Hampshire. The project includes a liquified natural gas storage tank and a plant for reliquification and regasification to move from pipe to distribution.

New Hampshire communities are exploring Community Rights and Rights of Nature to protect themselves and local ecosystems from the project. In this workshop, the New Hampshire Community Rights Network shares how eleven other towns across the state, and almost 200 across the nation, have exercised their Community Rights to protect people and planet above profit.

[Luck]

33301

Win Without a Lawyer! HowToWinInCourt.com
The Burden of Proof ...
Who Must Do What ... and Why!
You must understand who has the burden of proof ... and why it matters!
If you're being sued, the other side has the burden of proof.
If the other side files a motion, they have the burden of proof.
But, sometimes the burden shifts back-and-forth.
Knowing who has the burden is critical.
Don't be victimized by lawyers tricking you into thinking the burden is yours, making you struggle to "disprove" a fact or the application of law ... when the burden is not on you!
The burden is always on the party asserting a fact or law to prove what he asserts.
It's never your job to disprove what he asserts!
In more than 32 years as a case-winning lawyer, I've won many cases simply by forcing the court to require my opponent to "put up or shut up".
Knowing how to shift the burden is power to win!
Why be tricked by other members of my profession?

[Luck]

Public Hearing on the NH Community Rights (Local Self-Government) Amendment
Wednesday, March 6th @ 2:40 PM

The NH Community Rights Amendment, CACR 8 (Constitutional Amendment Concurrent Resolution),
will be considered at a public hearing by the
House Municipal & County Government Committee in Concord, NH, on
Wednesday, the 6th of March at 2:40 PM
in Room # 301 in the Legislative Offices Building (LOB),
the gray building behind the State House.

-----

We the People 2.0 Screening in Brentwood, NH
April 1, 2019
what’s happening?
Brentwood, NH, residents are hosting a film screening of We the People 2.0. The film shares stories from communities across the country who are facing harmful corporate activities. To protect themselves, they are confronting our legal structure, which elevates the rights of corporations over the rights of people, communities, and nature.

Brentwood residents face the same kinds of harms and the same legal structure as that of communities in the film. Threatened with the Granite Bridge Pipeline project, they are organizing to safeguard the air, water, and soil of their community.

CELDF’s New Hampshire community organizer, Michelle Sanborn, will be part of the discussion following the screening. With Sanborn, Brentwood residents will learn how New Hampshire communities are partnering with CELDF around water rights, sustainable energy, and freedom from chemical trespass, in addition to social justice rights.

Together, they are working to secure their rights locally and at the state level with a state constitutional amendment securing the right to local self-government.

when?
Monday, April 1st, 6 p.m. EST, 7 p.m. EDT

where?
Mary E. Bartlett Library
22 Dalton Rd
Brentwood, NH 03833
(20 miles east of Manchester)

[RidleyReport]

Hi luck!    hmmm...the fact that the nh state government seems more pro freedom and uncorrupted than the average NH local government... has made me question for some time the idea the local is generally better.  state seems dramatically more benign than federal in the u.s., but maybe it just seems that way because i'm in new hampahire.   maybe i'd think different if i lived in illinois or something.

[Luck]

Hi Dave. I haven't seen your Ridley Reports for a while, but I'll see next week if you have any new ones on YouTube. Is there another site where you post them? I've been linking them in the NH & FSP news thread (that you suggested I run a couple years ago).

If you think local self-government isn't better than state government, there's something wrong with you, don't you know? Do you want the state to be able to tell local people how to govern themselves? You've heard of the Free Town Project idea I'm sure. That's what local self-government is, is it not? Should not towns have the right to decide if they want to get rid of zoning or taxation etc? Instead of taxes, I think towns should have their own banks and use interest on loans in place of taxes.