Humanity

War is made possible by “othering”, the dehumanization of people. Karma states that one cannot take the humanity of another without losing one’s own humanity. Today in the USA people convicted of crimes walk the streets with permanent invisible badges “thief, murderer, rapist, etc.”. One cannot casually see that label as they walk by, but they struggle under the weight of it. At the same time unaccused and unconvicted police officers struggle under the weight of those same labels, their badges hand them the weight of every crime any police officer has committed. The rest of us walk uneasily among them both, fearful of the inhuman and all too aware of how easily we could lose our own humanity.

The word “humanity” once stood for something else; courage, determination, genius, and most of all compassion. I would like to live once more among humanity. I would like to see those who have lost their honor regain it. And while forgiveness can only come to this who seek it, acting in human compassion can affirm and strengthen the humanity of all parties. Acting in human compassion can soothe hearts, restore families, end wars.

So I ask that you look past the labels, “criminal, pig, Trump supporter, communist, anarchist, alcoholic, meat-eater, breeder, etc.” Breath deep, and see the best parts of the person in front of you. Not for their sake, but for yours; to know in that reflection you are a noble human too, and so that we may once again live in a beautiful world.

Ceremonial Law-Enforcement

Working a bit late at a Jewish client’s house yesterday, and he invites me to join them for Sabath dinner. Don’t know much about it, said I’d be honored. Sabath lasts from sundown Friday to sundown Saturday, checking his calendar he saw it begins at 4:46PM. A bit before that there’s a flurry of activity as he makes last-minute calls to clients, wife and teens get in their phone conversations/screen time, then they turn everything off except a few lights. They will spend the day in contemplation, doing no work. Candles are lit, with a short prayer read from the Torah. Father sings a song in Hebrew while dancing with his youngest daughter. There’s a handwashing ceremony before dinner, washing front back front of each hand, followed by a prayer and silence until we sit and break bread. He grunts and hums at the garrulous child, trying to remind her. After breaking bread he blesses the household, from the oldest child sulking by the fire, to the youngest, first in Hebrew and then English, inviting each to offer their own blessing on each other. They all have kind words to share. Then we eat, a friendly meal with rich conversation. That little girl knows a lot about dinosaurs.

It’s a happy family, and I’m meditating on the important role ceremony and tradition plays in it. There is a commitment to self-discipline, but also civil discipline, each of them strengthening the tradition in each other by practicing it themselves. I think my favorite part is blessing the family, after a moment of quiet, reminding all that there is something to appreciate in each other.

I often ponder how, as sheriff, I could deliver such ceremonies that would foster civil behavior, kindness and joy. Award ceremonies and performance reviews are the norm now, but perhaps I could incorporate a moment of blessing when meeting with deputies, asking them what they appreciate of each other. The chief in Vista, CA would slowly patrol Halloween night wearing a pignose, slowing traffic for the young trick-or-treaters, keeping the peace with humor and humility. Perhaps I would offer to wash the feet of new inmates on Saturday, reminding them they are still appreciated.

+Sheriff of Love+

Swatting, and The Conservative Path to Love

“Swatting” is the term used when someone makes a call to a police department with a false story of an ongoing crime – often involving killing or hostages – in an attempt to draw a large number of police officers to an address. Swatting has gained traction across the country with online gamers.

Prank phone calls to the police are nothing new. As a young Virginian they were common to my high school and college, where the more convincing calls resulted in shutting down school and police arriving with the necessary means to respond to such a threat should it prove to be true. Some calls were true, and yet all were resolved without a shot fired. I credit the training and level-headedness of the officers responding.

What is new is the lack of training and capacity for police to recognize and appropriately respond to false threats. On this page I am not really calling for new methods but rather old-school training that is largely disappearing from today’s police force. Threat assessment, de-escalation, shoot-to-wound, and dialogue are not new concepts. They are old, well-documented and proven. Old-school, conservative training and response are very much aligned with the path of love. I call on the old-timers to shake off their weariness and share their wisdom. We all have a part to play in the more beautiful world our hearts know is possible.

Sheriff of Love

http://www.kansas.com/news/local/crime/article197473639.html

Turn Around

http://lastrealindians.com/water-protectors-shut-down-jp-morgan-chase-in-seattle/

This post is for those few law-enforcement types of the few people who read this page. Look at this picture, and police are being portrayed as they commonly are; the face and the fist of corporations.

How can this perception be changed?

How can it be shown that you truly serve and protect the people?

I have a suggestion:

 

Turn around.

 

These people are not simply protesting inconvenient behavior. They are filing a criminal complaint; environmental crimes, economic crimes, violence against themselves and against you too. They are peacefully objecting, and they are asking for your help. They are asking for your protection and service. Turn around, look at what they’re pointing at, and they will not harm you. In fact, they just might cheer you on, and protect and serve you.

Sheriff of Love

SoL on FB

2016-04-20-04PM-20: Transcending Protest

April 20 at 4:20PM has been a long-standing day of support for cannabis legalization, and practiced for decades at the University of Colorado, Boulder. In recent years the University has gone to extreme measures to prevent this protest, closing the campus and hiring hundreds of extra police to enforce that closure. Last year this policy was quietly scrapped, and Dr. Caroline Conzelman and the CU chapter of Students for Sensible Drug Policy began holding a Cannabis Symposium with the blessings of University administration.

I applaud their efforts and look forward to this event.

https://www.facebook.com/events/100874756978098/

Clarifications to Daily Camera Article on Elza

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I would like to thank Alex and the Daily Camera for taking the time to hear and relate this story. I’m hoping it leads to constructive dialog over things like end-of-life care, community and appropriate use of law-enforcement.

A few clarifications: I was in jail for thirty hours, not three. The arresting officers promised but failed to show me a warrant, and I never received a phone call. Both I requested continuously until I was released when my wife, who had been in the shower, figured out what had occurred, where I was, and bailed me out. A good bit of effort later I received a warrant document with my name on it, but no signature.

This is only a misdemeanor charge of animal cruelty, and a person can run for sheriff even if they have been convicted of a felony. They can’t run if they have pled guilty to a felony, though.

I feel that many law-enforcement duties can and should be conducted without the presence of firearms. But I am most certainly not advocating they lack access or ability to use them when needed. In advocating for greater trust of residents I would also like to offer greater trust to deputies, by removing quotas and bureaucratic hurdles, and offering them the opportunity to explore non-violent solutions to social ills without fear of repercussions. The authority that deputies exert should come from trust, not fear.

In Elza’s last months she was exclusively with my family and my chosen resposibility. When she began losing weight and showed other signs of illness I made several visits to VCA Allpets down the street, and followed their recommendations for weight gain (which I was already doing) and antibiotic treatments. The vets were reluctant to refer me to
more intensive treatments, indicating that it had little chance of helping, would be unpleasant and had a good chance of killing her. They were also reluctant to advise euthanasia, as she did not appear to be suffering and was likely to die soon. Elza hung on for many more weeks than I expected, and wife and daughter were in California when she was killed. On the morning before Elza’s death I saw a maggot on her for the first and only time. That is when I told her, my wife, and my client (I was running late) that it was the end and that evening I would end her life. When I got back it was dark out and she was missing, I went looking for her but did not find her. The next morning I was contacted and charged by animal control.

I completely understand why someone wouldn’t want to get close to a dying cat. My daughter had been somewhat put off by her dying great-grandmother. But I stand by my request that the owner be contacted directly when possible, and point out that I am facing trial, financial penalties and further time in jail. My family has dealt with loss of income and my eight-year old daughter stood alone watching me get hauled off our front steps to jail. From stories here and elsewhere it appears that appeals to the police are rarely helpful to anyone involved. In most cases there are better ways to facilitate responsible pet-ownership than killing the animal and prosecuting the family. Elza had a long and joyful life, and I am happy to have had her in my life.

Talk To Your Neighbors

Wednesday evening 2015-12-16 Boulder city police knocked on my door and arrested me in my pajamas while playing with my daughter, claiming to have a bench warrant (turned out they didn’t). This stems from last Summer when someone discovered my missing, dying twenty-year old cat and reported it to animal control, who killed her and charged me with animal cruelty. She was wearing her collar with my name, address, and phone number on it.

Something I do and would appreciate is if someone finds a loose or distressed animal, contact the owner first. I go out of my way to return loose dogs or at least chase them away from busy roads, rather than turn them into the police to be ransomed back to their owners. It’s something I’ve been doing quietly every year for over a decade here, but I’m making the formal offer now: this is what I’ll do for you and what I request; talk to your neighbors.

There are many circumstances where police are needed, but I feel they are called too often over things that could be settled with a simple conversation between neighbors. Likewise I saw many in jail for letting an argument get too heated when one or both should have broke it off and gone for a long walk, and the law makes a mess of both those people’s lives. Fifty years ago my grandfather worked for the AFSC in Africa, traveling between insurgent warlords and colonial rulers carrying their messages to each other when they would not talk any other way. it was perilous work, and his first wife died on one of those trips. I have traveled the Earth too and navigated perilous circumstances, aided by the traditions of non-violent conflict resolution of my Quaker ancestors. These days I am not so adventurous, staying put and raising a family. But I would see peace, safety and prosperity in my neighborhood. So if you find yourself for whatever reason unable to speak with your neighbor, drop me a message and I’ll do what I can to help resolve it to everyone’s satisfaction. And if there is a complaint against me, I will listen respectfully and act for our mutual well-being.

My next court appearance in this matter is 8:30AM this Friday, January 15 2016 in courtroom E at the Boulder Courthouse at 6th and Canyon. It’s a status conference so shouldn’t take too long. I expect the city will continue to bully and cheat, so an extra few quiet observers would be welcome and helpful. I am experienced and knowledgeable in this arena, intending to defend myself vigorously, so you might also find this helpfully educational.

Money Walks

Wednesday evening Boulder city police knocked on my door and arrested me in my pajamas while playing with my daughter for not killing our missing cat. I’ve spent an entertaining 30 hours in the county jail, made some colorful friends and learned three new card games.

As I was being hauled off one of the cops said, “hey, wasn’t there a minor there?”. They asked if anyone else was home and I answered truthfully that I didn’t know. One went back and my wife, just out of the shower, answered. He let her know and left. I was not allowed to communicate with anyone, don’t recall them reading rights, and never got a phone call.

I was spitting mad, and chewed them out all the way to jail. I think I saw one cry. They refused to show me the warrant they claimed to have, saying it was available at the jail. I’ve pursued it diligently and still haven’t seen it or heard the particulars. Haven’t seen the complaint it’s based on either, just the initial ticket.

Once at the jail they uncuffed me and I watched a variety of people come in, get processed and sent into the bowels. There were some broken chairs, a tv and bathrooms. Most people were there about three hours, I was there around six. Figured I wouldn’t be in jail long so I made up my mind to hear as many stories as possible, analyze how things operated and see how I might do it differently. Deputies kept asking me if I would like to pay money and get out of jail, but I pointed out I was in my pajamas and my handkerchief and wedding ring had been confiscated. A Wisconsin man ten years my senior had been arrested a few times and gave me a fairly accurate summary. He was there because his truck had slid on the ice (there’d been a foot of snow couple days before) into another car and the cops thought he might have been drunk. His truck was impounded but they released him after a few hours. Those people who did get to make phone calls struggled to remember a useful phone number. After a few hours of loudly denouncing the system I settled into Zazen, and a woman asked me if I was ready for my interview. I went with her and a deputy came along to loom over me. “First you have to swear an oath, then I’ll ask you some questions”. I asked what the oath was and they handed me a sheet of sufficiently complex legalese that I declined. When they fingerprinted me I was tickled to see that under aliases they had typed, “Sheriff, of Love”.

I got to the intake cell around 3AM wearing a red outfit with BCSO emblazoned on the back, was handed a bag of bedding and sent to share cell 4 with a small young hispanic man (Martin?) who had been processed earlier. He was coughing, slept the whole time I was there, and appeared to have been severely beaten. Our cells were buzzed open at 5AM to the holler of “breakfast!”.  I went down to inspect and meet folks, but they weren’t feeling social. It was a brown tray with unidentifiable brown foods. Except the orange, which I ate. A table in the middle of the room had a stack of papers and folders with “DON’T TOUCH MY SHIT!” on it, and turned out to belong to the enormous black gangster-looking fellow in the almost-normal clothing. He worked closely with the deputies, never seemed to be in lockdown, and cleaned the public areas twice a day. I tried but failed to connect. Doughnut, the large latino gangster-looking type who had arrived with me scribbled, “I touched your shit” when he wasn’t looking. They managed to connect over evil glances and literal strutting.

I tried some broken Korean on the sad asian, who turned out to be a visiting Korean professor to the University of Colorado, there on domestic violence charges. He’d had a loud argument with his wife and the neighbors had called the police. He was very concerned for her and their four children, and rather confused in broken English. A Coloradan first-timer was there on similar charges after arguing with his girlfriend in the house they built together, and completely ashamed of the situation.

Darren the heroin junkie struggled with a dislocating artificial hip, but proudly announced he was sober since his arrest and looking forward to his new sober future. He worked the room looking for people likely to get out soon, asking them to go to his house and give his dog his meds, for which he had written four copies of instructions prior to arrest. Another suffered from liver cancer, a healing broken back, and “air bubbles in the brain”, all complicated by BCSO’s refusal to give him his meds. He was very disappointed to be spending his 21st Christmas in a row in jail, and dreamed of celebrating one as a free homeless man. Young dread-locked tweaker Richard had no illusions of his lifestyle, lived an obviously careful regimen to address the downsides, and was looking forward to getting back to his stash. He taught me Rummy and I taught him King’s Corners before some weirdness put us all in lockdown.

I thought claiming to be there for non-cat-murder would be seen skeptically, but they all laughed, and one black guy topped me with a story of knocking on a wrong door, getting no answer, leaving and being arrested a couple blocks away for trespassing. Inmates swapped stories comparing different prisons. Gilpin county was the gold-standard, California the hardest to get out of, Chicago the most dangerous. No one there knew anyone who had left a New York jail.

Around 1:30 most of us were herded down to prepare for the in-jail court room with the public defender, where we were all put in handcuffs and chains. The deputy left there to watch us joked with the thieves and gangsters, but seemed generally depressed by the situation and complained how he wanted out of jail. My companions-in-chains teased that I’d be his boss. One young man had been arrested with his wife, who was put in a glass room so they couldn’t communicate except by blowing kisses.

We went to court in two shifts, hispanics first. When I got there I was glad to see my wife had figured out where I was and was sitting in the visitor’s section. The public defender spoke for me and I was given no opportunity to interact directly with the judge. The Korean’s wife had been sitting there with a crying child for hours, as had the girlfriend of the other guy. The judge offered to release me on $500 bond that day or $50 bond the next day. Doughnut gloated over all of the errors on his complaint, e.g. described as 120lb. man. One unfortunate young Native-American woman cried as she explained how her wallet and identity had been stolen to commit the frauds she was accused of hundreds of miles away, that she had previously reported it and that her boss had already submitted testimony that she was at work making bread here in Boulder. The judge was unsympathetic, could not lower the bond, and she was to be extradited and prosecuted. Darren wanted to post his $120k bond, but there were already too many liens for bond against his house. After he dies there in jail the court will seize his house.

The only person to appear on charges of murder, Ian Scheuermann, walked in from the visitor’s center in a well-tailored suit, had his picture taken as his family paused proceedings and directed the news crew, was lectured by the judge, and walked out as his $100k bond had already been posted in cash.

Ian Scheuermann appears in court at the Boulder County Jail on Thursday. Scheuermann has been charged with second-degree murder and felony menacing in connection to a fatal stabbing in downtown Boulder. (Cliff Grassmick / Staff photographer) 

After 3.5 hours in chains we went back to intake, where I played some lively rounds of spades with the gangsters before lockdown. I finally ate, as I had acted on advice from the thieves and filed paperwork claiming to be a gluten-free Jew (it still cramped me up). Around midnight my name called out, saying I was to be released. My wife had gotten impatient and posted bail.

My Name is Toby Fernsler, and my message is Love.

P.S. My next court appearance at 6th and Canyon is scheduled for Friday, January 15th 2016 at 8:30AM in courtroom E. For my own safety and success I would very much appreciate friends and witnesses to be in attendance. Please share this post.

You Are a King

**see below, updates to follow

I was in court last week, facing charges of cruelty for not killing my missing, dying twenty-year old cat (killed by animal control), and had the following conversation with the judge:

Judge: “I am going to call your name and ask if you would like to see the D.A. and ask how you plead if not.”
…
Judge: “Tobiah Fernsler”
Me: “I am Tobiah Fernsler, here in propria persona to..”
Judge: “I’m just asking if you’re here and if you want to see the D.A. or not”
Me: “I am Tobiah Fernsler, here in propria persona by special appearance to clear up this matter”
Judge: “Do you want to see the D.A. or not?”
Me: “No I do not. I challenge the jurisdiction of the court”
Judge: “Are you drinking something?!
Me: “This is a water bottle. With water”
Judge: “Well take that out! We don’t allow drinks in court! You may also leave, I am already done with your case!”

Question: So what happened there?

Answer:
I invoked the sovereign citizens* defence, based on Common Law and born in the Magna Carta and signed by King John on June 15, 1215 near Windsor England. I was ready to invoke the 6th Ammendment of the U.S. Constitution, but it never came up.

The basic premise of the Magna Carta is egalitarianism: you are all equal, and everybody (well, at the time every land-owning male) is a sovereign, and like a king. We can all go about our affairs, and are only subject to the law if we damage another or violate a contract. And there’s the rub, because when you are charged with a victimless crime, a contract with government is assumed, implied. And if you plead, appear or hire an attorney at arraignment, the contract is valid because you didn’t contest it.

Question:
So how do you contest it? How do you challenge the constitutionality of a law or court?

Answer:
Good question, Toby. This is done by challenging jurisdiction, and the court has many ways to trick you into accepting jurisdiction. You don’t appear, you are there by special appearance. You don’t hire a lawyer, you have legal consul. You are pro pre (propria persona) and not pro se (“procede”). They will refer to you with your name in all caps, you should insist on lower-case. Signing-ink color matters.

When you sign something you don’t understand or want to sign, add “under duress” after your name. Or v.c. (vis coerco “compelled by force”).

However, if you simply state you are challenging jurisdiction and little else, that is likely to get the case dismissed. At that point you are calling for a jurisdictional hearing by a higher court and placing the burden of proof on the prosecutor for whether this case should procede. You are not even arguing over the merits of the charges, but the merits of the law, court, and prosecutor. Jurisdiction has 7 components, and sets a reasonably high bar. Also under Common Law you have the right to face your accuser, the injured party, before being punished. If there is no injured party, there can be no sentence.

I’ll be adding links and editing this document for some time, there’s a lot to go with it.

Toby Fernsler, Sheriff of Love

“A FREE MAN ASKS QUESTIONS, AND A SLAVE ANSWERS THEM.“

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*See discussion with Guadagno, Attilio-Cesare in comments below.

**Wednesday evening 2015-12-16 Boulder city police knocked on my door and arrested me in my pajamas while playing with my daughter for not killing our missing cat. More technically, while the judge had told me she was done with my case, the court later scheduled a “Status Conference” which I did not attend, instead submitting a written statement reiterating my position. The police claimed a warrant had been issued for my arrest, which I never saw.
I’ve spent an entertaining 30 hours in the county jail, made some colorful friends and learned three new card games.
I sat in chains for 3.5 hours waiting my turn with the other arrestees at that hearing, while the only one there for murder walked in in his suit, took some pictures, got lectured by the judge, and walked right out. One junkie had a $120k bond for relapsing.
http://www.dailycamera.com/news/boulder/ci_29266326/suspect-fatal-boulder-stabbing-charged-2nd-degree-murder

Click to access book10.pdf

http://www.webmavin.com/7elements.html
http://sovereigntactics.org/?page_id=51

Sovereignty in the Constitutional System

http://afreecountry.com/jurisdiction
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magna_Carta
Most-Important-Supreme-Court-Case-Hale-v-Henkel
http://mainerepublicemailalert.com/2015/10/21/the-birth-certificate-the-evidence-of-the-crime-against-your-life/
http://www.activistpost.com/2011/04/5-words-used-to-control-enslave-you.html

Remembering 9/11

On the Morning of September 11, 2001 I was teaching a college algebra course while several of my students huddled around pocket-radios talking about a missing plane. There was little wifi and no smart phones then. By the time my second class showed up they were too upset to pay attention, so I reluctantly dismissed them. Seemed silly to be so upset over a missing plane over the East Coast.
The response of the world to these shocking attacks was an overwhelming sense of love and sympathy. At that point every nation, every person in the world voiced their strongest condolences, even countries like Cuba. Russia sent a massive monument with a teardrop and the names of all the victims. The United States was the most beloved nation on Earth.
The response of the U.S. government was overwhelming and endless war and tyranny, around the world and at home. Of course now it is common knowledge that Afghan goat-herders had nothing to do with those attacks, that two planes can’t knock down three buildings, that this was all a pretext for tyranny. The continuing violence of the US federal government based around such an obvious lie lays bare the corruption that runs through it deeper than one can imagine, and the continuing participation by mainstream media makes everything they say potential propoganda. Big government and big media have exposed themselves as corrupt, violent, and illegitimate.
So what to do? My approach has been to act locally and always out of love. The first, most natural response of the world was love. I believe this is almost universal, and is more common when expected (see: The Golden Rule). Vote locally, get to know your neighbors, take care of the people closest to you, know your food and your farmers. If everyone did this, the world would become Paradise.