Paul Jacob goes Back to Court Monday

Paul Jacob’s arraignment is at 1:30 pm CST tomorrow (Monday). He’s been reindicted for on charges that he and two others violated residency requirements for petition signature gatherers. Drew Edmondson, Oklahoma’s Attorney General, keeps, in effect, “moving the goal post,” on these signature requirements, retroactively, to try to assure that his legal action against the “Oklahoma 3″ is finally taken seriously.

His actions have been quite bizarre, not to mention inappropriate. Once you have an opportunity to research the facts of this case for yourself (there are several links following to get you started), please consider calling the attorney general’s office in Oklahoma to let him know how you feel about this re-indictment. Remember to be respectful and polite, and to objectively state your opinion (personal attacks are never appropriate). The phone # is 405-521-3921.

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…from Paul Jacob (MP3 Audio Verson Here):

Last October, two colleagues and I were indicted by Oklahoma Attorney General Drew Edmondson. Our crime? Helping a petition drive to limit the growth of government spending.

Supposedly, we three willfully violated an arbitrary residency requirement for signature gatherers.

As I’ve explained at the freepauljacob.com website, we acted in good faith to comply with Oklahoma’s unconstitutional regulation. If the prosecution succeeds — if we do get jailed for ten years — it would be a chilling precedent. And sadly, that’s the point: to intimidate citizens from making any future petitions of government that might inconvenience the political establishment.

That’s why a Steve Forbes editorial asked, “Has North Korea Annexed Oklahoma?” and termed Edmondson’s actions “thuggish.” A Wall Street Journal editorial called the AG’s prosecution “bizarre,” expressing fear it would make citizens “think twice before challenging political elites.”

Several Oklahoma legislators have called the prosecution wrong-headed and politically-motivated.

So, Edmondson has begun — you guessed it — a PR offensive. In an opinion piece for a local paper, he wrote, “The Oklahoma Supreme Court and the multicounty grand jury both independently found these defendants to be in substantial violation of Oklahoma law.”

But wait a second. Neither a court, nor the grand jury, have found us guilty of anything. As an attorney and the highest law enforcement officer in the state, Edmondson must know this.We get our day in court. See you there.

The Oklahoma Indpendent Voters Group wrote Oklahoma Governor Brad Henry:

…[Drew Edmondon's] persecution of the initiative leaders is a blow to the democratic rights of Oklahoma citizens. It serves only to frighten and intimidate voters from exercising their constitutional rights to participate in the initiative process.

We urge you to call on the attorney general to drop this indictment and to defend our right to initiative and petition.

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For FHK’s coverage on the background on this case, see:

• Oklahoma 3 Reindicted
• Freedom of Speech for Me, but not for Thee
• The Oklahoma 3 (from the CLC ‘07)

If you would like to help, either financially, or by getting the news out about this case, please see What You Can Do. Donations to the Free Paul Jacob Defense fund can be made by PayPal through Citizens in Charge.