Former Tyranny Fighter John Burton remembers

I published an Amazon review of Tyranny Fighters: The Julian Heicklen Chronicles written by fellow Tyranny Fighter John R. Burton earlier this month. Midway through reading my book John emailed me to say he was having "lots of bittersweet memories resurfacing."

It was 2011 and John was photographing Julian as he distributed his flyers in Los Angeles where John Lives. They were both briefly arrested and handcuffed until a Deputy Sheriff, in Julian's words, "yelled at the other deputy sheriffs to uncuff us and leave us alone." 

John then told me, "I thought I'd share with you a couple letters I wrote years ago, to important players in this drama: one each to Judges Belvin Perry and Henry Perkins (both unanswered), and an amicus curiae to Kimba Wood (to which I did get a response!)"

John R. Burton "stands by" Julian Heicklen

Belvin Perry was the Florida judge who unilaterally declared that nobody could hand out jury nullification information outside of HIS Orange County courthouse and had both Julian Heicklen and Mark Schmidter dragged into his courtroom and then thrown in jail for defying his edict.

Henry Perkins was the judge who stripped George Donnelly of his civil rights after siding with a pack of law enforcers who jumped him, forced him to the ground and stole his camera for committing the "crime" of photographing on public property.

Kimba Wood was the judge who presided over Julian's hearing after he was charged with "jury tampering" for having committed the peaceful act of giving brochures explaining the legal process of jury nullification to passersby who voluntarily accepted them.

Burton also sent a letter challenging the judge in the John Kurtz case to "examine the depths of your soul" and to use his powers to serve justice and civil liberty rather than be a rubber stamp for the prosecution. In 2011 Orlando CopWatch founder John Kurtz was prosecuted, fined and jailed for nothing more than photographing police officers carrying out their official duties in public.

So John, thanks very much for sharing your letters to the judges on behalf of our tyranny fighting activists.

What do you say former and current Tyranny Fighters? Want to join the conversation? Find out more about the book and how you can get a FREE pdf by promising to read it and post your own review here: The Loose Cannon Libertarian.

Astra sings the praises of Julian Heicklen

So who is Astra F. d'Oudney? Who is Felicity?

Here's the backstory: On September 3, 2015 someone named Astra F. d'Oudney posted a review of the Kindle version of Tyranny Fighters: The Julian Heicklen Chronicles on Amazon.co.UK. I didn't find it until a month later. I took a screen shot and posted it here on October 4 along with a couple of other recently discovered reviews.

Several months later I stumbled across a review of the paperback version on the American Amazon site written by Felicity. I began reading it and it sounded awfully familiar. In fact, the review was identical to Astra F. d'Oudney's review and it was also posted on September 3, 2015.

Curiosity compelled me to combobulate this discombobulation. Turned out Astra and Felicity were one in the same young lady. One email lead to another to another to another to an interview to an article to a posting on Libertarian News Examiner.

Astra Felicity d'Oudney, English living in France, reading The Julian Heicklen Chronicles

Here's a question and answer I asked her about Julian and my book. The whole interview with links to her music and freedom activism is here:

Interviewing Astra: International libertarian, musician, thinker, activist

ME: You mentioned "trial by jury" and you also wrote a very positive five-star review of the book Tyranny Fighters: The Julian Heicklen Chronicles. How did you become acquainted with the American jury rights activist Julian Heicklen?

Astra: Some of our campaign members are also members of FIJA [Fully Informed Jury Association] stateside. We hear from them with newsy items. When Julian’s campaign outside courthouses got under way we wrote to congratulate him on his stand. Julian included us in his regular circulars which became the substance of your Heicklen Chronicles book which we bought and endorsed on Amazon. You are to be thanked for bringing out that book which documents tyranny, a crime at definitive common law. This crime is routinely committed through and by the courts. What a truly fine example Julian is to us all.

What do you say former and current Tyranny Fighters? Want to join the conversation? Find out more about the book and how you can get a FREE pdf by promising to read it and post your own review: The Loose Cannon Libertarian.

Another Tyranny Fighter reviews the Julian Heicklen Chronicles

"I knew Heicklen: even got arrested with him in LA once!"

That re-introduction from a John R. Burton email sent the author scurrying off into his Article Archives Folder. The original article in Libertarian News Examiner dated April 19, 2011 described how John was photographing Julian distributing Jury Rights pamphlets outside the Los Angeles Municipal County Courthouse when deputies arrested and handcuffed both of them for violating a judge's order "prohibiting the distribution of literature with the threat of a contempt of court charge." 

What happened next was ... well ... you can find out in Chapter 61 of Tyranny Fighters: The Julian Heicklen Chronicles and read about all of the many other illegal Police State confrontations, harassments, assaults, arrests and abuses suffered by Julian and many of his stalwart Tyranny Fighters like John Burton.   

TOP LEFT: LA county Deputy Sheriff Sergeant Long with Julian Heicklen; TOP Right: The Tyranny Fighters book that includes Burton's arrest; CENTER: John Burton from the slideshow in the original article. (All photos courtesy John Burton)

John Burton's Amazon review:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Story That Needed To Be Told

By John Burton on January 27, 2016

Format: Paperback

In full disclosure, I have a horse in this race because I am mentioned in the book and was a Tyranny Fighter too. That said, this book chronicles the worthy and important struggle that was led by Julian Heicklen, between 2009 & 2012, and which, by way of bringing the man himself to the attention of those who have never heard of him, and celebrating his selfless contributions, might also serve to awaken the reader to some of the egregious abuses of our legal system (or to reinforce his suspicions)! It might even make the reader mad. Yes, this story needed to be told— and though Julian’s campaign, with all its implications, cries out for fuller treatment, Garry’s account is intended only as a chronicle of events, rather than a biography or manifesto, and in that regard it succeeds. The forward progress takes place via a compilation of articles, or accounts, originally appearing in the author’s own Libertarian News Examiner, at the time the event unfolded, represented chronologically here, but introduced with contemporary comments. For that reason much of the information is necessarily repeated, though there is still plenty of new information to keep ones passions hot. One suggestion I have is that in future editions I would like to see more contrast between the introductory remarks and the reproduced articles. Perhaps merely boldening the type-face of the introductory remarks would do it. 

See Burton's book review and others here: http://amzn.to/1IJPzGw

You can still read the original article that includes Burton's arrest and see the slideshow on Libertarian News Examiner here: http://www.examiner.com/article/heicklen-judges-are-scamming-jury-rights-activists

And find out more about the book and its availability in paperback, Kindle, iTunes and ePub here: The Loose Cannon Libertarian