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The following is from a full page ad placed by Claude Roessiger in the Aug. 31st, 2006 issue of the Granite State News.
Some
readers may recall that already more than one year ago, I published
in this newspaper a declaration entitled "I Accuse,"
recounting the misdeeds of our Wolfeboro Police Department, the New
Hampshire State Police, and the Carroll County Sheriffs Department.
Indeed, it was the court which declared their behavior wrong, and
therefore this is not a matter of personal opinion, but of law. For
any interested reader, "I Accuse" is reproduced hereunder.
Now,
we come to Part Two. The reader may judge whether the further
behavior of our town officials and of our police merits our harsh
judgment.
After the decision rendered by the court, which
dismissed the case against my daughter-let us recall it-on the
grounds that the police had acted without basis, had violated the New
Hampshire and Federal Constitutions, and had conducted an illegal and
warrant less search of my house, after illegally entering upon
private property, I addressed a simple letter to our Police
Commission stating that I was not interested to play The Litigation
Lottery, whereby one engages a scurrilous attorney in the hope that
some jury will make one rich, but that I did think it right to be
reimbursed the legal expenses we had incurred to defend ourselves
against the police's flagrantly illegal acts. Put aside for a moment
the question of whether we might have found the common decency in our
town officials to recognize a wrong and to act to make it right.
Consider only that at that point the price tag was more than modest,
something on the order of a few thousand dollars of legal fees. The
Police Commission-I must say it-responded positively and decently,
but it was not I discovered a matter they could decide: it had to go
to the selectmen.
The selectmen did what they always do in Wolfeboro:
nothing. It took several letters to obtain even an acknowledgment
from these august personages. I have lived in Wolfeboro since 1963.
This is the respect citizens always get in Wolfeboro from the
selectmen, unless they are pals. Then, they shunted the matter off to
their insurer, no doubt hoping that was the last they'd see of it. Of
course nothing happened there either. After multiple communications
over many months, I addressed a final letter to the selectmen,
clearly stating that either they would respond to me, or they would
respond in court. They hadn't the decency to have a single member of
their board answer my letter or call me; they gave it to our
beleaguered former town manager to do, and that only after I called
him. They must have told him, "Tell Roessiger we're giving
instructions that it be settled," which was in fact a lie. They
gave no such instructions. They simply threw it back at the insurer
for another turn in the circus. Note that as this went on, legal
bills were mounting, now double the initial amount. The selectmen
were on notice that reimbursement, whatever the amount, would always
be the demand.
No doubt our selectmen will bleat that they must follow
procedures, they must go through the insurer, and that their hands
are tied. Nonsense! As they were offered a simple, cheap, and decent
deal, they had only to agree to reimburse our cost, and to execute
the mutual releases which would have put paid to the entire matter.
They couldn't do that because it became very clear that they, the
police, and the sheriffs department wanted to win, to defeat
the citizen who had the temerity to hold them accountable. Indeed,
this is an old habit in Wolfeboro, where our public officials never
admit a wrong and never accept responsibility for anything. So,
should the reader hear that "their hands were tied," it's
time for the Big Raspberry. Indeed, their hands should be tied, but
that is another matter entirely.
Next, the town, through their insurer finally
understanding that we weren't going to go away, told the insurer to
"negotiate" a settlement. Imagine that! Someone runs into
your car, causes $7000. of damage, and now begins to dicker with you
for how much of the damage he'll pay! Hard to believe, but it's our
Wolfeboro reality. No, we told them, the request is what it has
always been: reimburse the cost you put on us to defend ourselves
against your illegal acts. And, please note that as the legal bills
mount, the claim increases. Well, when they want to prove a point our
officials don't give up easily No, not at all. And they use our money
for their play.
Now realizing that this matter wasn't going away, and
the town attorney -not a star of the legal firmament- having finally
figured out that the town would very possibly lose in court, and that
at that point the claim was going to be the nominal claim plus
damages (as most everyone, you can only irritate me so far), which
might lead to a six figure settlement, they ultimately-after a great
deal of too boring to recount to'ing and fro'ing, said, "Ok,
we'll pay, but only on the condition that there will be a gag clause
which prevents Mr. Roessiger from making any of this public."
Now we have been through the knavery and the foolishness, and this
brings us to the downright stupidity.
There are, without a doubt, those in Wolfeboro who have
been on occasion favorable to my positions, and those who have not.
That's freedom. But, I do not think you would find in either category
very many who think that my opinion or my silence can be bought. Did
these people think this was about money? How, in a small community
where after all I have not been invisible, could they have even
imagined that for a few thousand bucks they could buy me?
Contemptible creatures! And, yes, downright stupidity!
Well, it's settled now. They paid us something over
three times the initial amount, the legal fees having increased as
this matter wended the tortuous and indecent course our officials
chose, not to mention the town attorney's fees paid by the taxpayers.
Two of the three guilty parties will share in the cost, the Carroll
County Sheriffs Department and the Town of Wolfeboro. Did I mention
that the Sheriffs Department conducted an intimate frisking of my
daughter, all leering male officers, when a female officer was known
to be in the building, but was not called? Did I mention that they
put my daughter in jail for the night, without any grounds, on the
basis of their illegal acts? You might imagine what a jury could have
done with that. But, again, The Litigation Lottery is beneath
contempt and holds no attraction for me.
What we should have received is an apology. The reader
can surely imagine that there is no person of the character necessary
for such a simple act of decency within that group of officials
implicated in this matter. No, we don't apologize. We just invent
laws as we go, break into people's homes, violate the persons of
their daughters, and then we deny and hide. In the settlement, the
town declares that it admits no wrong. This is plain foolish. We can
only conclude therefrom that the town does not accept the judgment of
the court, which identified the wrong for them, appending 8 pages of
instructions for the guidance of the police, and dismissed the case
on the basis of that wrong. What law do our officials respect?
Those who are informed about local matters know that my
case is not unique. And, it's not unique across our state either, as
the police, evermore inspired by their "military" training
and the storm trooper mentality now too prevalent in that, go about
assaulting our property, our rights, and our liberties. We can act to
change this, together with decent police officers-I know many-who are
embarrassed by what they are doing.
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First, when our officials
misbehave, make it public! They count on citizens being cowed. Don't
be cowed, do not hide, not ever! Turn on the spotlights and keep
them on!
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Second, meet misbehaving public officials with the
contempt which is their due.
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Third, insist in all discourse, in all matters with
public officials, upon decency and common sense. It is our right as
citizens to receive these from our officials, who are, let it be
clearly said, our servants.
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Fourth, require accountability from all public
servants.
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Fifth, never forget Winston Churchill: Never, never,
never give in!
When we lose our liberty in a free society, it is we
who give it up, not someone else who takes it. But, once given
up, liberty is a hard thing to win back. In fact, it usually must be
won back by force of arms, as indeed our own was first won.
So, a small tale of foolishness, knavery, and downright
stupidity.
Now, peace.
Claude Roessiger and his daughter, with pride,
Ursula
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