Serpo
23rd February 2012, 06:55 PM
Dear Friend of GATA and Gold (and Silver):
It has been almost a year since a federal court jury in North Carolina convicted Liberty Dollar founder Bernard von Not Haus of what seems to be considered a sort of counterfeiting for issuing his own gold and silver coins and advocating their use as currency. The U.S. attorney prosecuting von Not Haus called him a "terrorist." Hyperbolic as that was, federal authorities lately are hurling that term at anyone who contemplates gold's use as currency.
GATA considered von Not Haus' conviction mistaken as a matter of law and on May 31 last year filed a brief with the court seeking reconsideration:
http://www.gata.org/node/9974
For whatever reason, the judge, Richard L. Voorhees, has not yet scheduled sentencing for von Not Haus, which may indicate that the judge is seriously considering the issues GATA sought to raise.
Now von Not Haus' friends are urging that advocates of free markets in currencies and advocates of individual liberty generally write to the judge to urge leniency in any sentencing of von Not Haus, since, after all, the conduct at issue posed more of a political test case than a crime in any traditional sense.
A sample letter can be found at the Goldseitenblog Internet site here:
http://www.goldseitenblog.com/peter_boehringer/media/Letter_to_Judge_Voo... (http://www.goldseitenblog.com/peter_boehringer/media/Letter_to_Judge_Voorhees_20120124%20-%20B_v_NotHaus_Case%20b.pdf)
If you write, please be cordial and respectful and stick to the issues.
CHRIS POWELL, Secretary/Treasurer
Gold Anti-Trust Action Committee Inc.
http://news.goldseek.com/GATA/1330039824.php
It has been almost a year since a federal court jury in North Carolina convicted Liberty Dollar founder Bernard von Not Haus of what seems to be considered a sort of counterfeiting for issuing his own gold and silver coins and advocating their use as currency. The U.S. attorney prosecuting von Not Haus called him a "terrorist." Hyperbolic as that was, federal authorities lately are hurling that term at anyone who contemplates gold's use as currency.
GATA considered von Not Haus' conviction mistaken as a matter of law and on May 31 last year filed a brief with the court seeking reconsideration:
http://www.gata.org/node/9974
For whatever reason, the judge, Richard L. Voorhees, has not yet scheduled sentencing for von Not Haus, which may indicate that the judge is seriously considering the issues GATA sought to raise.
Now von Not Haus' friends are urging that advocates of free markets in currencies and advocates of individual liberty generally write to the judge to urge leniency in any sentencing of von Not Haus, since, after all, the conduct at issue posed more of a political test case than a crime in any traditional sense.
A sample letter can be found at the Goldseitenblog Internet site here:
http://www.goldseitenblog.com/peter_boehringer/media/Letter_to_Judge_Voo... (http://www.goldseitenblog.com/peter_boehringer/media/Letter_to_Judge_Voorhees_20120124%20-%20B_v_NotHaus_Case%20b.pdf)
If you write, please be cordial and respectful and stick to the issues.
CHRIS POWELL, Secretary/Treasurer
Gold Anti-Trust Action Committee Inc.
http://news.goldseek.com/GATA/1330039824.php