January 21, 2009 NH House Rules Committee Hearing on Petitions for Redress of Grievances

additional commentary by Timothy Horrigan; April 30, 2012

Democratic Caucus Leader (and former Speaker) Terie Norelli has a well-deserved reputation for being a staunch opponent of the establishment of a standing House Redress of Grievances Committee. One petitioner, Gus Breton, even included her in the list of grievances on his 2012 Petition #28. His 6^th grievance out of 7 was against:

6. Former Speaker of the New Hampshire House of Representatives, Representative Terie Norelli, New Hampshire House of Representatives Judiciary Committee Chairman David Cote, and all New Hampshire House of Representatives Judiciary Committee Members for denying Mr. Breton his right to a petition for redress of grievance under Part First, Articles 31 and 32 of the New Hampshire Constitution by voting HB 1543-FN of the 2008 legislative session inexpedient to legislate.

However, it was under Speaker Norelli's watch that the House Rules Committee revived the 18th-century practice of allowing citizens to file petitions. The Rules Committee consists of the top leadership of both House caucuses. (Current Speaker Bill O'Brien was not on the committee at this time because he held no leadership positions.) Speaker Norelli was one of the House leaders who voted unanimously on January 21, 2009 (the day after President Obama's inauguration) to allow petitions to be read into the official House record. There was no committee in place to hear them, but an ad-hoc caucus was formed shortly thereafter which ironically accomplished more in 2009-2010 than the standing committee did in 2011-2012.

The most complete video is in 3 parts by someone known to me only as "fremontr"

1. 
   Original URL: http://youtu.be/ejjIS76ASwY

2. 
   Original URL: http://youtu.be/B_HopvQlfx0

3. 
   Original URL: http://youtu.be/ivpSnC_9V6E

BikerBillNH's video is slightly better, but he showed up late:

• 
  Original video URL:

  • http://blip.tv/file/1694684

• Original blog post URL:

  • http://bikerbillnh.blogspot.com/2009/01/nh-house-rules-committee-debates-fate.html

Only 5 petitions were filed for the 2009 session, perhaps because the deadline for filing bills and resolutions came before anyone knew what the Rules Committee would decide. A lot more petitions were filed in the fall of 2009 for the 2010 session.

2009 Petitions:

1. Grievance of Barry Arnofsky

2. Grievance of Duane Besso

3. Grievance of Debra Nutton

4. Grievance of Thomas Whalen

5. Grievance of David Johnson

2010 Petitions:

1. Grievance of Denise-Marie McIntosh

2. Grievance of Greg and Sarah Clarkson

3. Grievance of Candy Knightly

4. Grievance of Debra Ann Adams

5. Grievance of Patricia Patterson

6. Grievance of Jeanette Dionne

7. Grievance of Hope Nardone

8. Grievance of Dorothy Knightly

9. Grievance of [Petitioner's Name Redacted]

10. Grievance of David Johnson

11. Grievance of Vincent Milano

12. Grievance of the voters of the of town of Hudson school district (actually filed without their permission by Rep. Lars Christiansen)

• Superior Court Ruling No. 08-E-456

13. Grievance of Timothy Dupont

14. Grievance of Joseph S. Haas

See Also:

• December 20, 2012 Rules Committee meeting

• 2012 Petitions

• 2011 Petitions

• 2010 Petitions

• 2009 Petitions

• January 22, 2009 Ridley Report

• Official Petitions & Redress committee page (not much to see here)

• My 2009 legislative session page

• HCR 6: a Jeffersonian Democracy resolution

  • Fremomtr's video of a rally of HCR 6 supporters

• Am I That Guy Who Made Those Statements?

• The 2010 Bill of Address hearings (based largely on the Johnson & Whalen petitions)

• My novel, The Forgotten Liars