Libertarian Activist Paul Jacob Indicted

Remember that law barring out-of-state residents from doing petitioning to get things on the ballot in Oklahoma I blogged about a few weeks back? Longtime libertarian movement activist Paul Jacob has been indicted on felony charges under that law for his role running an organization that hired such supposedly banned petitioners.

Yes, felony charges for hiring people to gather signatures to get things on the ballot. As Jacob says, "what is my actual offense but that of daring to help Oklahoma voters hold an election to decide an issue?"

See Jacob's detailed explanation of the charges and his defense of himself at freepauljacob.com.

This isn't the first time Jacob has faced the state's wrath for his libertarian activism. He was jailed in the 1980s for his loud public refusal to register for the draft, and encouraging others to similarly refuse.

He spent over a year on the run after being informed the Justice Department was going to prosecute him for his failure to register–the first such prosecution under post-Vietnam registration laws. He was eventually brought to (in)justice and served five and a half months in jail. Jacob's story is one of many told in my history of the modern American libertarian movement, Radicals for Capitalism.

Thanks to Wirkman Virkkala for the tip.