A Must See Video On The Thomas Ball Story - Free Keene TV Covers Memorial Service And Conducts Interviews - Sheriff Richard Foote Tells Reporters They Will Be Arrested And Their Equipment Will Be Confiscated If Reporters Enter Court Building With Video Equipment

For those who don't know who Thomas Ball is, he is the man who self immolated himself on the steps of the Cheshire County Superior Court by dousing himself with Gasoline and setting himself on fire on Wednesday evening of June 15, 2011. 

Mr. Ball appeared to sacrifice his life to bring attention to issues involving the unfairness of treatment of men in the NH Family Court System.

Several topics are discussed including Judge Edward Kelly's order that no audio or video recording equipment (including cell phones) are allowed in the Cheshire County Superior Court.  This is an issue as the court system is using this for blocking reproduction of court files which are open to the public for inspection under RSA 91:a the right to know law. 

During the Filming, Sheriff Richard Foote tells reporters that they will be arrested if they enter the courthouse with their recording equipment.  When Foote is questioned about Kelly's order he states that he has not seen the order.  Pay careful attention to the Deputy Sheriff who is filming this whole confrontation. 

Click Here To See Video.

Concord Monitor Article On Thomas Ball - Immolation a cry for justice for father's rights

Immolation a cry for justice for father's rights

By Rinaldo Del Gallo Iii / For the Monitor

Created 07/23/2011 - 00:00

Last week I made the four-hour trip from Pittsfield, Mass., to Keene to attend a memorial/protest for a man who immolated himself on the steps of the local courthouse.

As difficult as it may be for others to comprehend the act, and while I wish he did not do it, I can understand why Thomas Ball doused himself with gasoline and set himself on fire. There was no escape. Nobody cared. This was the ultimate call for attention, a scream into the universe for all the world to hear about the plight of fathers. A father of three, Ball correctly noted that "we are no longer fathers, just piggy banks."

NH Attorney William J. Phillips of Peterborough Joins Our Unethical Wall Of Shame For Filing A Motion In Cheshire County Superior Court Asking For The Court To Incarcerate Thomas Ball For Being Unable To Pay a Child Support Obligation And For Money That Ball Owed Him For Attorneys Fees.

When we heard that Thomas Ball had sacrificed his life in the front of the Cheshire Superior Court by pouring gasoline on himself and lighting himself on fire we were saddened. 

When we read the motion signed by Attorney William J. Phillips of Peterborough asking the court to take action by incarcerating Thomas Ball who was not able to pay his child support obligations in full, we were outraged that an attorney would ask for incarceration without giving Ball a chance for due process.  We felt that an attorney asking for incarceration was overstepping their bounds. 

We were even more outraged when Attorney Phillips in a subsequent paragraph requested for a second time that Thomas Ball be incarcerated for failing to pay his attorney fees (Attorney William J. Phillips) of $1,118.10 which the court had previously ordered Ball to pay.