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Liberty Dollar fights back, seeks injunction against U.S. Mint

Section: Daily Dispatches

Liberty Dollar Press Release
via PRNewswire
Tuesday, March 20, 2007

http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/0...

EVANSVILLE, Indiana -- Liberty Dollar today filed suit against the U.S. Mint in U.S. District Court in Evansville.

The organization -- which promotes and distributes the new gold and silver currency -- asked the court to declare that the use of the Liberty Dollar is not a "federal crime" as claimed by the U.S. Mint. The organization further asked the court to enter a permanent injunction against the U.S. Mint requiring it to remove from its Internet site any suggestion that the use of Liberty Dollars is a federal crime.

The Liberty Dollar organization denies that its more than 100,000 proponents are federal outlaws. It identifies them as law-abiding citizens who "legally have made the inflation-proof Liberty Dollar America's second most popular currency." And the organization demands that the federal government cease and desist from threatening them.

The Liberty Dollar group maintains it is protecting the right of all Americans to use or barter any "money" they may voluntarily agree to use. They point out that anybody can lawfully barter a dozen eggs for 5 pounds of sugar without fear of government interference, as an example. The group even quotes Andrew Williams, a spokesman for the Federal Reserve in Washington, as saying, "There is no law that says goods and services must be paid for with Federal Reserve notes. Parties entering into a transaction can establish any medium of exchange that is agreed upon."

Bernard von NotHaus, the monetary architect of the Liberty Dollar, labels the U.S. government/U.S. Mint's allegation that the use of the Liberty Dollar is criminal as completely misguided. "The Liberty Dollar organization has never claimed that its new gold and silver currency was a 'coin' or 'legal tender,' von NotHaus says. "For more than eight years, the Liberty Dollar has prospered from the fact that people could use any 'private voluntary currency' they chose. The Liberty Dollar organization has simply benefited from the differences between the debt-based U.S. dollar and a value-based currency."

Von NotHaus concludes, "There is absolutely no violation of U.S. law."

Von NotHaus points out that the government forced the lawsuit upon itself. "We had to sue the U.S. Mint because this unfair and illegal warning was killing the Liberty Dollar and the ideals it represents. We're a relatively small group that can't afford to be smeared by the umpteen billion U.S. dollars of the federal government. It has seriously impacted our business."

Von NotHaus finds hope in the fates of other companies that withstood attacks from the federal government and won. "Just like FedEx, I expect the Liberty Dollar to win this suit, re-establish sound money, and have the U.S. government as its biggest customer," von NotHaus says.

For additional information please contact:

Bernard Von NotHaus at 888-LIB-DOLLAR / 888-421-6181

http://www.libertydollar.org/legalissues.htm

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