Justice And Safety Most Americans over the age of fifty remember a time when streets and schoolyards were safe, doors unlocked, windows
unbarred. The elderly did not live in fear and the young did not die in
gunfire. That world is gone, swept away in the social upheaval provoked by the
welfare, drug, and crime policies of the 1960s and later.
We cannot go back to that time of
innocence, but we can go forward, step by difficult step, to recreate respect
for law — and law that is worthy of respect. Most of that effort must come on
the state and local levels, which have the primary responsibility for law
enforcement. While we support community policing and other proven initiatives
against crime, we strongly oppose any erosion of that responsibility by the
federal government. Our Republican governors, legislators, and local leaders
have taken a zero tolerance approach to crime that has led to the lowest crime
and murder rates in a generation.
At the same time, we recognize the
crucial leadership role the president and the Congress should play in restoring
public safety. The congressional half of that team, in cooperation with
governors and local officials who are the front line against crime, has been
hard at work. Within proper federal jurisdiction, the Republican Congress has
enacted legislation for an effective deterrent death penalty, restitution to
victims, removal of criminal aliens, and vigilance against terrorism. They
stopped federal judges from releasing criminals because of prison overcrowding,
made it harder to file lawsuits about prison conditions, and, with a
truth-in-sentencing law, pushed states to make sure violent felons actually do
time. They have also provided billions of dollars, in the form of block grants,
for law enforcement agencies to hire police and acquire new equipment and
technology.
The other part of the team — a president
engaged in the fight against crime — has been ineffective for the last eight
years. To the contrary, sixteen hard-core terrorists were granted clemency,
sending the wrong signal to others who would use terror against the American
people. The administration started out by slashing the nation’s funding for
drug interdiction and overseas operations against the narcotics cartel. It
finishes by presiding over the near collapse of drug policy. The only bright
spot has been the determination of the Republican Congress. Its Western
Hemisphere Drug Elimination Act of 1998 has just begun to restore the nation’s
ability to strike at the source of illegal drugs. Now the Congress is taking
the lead to assist Colombia against the narco-insurgents who control large parts
of that country, a stone’s throw from the Panama Canal.
A Republican president will advance an
agenda to restore the public’s safety:
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No-frills prisons, with productive work
requirements, that make the threat of jail a powerful deterrent to crime.
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Increased penalties and resources to
combat the dramatic rise in production and use of methamphetamine and new drugs
such as ecstasy.
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An effective program of rehabilitation,
where appropriate.
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Support of community-based diversion
programs for first time, non-violent offenders.
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Reforming the Supreme Court’s invented
Exclusionary Rule, which has allowed countless criminals to get off on
technicalities.
A constitutional amendment to protect
victims’ rights at every stage of the criminal justice system.
Reservation of two seats on the U.S.
Sentencing Commission for victims of violent crimes.
We will reopen Pennsylvania Avenue in
front of the White House as a symbolic expression of our confidence in the
restoration of the rule of law.
Crimes against women and children demand
an emphatic response. That is why the Republican Congress enacted Megan’s Law,
requiring local notification when sex offenders are released, and why we
advocate special penalties against thugs who, in assaults against pregnant
women, harm them or their unborn children. Federal obscenity and child
pornography laws, especially crimes involving the Internet, must be vigorously
enforced — in contrast to the current administration’s failure in this area. We
urge States to follow the lead of congressional Republicans by making admissible
in court the prior similar criminal acts of defendants in sexual assault
cases.
Millions of Americans suffer from problem
or pathological gambling that can destroy families. We support legislation
prohibiting gambling over the Internet or in student athletics by student
athletes who are participating in competitive sports.
On both the federal and state levels,
juvenile crime demands special attention, as the age of young offenders has
fallen and their brutality has increased. We renew our call for a complete
overhaul of the juvenile justice system that will punish juvenile offenders,
open criminal proceedings to victims and the public, make conviction records
more available, and enforce accountability for offenders, parents, and
judges.
With regard to school safety, we
encourage local school systems to develop a single system of discipline for all
students who commit offenses involving drugs or violence in school, not the
federally imposed dual system which leaves today’s teachers and students at risk
from the behavior of others.
Any juvenile who commits any crime while
carrying a gun should automatically be detained, not released to someone’s
custody. We urge localities to consider zero-tolerance for juvenile drinking
and driving and early intervention to keep delinquency from escalating to
crime. While recognizing the important role of both parents to the well-being
of their children, we must acknowledge the critical need for positive role
models to put a generation of fatherless boys on the right road to manhood. We
affirm the right of public schools, courthouses, and other public buildings to
post copies of the Ten Commandments.
Finally, continued assistance to state and
local law enforcement is critical. Through research, grants, and joint task
forces, the federal government should encourage smarter, more effective
anti-crime efforts. In particular, we advocate assistance to police for their
personal protection, continuing education and training, and family
care.
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Crime and violence. While terrorism poses an especially menacing threat to our nation, a
strong America must remain vigilant against the scourge of homegrown crime as well. We are
proud that Democrats led the fight to put more than 100,000 cops on the beat through the COPS
program, and we will continue our steadfast support for COPS and community policing. To keep
our streets safe for our families, we support tough punishment of violent crime and smart efforts
to reintegrate former prisoners into our communities as productive citizens. . . . We support the rights of victims to
be respected, to be heard, and to be compensated. We will help break the cycle of domestic
violence by punishing offenders and standing with victims. |
| CrimeThe Issue: The continuing high level of violent crime -- and the government's demonstrated inability to deal with it -- threatens the lives, happiness and belongings of Americans. At the same time, governmental violations of rights undermine people's sense of
justice with regard to crime. Victimless crime laws themselves violate
individual rights and also breed genuine crime.
The
Principle: The only justified function of government is the
protection of the lives, rights and property of its citizens.
Solutions: The appropriate way to suppress crime is
through consistent and impartial enforcement of laws that protect
individual rights. We applaud the trend toward private protection
services and voluntary community crime control groups.
Transitional Action: We call for an end to "hate crime"
laws that punish people for their thoughts and speech, distract us from
real crimes, and foster resentment by giving some individuals special
status under the law. Laws pertaining to "victimless crimes" should be
repealed. We support institutional changes, consistent with full respect
for the rights of the accused, which would permit victims to direct the
prosecution in criminal cases.
JuriesThe Issue: The right to a trial by a citizen jury is an important check on the infringement of our rights by government. Current practice has seriously eroded that protection.
The Principle: Juries should be composed of volunteers, not forced
jurors. In addition, the common-law right of juries, to judge not only
the facts but also the justice of the law, should be recognized and
encouraged.
Solutions: In all cases to which the
government is a party, the judge should be required to inform the jurors
of their common law right to judge the law, as well as the facts, and to
acquit a criminal defendant, and to find against the government in a
civil trial, whenever they deem the law unjust or oppressive.
Transitional Action: End the practice in capital cases of
excluding jurors who are opposed to the death penalty (referred to as
"death qualification"), which denies capital defendants the right to a
trial before a jury representative of community values.
Justice for the IndividualThe Issue: The present system of criminal law is based almost solely on punishment with little concern for the victim.
The Principle: The purpose of a justice system is to provide restitution to those suffering a loss at the
expense of those who caused that loss. In the case of violent crimes, an
additional purpose is to defend society from the continued threat of
violence.
Solutions: We support the following:
a)
restitution for the victim to the fullest degree possible at the expense
of the criminal or wrongdoer;
b) an end to the prosecution of
individuals for exercising their rights of self-defense; and
c.)
an affirmation of the right of the victim to pardon the criminal or
wrongdoer, barring threats to the victim for this purpose.
Transitional Action: End all "no-fault" insurance laws,
which deprive the victim of the right to recover damages from those
responsible in the case of injury. Affirm the right of the victim to
pardon the criminal or wrongdoer, barring threats to the victim for this
purpose. Change rape laws so that cohabitation will no longer be a
defense against a charge of rape.
Safeguards for the Criminally AccusedThe Issue: Instant-punishment policies deprive the accused of important checks on government power -- juries and the judicial process.
The Principle: Until such time as persons are proved guilty of crimes,
they should be accorded full respect for their individual rights. We
oppose any concept that some individuals are by nature second-class
citizens who only understand instant punishment and any claim that the
police possess special insight into recognizing persons in need of
punishment. We oppose reduction of constitutional safeguards of the
rights of the criminally accused.
Solutions: Cases must
no longer be treated as "civil" strictly to avoid the due process
protections of criminal law. Government must no longer be allowed to
seize property for criminal offenses, prior to civil or criminal
proceedings. Full restitution must be made for all loss suffered by
persons arrested, indicted, tried, imprisoned, or otherwise injured in
the course of criminal proceedings against them that do not result in
their conviction. When they are responsible, government police employees
or agents must be liable for this restitution.
Transitional
Action: Police officers must be prohibited from using excessive
force on the disorderly or the criminally accused, handing out what they
may consider to be instant punishments on the streets, or using
preventive detention and no-knock laws. The judicial system must be
reformed to allow criminal defendants and civil parties to a court
action a reasonable number of peremptory challenges to proposed judges,
similar to their right under the present system to challenge a proposed
juror.
Victimless CrimesThe Issue: Activities which do not affect anyone but the actor have been criminalized by government on the basis of encoding a particular morality into law.
The Principle: Only actions that infringe on the rights or damage the
property of others can properly be termed crimes.
Solutions:
We favor the repeal of all federal, state and local laws creating
"crimes" without victims.
Transitional Action: In
particular, we advocate:
A. the repeal of all laws prohibiting
the production, sale, possession, or use of drugs, and of all medicinal
prescription requirements for the purchase of vitamins, drugs, and
similar substances; the repeal of all laws restricting or prohibiting
the use or sale of alcohol, requiring health warning labels and signs,
making bartenders or hosts responsible for the behavior of customers and
guests, making liquor companies liable for birth defects, and making
gambling houses liable for the losses of intoxicated gamblers; the
repeal of all laws or policies authorizing stopping drivers without
probable cause to test for alcohol or drug use; the repeal of all laws
regarding consensual sexual relations, including prostitution and
solicitation, and the cessation of state oppression and harassment of
homosexual men and women, that they, at last, be accorded their full
rights as individuals; the repeal of all laws regulating or prohibiting
the possession, use, sale, production, or distribution of sexually
explicit material, independent of "socially redeeming value" or
compliance with "community standards";
B. the repeal of all laws
regulating or prohibiting gambling;
C. the repeal of
anti-racketeering statutes such as the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt
Organizations Act (RICO), which punish peaceful behavior -- including
insider trading in securities, sale of sexually explicit material, and
nonviolent anti-abortion protests -- by freezing and/or seizing assets
of the accused or convicted; and
D. the repeal of all laws
interfering with the right to commit suicide as infringements of the
ultimate right of an individual to his or her own life.
We
demand the use of executive pardon to free and exonerate all those
presently incarcerated or ever convicted solely for the commission of
these "crimes." We condemn the wholesale confiscation of property prior
to conviction by the state that all too often accompanies police raids,
searches, and prosecutions for victimless crimes. Further, we recognize
that, often, the Federal Government blackmails states which refuse to
comply with these laws by withholding funds and we applaud those states
which refuse to be so coerced.
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