-Caveat Lector- To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Ashcroft Nomination From: Libertarian Party Announcements <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Send reply to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- =========================================== ==== SPECIAL ACTION ITEM! FROM THE LIBERTARIAN PARTY =========================================== ==== Watergate Office Building 2600 Virginia Avenue, NW, Suite 100 Washington DC 20037 Website: www.LP.org Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] For information about the party: (800) ELECT-US =========================================== ==== January 17, 2001 =========================================== ==== We recently received the following message from DRCNet, a nonpartisan organization promoting drug policy reform. DRCNet is opposing the nomination of John Ashcroft for the position of Attorney General " . . . because of his record as one of the most hawkish drug warriors supporting some of the most extreme drug war legislation during his tenure in the Senate." The views expressed below are those of DRCNet, and do not represent an official statement by the Libertarian Party. However, given the Party's long-standing opposition to the government's "War on Drugs", we felt that this message would be of interest to our members and supporters. =========================================== ==== Dear friend of drug law reform: As you've probably read in mainstream news accounts, former US Senator John Ashcroft (R-MO) has been nominated by President- Elect George W. Bush for the office of Attorney General. DRCNet, as a nonpartisan organization devoted strictly to drug policy reform, is opposing the Ashcroft nomination because of his record as one of the most hawkish drug warriors supporting some of the most extreme drug war legislation during his tenure in the Senate. We are writing to ask you to visit a web site we've set up to encourage grassroots opposition to the Ashcroft nomination -- http://www.StopJohnAshcroft.org -- and to use the information and the online petitions there to help defeat this nomination while there's still time. If drug policy and related Constitutional issues are the criteria, there is no question that John Ashcroft has one of the worst records on Capitol Hill. As Senator, John Ashcroft sponsored a bill that would have simultaneously violated the spirit if not the letter of both the 1st and 4th amendments to the US Constitution: the "Methamphetamine Anti-Proliferation Act" would have criminalized certain drug- and drug policy- related discussions on the Internet, and would have allowed police to conduct secret searches of homes, with the residents never being informed before or after that the police were there. Indeed, in his six years in the Senate, Ashcroft proposed amendments to the Constitution a full seven times, including an amendment to make it easier to amend the Constitution. As Senator, John Ashcroft demonstrated an unwillingness to deal seriously with the problem of racial disparity in the criminal justice system. While outwardly professing support for a bill to study racial profiling, Sen. Ashcroft in reality use his chairmanship of the Subcommittee on the Constitution to bottle it up in committee for several months; the bill never made it to the Senate floor despite bipartisan support. In response to charges that the powder/crack cocaine sentencing disparity is racially discriminatory, Sen. Ashcroft rejected legislation recommended by the US Sentencing Commission and sponsored by African American legislators that would have reduced crack cocaine sentences to the level of powder cocaine sentences. Instead, Sen. Ashcroft supported a bill to raise the powder cocaine sentences -- despite a consensus among criminal justice experts that the disparities are driven by enforcement policy and prosecutorial bias in conjunction with the laws, and that powder cocaine enforcement is also carried out in a racially discriminatory way. Sen. Ashcroft objected vociferously to spending money on drug treatment rather than drug interdiction, claiming that treatment "enables" drug users and that enforcement is a more effective use of funds. But after decades characterized by intensive interdiction efforts during which time the availability of drugs has increased and the price plummeted, and despite study after study showing that treatment is dramatically more effective than enforcement, to claim that interdiction is more effective than treatment demonstrates an astonishing inability or unwillingness to evaluate drug policy in an objective manner. Indeed, there isn't clear evidence that drug interdiction is more effective than doing nothing; to claim interdiction is more effective than treatment is simply off the reality meter. As Attorney General, John Ashcroft would have enormous power and influence over policies such as these. Particularly troubling is his lack of seriousness about racial disparity in the criminal justice system, at a time when the problem of racial profiling is just beginning to get attention. The documents released recently by the New Jersey Attorney General's office -- http://www.stopthedrugwar.org/njprofiling/ on our web site -- show the US Dept. of Justice to be both hero and villain in racial profiling -- DOJ's civil rights division has played a leading role in forcing police departments to take steps to stop it, while DOJ's Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has literally conducted national training programs explicitly encouraging racial profiling. To address racial profiling, DOJ needs to be headed by someone who will encourage the civil rights division and rein in the DEA's abuses in this area. Based on his record, John Ashcroft is not a sound pick to play such a role. We consider the mandatory minimum sentences that John Ashcroft so enthusiastically supports to be gross violations of human rights; and we deplore his apparent lack of allegiance to the spirit of the US Constitution that he was sworn to uphold. That Constitution is the highest law of the land, a law which is in part intended to place restrains on the forces that the Attorney General directs. This is not a matter of liberal vs. conservative or anti-crime or "pro- criminal," as the Senator has labeled some of his opponents. This is a matter of sanity in the criminal justice system and respect for basic Constitution rights. So please visit http://www.StopJohnAshcroft.org today and help stop the appointment of John Ashcroft as Attorney General -- or, just call the Congressional Switchboard at (202) 224-3121, twice, have them transfer you to each of your two Senators in turn, and urge they vote "no" on the Ashcroft appointment. If you are a conservative, or support the Ashcroft nomination for other reasons, and didn't read our clarifying notes issued last week (http://www.drcnet.org/wol/167.html#urgenta ction), we wish to emphasize that our opposition to the Ashcroft appointment is based strictly on DRCNet's cause of opposition to the criminal justice and military aspects of the "war on drugs." We are a nonpartisan organization, and in fact opposed President Clinton's drug czar nominee, Gen. Barry McCaffrey, five years ago, the only comparable Cabinet nomination since DRCNet was formed. We are criticizing only Mr. Ashcroft's record on drug policy issues, not his personal character nor his conservative political alignment. Our own supporters span the full range of the political spectrum -- from liberal to conservative to libertarian and all the rest -- and even include a few who have let us know they support the Ashcroft nomination for other reasons, despite disagreeing with him on drug policy. We respect their opinions, but decided to oppose the nomination nonetheless, because of the enormous power and influence that the US Attorney General has on drug policy -- hence http://www.StopJohnAshcroft.org to join that fight. =========================================== =================== To subscribe to DRCNet's weekly newsletter and action alert list, visit http://www.drcnet.org and enter your name, e-mail address and state in the "quick-signup form" to the right. To signoff from DRCNet or change your subscription address, send e-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] and specify your request. -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: 2.6.2 iQCVAwUBOmZnU9CSe1KnQG7RAQE/HQP/VS8QLIdEcU4 bK7l+2WyQRp0vZCPikKbv O8mcpOurBbzPR7cV7YynRc0Q4dXr/GPQcj20F6nedeT 1OQZXjTr+Ky6ky10crsTg UB9i8+4oD/SstIVDV9MXY3Ea05wPMu2eS24GHlYix7u h/rRo/jJhCwrIY6uXetoH Z4xPj2x6hJk= =+AiQ -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- -- I don't care who does the electing as long as I get to do the nominating. -- Boss Tweed <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance�not soap-boxing�please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'�with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds�is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. 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