June 22, 2009
Oregon's $10,000
Innocent-Bystander Fine
In Oregon, it is now a crime to be both an innocent bystander and a leading
participant in democracy.
Or it soon will be, if Oregon's Governor Kulongoski signs a bill that has just
emerged from the state legislature. The bilious bill would fine leaders of a
citizen initiative campaign $10,000 if anybody working for the campaign is
found to have committed fraud in the process of gathering signatures.
The alleged wrongdoing is not being complicit in fraud but “failing to prevent”
it. Do you see the problem? No screening process, no matter how careful, can
eliminate the free will of campaign workers. A chief petitioner on a campaign
cannot be everywhere watching everyone as more than a hundred thousand people
sign the petition. Under this law, an opponent could bankrupt the leader of a
ballot measure by joining the effort and committing fraudulent acts.
This and other less zany — but still burdensome — provisions are designed,
presumably, to “cut down on fraud and abuse.” Tough job for a bill that is
itself inherently fraudulent and abusive.
Its real purpose, of course, is to hamper and obstruct the petition process.
The only Senate Democrat to vote no to the bill, state Senator Vicki Walker,
notes that some activists will be more reluctant now to lead a ballot
initiative if they can be socked with a huge fine for a violation committed by
somebody else.
Well, that's obvious. It's also, sadly, the point.
This is Common Sense. I'm Paul Jacob.
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Paul Jacob is President of Citizens in Charge and the Citizens in Charge
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