lvc@cbsck.UUCP (Larry Cipriani) (11/02/84)
Topics: Safeguards for the criminally accused
Justice for the Individual
Juries
Sovereign Immunity
Government and "Mental Health"
Freedom of Communication
4. Safeguards for the criminally accused
Until such time as persons are proved guilty of crimes, they should
be accorded full respect for their individual rights. We are thus opposed
to reduction of present safeguards of the rights of the criminally accused.
Specifically, we are opposed to preventive detention, so-called "no-knock laws",
and all other measures that threaten individual rights.
We support full restitution 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 should be liable for this restitution.
We call for a reform of the judicial system allowing 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.
5. Justice for the Individual
The present system of criminal law is based almost solely on punishment with
little concern for the victim. We support restitution for the victim to the
fullest degree possible at the expense of the criminal or wrongdoer.
We according oppose all "no-fault" insurance laws, which deprive the
victim of the right to recover damages from those responsible in case of
injury. We also support the right of the victim to pardon the criminal or
wrongdoer, barring threats to the victim for this purpose. We applaud the
growth of private adjudication of disputes by mutually acceptable judges.
We support a change in rape laws so that cohabitation will no longer be a
defense against a charge of rape.
6. Juries
We oppose the current practice of forced jury duty and favor all-volunteer
juries.
In addition, we urge the assertion of the common law right of juries to
judge not only the facts of criminal cases but also the justice of the law.
Juries may hold all criminal laws invalid that are, in their opinion,
unjust or oppressive, and find all persons guiltless of violating such laws.
7. Sovereign Immunity
We favor an immediate end to the doctrine of "Sovereign Immunity" which
implies that the State can do no wrong and hold that the State, contrary
to the tradition of redress of grievances, may not be sued without its
permission or held accountable for its actions under civil law.
8. Government and "Mental Health"
We oppose the involuntary commitment of any person to a mental institution.
To incarcerate an individual not convicted of any crime, but merely asserted
to be incompetent, is a violation of the individual's rights. We further
advocate:
a. the repeal of all laws permitting involuntary psychiatric treatment of
any person, including children and those incarcerated in prisons or
mental hospitals;
b. an immediate end to the spending of tax money for any program of
psychiatric or psychological research or treatment;
c. and end to all involuntary treatments of prisoners by such means as
psychosurgery, drug therapy, and aversion therapy;
d. an end to tax-supported "mental health" propaganda campaigns and
community "mental health" centers and programs; and
e. an end to criminal defenses based on "insanity" or "diminished capacity"
which absolve the guilty of their responsibility.
9. Freedom of Communication
We defend the rights of individuals to unrestricted freedom of speech and
freedom of the press. It is particularly important in any society, including
our own, to guarantee the right of individuals to dissent from the
government itself. We recognize that full freedom of expression is only
possible as part of a system of full property rights. The freedom to use
one's own voice; the freedom to hire a hall; the freedom to own a printing
press, a broadcasting station, or a transmission cable; and similar
property-based freedoms are precisely what constitute freedom of
communication. At the same time, we recognize that freedom of communication
does not extend to the use of other people's property to promote one's ideas
without the voluntary consent of the owners.
We oppose all forms of government censorship, whatever the medium involved.
Specifically, we oppose all laws against obscenity or commercial advertising.
We condemn securities regulations that deprive financial advisory newsletters
of freedom of the press. We further condemn indirect censorship through
government control of the postal system and regulation of cable transmissions.
We support repeal of the Intelligence Identities Protection Act, which
classifies information as secret that should be available to taxpayers,
violates freedom of speech and press, and prohibits public discussion of
covert government paramilitary activities and spying abroad.
We also oppose the government's burgeoning practice of invading newsrooms,
or the premises of other innocent third parties, in the name of law
enforcement. We further oppose court orders gagging news coverage of
criminal proceedings -- the right to publish and broadcast must not be
abridged merely for the convenience of the judicial system. We deplore
any efforts to impose thought control on the media, either by the use of
anti-trust laws, or by any other government action in the name of stopping
"bias". We further deplore all measures that restrict competition in the
electronic media by barring telephone companies from publishing electronic
newspapers and electronic "Yellow Pages".
To complete the separation of media and State, we support legislation to
repeal the Federal Communications Act and to provide for private
homesteading and ownership of the airwave frequencies, thus giving the
electronic media First Amendment parity with the other communication media.
Government regulation of broadcasting can no longer be tolerated. We
therefore urge repeal of the "fairness doctrine", the "equal time" rule, and
the "reasonable access" provision. Government ownership or subsidy of
broadcast band radio and television stations and networks -- in particular,
the tax funding of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting -- must end.
We also oppose government ownership of, grants of monopoly franchise for,
or regulation of, "pay TV" cable or satellite transmission systems. We
specifically condemn such government efforts to control broadcast content
as banning advertising for cigarettes and sugar-coated breakfast foods
or regulating depiction of sex or violence.
We call for immediate cessation of federal funding and contracting of ads
produced by the National Ad Council, so that no individuals be forced to
pay to support issues or ideas which they would no voluntarily contribute.
The implied threat of loss of license renewal broadcasters face, if they
refuse to show National Ad Council ads for free, can only be ended by
abolishing the FCC.
In particular, FCC regulation of political coverage must be immediately
ended, to stop its chilling effect on the level of political debate in this
country. Federally mandated lower rates for political ads, which unjustly
harm established broadcasters, must end, as must FCC rules and regulations
that unjustly benefit established broadcasters.
Removal of all these regulations throughout the communications media would
open the way to untrammeled diversity and innovation. We shall not be
satisfied until the First Amendment is expanded to protect full,
unconditional freedom of communication.