------- Forwarded Message
Subject:
Release: Sue the Government?
Date:
Tue, 08 Dec 98 01:02:13 PST
From:
announce@lp.org
To:
announce@lp.org (Libertarian Party announcements)
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NEWS FROM THE LIBERTARIAN PARTY
2600 Virginia Avenue, NW, Suite 100
Washington DC 20037
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For release: December 8, 1998
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For additional information:
George Getz, Press Secretary
Phone: (202) 333-0008 Ext. 222
E-Mail: 76214.3676@Compuserve.com
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A radical idea: Why can't people sue
politicians for their deadly programs?
WASHINGTON, DC -- If politicians can sue gun and tobacco
companies for damages caused by their products, why can't ordinary
Americans sue politicians for the destruction caused by their products:
Government programs?
"Government programs -- such as wars, exploding automotive air
bags, and grisly radiation experiments -- have killed and maimed tens
of thousands of Americans over the years," said Steve Dasbach, national
director of the Libertarian Party.
"Americans shouldn't tolerate a double standard of justice, one
for the politicians and one for the people. It's time to start holding
the government accountable."
What started Libertarians thinking in this direction? The fact
that 41 state governments are about to divvy up a $40 billion
settlement against tobacco companies, said Dasbach -- and the fact that
several big-city mayors are deciding whether to join New Orleans in its
lawsuit against gun manufacturers.
With those legal actions serving as an inspiration, he said,
why not prosecute the government for:
* War deaths: "Recent military actions totally unrelated to
U.S. national security -- like those in the Persian Gulf, Lebanon,
Panama, and Somalia -- have claimed hundreds of American lives,"
Dasbach said. "If gun company executives can be held liable when
criminals use guns irresponsibly, why not hold presidents and
Congressmen liable when they use American troops irresponsibly?"
* Cancer deaths: "The federal government admitted last year
that Cold War nuclear tests exposed 230,000 Americans to high levels of
radioactive iodine, and may cause 75,000 people to develop fatal
thyroid cancer," Dasbach said. "If it's fair to force tobacco companies
to pay for smoking-related illnesses, it's fair to force the government
to pay for legislation-related illnesses -- like thyroid cancer."
* Air-bag deaths: "According to the federal government, 49
children have been killed by government-mandated air bags," Dasbach
said. "Their grieving parents ought to file wrongful-death suits
against the Congressmen who demanded this law and the Transportation
Department bureaucrats who wrote it."
* Alcohol-related deaths: "Eighteen state governments control
the liquor stores that operate within their borders," Dasbach said. "So
why aren't those state politicians and bureaucrats sued for the cost of
every alcohol-related car crash?"
* Deaths caused by gun-control laws: "According to a landmark
study last year by criminologists John R. Lott and David B. Mustard,
the refusal of 24 state governments to pass concealed-carry laws caused
an additional 1,414 murders, 4,177 rapes, and 60,363 aggravated
assaults in 1992 alone," Dasbach said. "Residents of these states ought
to file an immediate injunction to prevent these victim-disarmament
laws from causing more innocent blood to be shed."
* Deaths caused by criminals on parole: "According to
Department of Justice figures, murderers are freed from prison an
average of 11.6 years before their full sentence expires; armed robbers
are sprung 5 years early; and rapists are back on the streets 5.9 years
early," Dasbach said.
"The politicians who handed these murderers, robbers, and
rapists get-out-of-jail-early cards -- usually so they could fill the
jails with people convicted of victimless crimes -- ought to be charged
as an accessory to every crime these violent thugs commit."
* Gambling-related suicides: "Heavily advertised
state-sponsored lotteries siphon billions of dollars a year from
America's poor, and are directly responsible for uncountable numbers of
gambling-related bankruptcies, suicides, and broken homes," Dasbach
said. "Since politicians addicted to taxes are harming vulnerable
Americans addicted to gambling, shouldn't the state officials who run
these destructive lotteries be held personally responsible?"
But Libertarians aren't holding their breath waiting for the
government to be brought to justice, Dasbach admitted.
"Courts have consistently ruled that government is protected
from prosecution by the legal doctrine of sovereign immunity," he said.
"According to the courts, death-by-government programs are not against
the law.
"But wouldn't America be a much safer country if politicians
were held to the same standard as any other individual?
"Unfortunately, unless that happens, prosecution-proof
politicians will continue to escape the consequences of their
actions -- while hypocritically sending ordinary Americans off to
jail."
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