RAVE Act- So the Democrats are protecting our civil liberties?!?

The National Review ^ | January 30th 2003 | Glenn Reynolds and Dave Kopel

[Buckeye Bomber]

When John Ashcroft was nominated for attorney general, his political enemies spent a lot of time mocking him for belonging to a denomination that does not allow its members to engage in dancing. Since taking office, Mr. Ashcroft has done absolutely nothing to infringe upon the rights of people who like to dance. Tom Daschle, however, is now pushing legislation that could send dance promoters to federal prison for up to 20 years. Daschle's anti-dancing legislation is a mean-spirited assault on youth culture, and an extreme violation of principles of federalism.

Last year, there was a big push in Congress to enact the so-called "RAVE Act," sponsored by Rep. Lamar Smith (D., Tex.) as H.R. 5519 and in the Senate by Joseph Biden (D., Del.). Both lead sponsors were very forthright; the very title of the bill announced its intention to go after "raves" — dance parties popular with Generations X and Y.

But the "RAVE Act" aroused enormous opposition, so much so that the Senate Judiciary chairman withdrew his co-sponsorship of the bill.

This year, the same act is back; but this time it's concealed deep within an immense, omnibus bill sponsored by Tom Daschle — the so-called "Justice Enhancement and Domestic Security Act of 2003" (S. 22). That Act includes some antiterrorist measures which are important and which ought to be debated in separate bills (for instance, authorizing military tribunals for al Qaeda warriors).

But S. 22 is also larded with numerous anti-civil-liberties proposals, including ballistics testing for all new firearms, and anti-gun-show language making gun shows presumptively illegal except when authorized by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. Daschle's S. 22 is the contemporary version of the 1994 Clinton crime bill, a bloviated monster that was far too large for either Congress or citizens to be able to understand its contents.

[Buckeye Bomber]

I often wonder if people understand the difference between correlation and causation. And this is why I don't trust Democrats. They talk about civil liberties and how much they love them, but they don't seem to walk the walk. Notice the little gun provision thrown in there too, which is separate from the RAVE act but just as bad.

[pooh fan]

You neglected to mention that raves are havens for youth to engage in illegal drug use. And we are not talking about a little herb here. Ecstasy, ketamine and methamphetamine. These substances cause all kinds of problems that even now, the medical community doesn't fully understand. Adults are profitteering in a big way from teens rebelling against their parents value system (assuming the parnets have values, but that is another post). Recent studes indicate ecstasy is linked to some permanent brain damage and diabetes. Lets not forget taht these kids will eventually be the ones who will pay our Social Security.

[Buckeye Bomber]

Here's the problem: why would we hold rave places, concert venues, even bars accountable for illegal drug use there? It's not their fault that parents are too busy to watch their kids properly. Drugs are already illegal. Making them more illegal won't help anything.

[DanaD77]

They also forget to tell you that there are others who past that stage and enjoy just the music and dancing. Whether parents want to believe that these raves will be shut down, lets get this straight , Raves are underground (not known), if your mean a club. Can it be right to hold the owner and promoter accountable for the young youth,whom is either 18 or 21(and they have sense to know its illegal and can hurt them),sneaks in the clubs. If so, then why can't we blame our government for allowing for running prisons that have so called trained police to make sure nothing gets smuggled in. Lets say while on the job at my school, because of the school changes that the mayor and chanellor decided that it was best to access workers, i get hurt by a child whom needed that extra person, and i am unable to work, can i put the blame on the mayor.

No matter what seems to be the answer, shutting these clubs down, guess what, not only will these clubs turn back into raves, it will go underground and drug use will still be a part of their times. Its up to the parents to be the first to educate the dangers of drugs, then its up to that adult to decide. They should be held accountable.
If you want to stop the drugs in clubs how about we put some police officers in uniform around the clubs and we shall see how that will soon stop or at least slow down.

[Principled]

So why not enforce the existing laws against drug use?

Why is it necessary to outlaw dance parties at which it is known drug use occurs? Just go in and get the users.

[DanaD77]

I am not really talking about Raves, because they are run on the hush hush. I am talking about Dance clubs. Most of the clubs you need to be 18 or older. I would say that is old enough to know right or wrong, and pretty much should be responsible of their own actions. If by chance you do get younger teenagers sneaking in, then if you can blame the club for allowing underage then the parents should also take the blame for not knowing where there child is. It should go both ways. There has to be a better way to fight drug abuse then what is being done. Drugs were around for a long time. If clubs are shut down, then so should concerts and the stock market and even prisons because its known that drugs are smuggled into our prisons, but then again who cares if they kill themselves slowly because they are criminals right?(hypothetical question)