Make Americans safer by repealing victimless crime laws

www.lp.org/lpnews ^ | 7.25.03 | Bill Winter

[MarkL]

Over the Memorial Day weekend (May 24-26, 2003), one of the largest law enforcement efforts in American history took place: In 29 states, 11,300 law enforcement agencies set up 18,000 random roadblocks.

As I recall, due to the road blocks on some highways in MO (for both seatbelts and DUI check), the backup was hours long. One person interviewed on the radio mentioned that it took an extra 3 1/2 hours to get home from the lake that weekend.

Mark

[Alas Babylon!]

Your link doesn't work.

Got this:

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[freepatriot32]

if you click on the pic that link works i forgot to format the text link sorry this link works for sure though :-)

The worlds smallest political quiz

[Alas Babylon!]

Got it. I took it, and changed my answers to see the different results. I do hold some libetarian views, but I think the quiz needs more questions to ascertain where one resides politically. I would consider myself a semi-conservative. I hope that's not NEO!

[Ruth A.]

I scored as a Centrist, too. Yes, Click it or Ticket is too much invertention and an unwise use of resources when Homeland Security is foremost. (But wait, I have a feeling that for Libertarians it might not be.) Bicycle helmet laws, too much. Gun lock laws that cannot be enforced should not be on the books. I personally feel that drugs, lotteries and booze deteriorate society's fabric. Having parents who drank excessively, I would never call that a victimless crime. Having had a nephew who was on drugs (and I am grateful those days are in the past) and seen what my sister and her husband went through, I would not call that a victimless crime. Adultery is not victimless, if you take into consideration the emotions and trust of the the children and spouse(s) involved.

So I agree with parts of the article. Funny thing is, that I knew the argument was going to head towards drugs. I think the argument goes beyond common sense.

[Gabz]

Gun lock laws that cannot be enforced should not be on the books.

Laws that cannot be enforced PERIOD should not be on the books.

[e_engineer]

Hey everyone, it's another invitation to anarchy by Libertarians/libertarians. Vice for life, brought to you by the Libertarian Party.

Most of the laws that this article mentions are fairly recent, but anarchy did not reign before we had them. Think about it:

Seat belt laws are recent (No anarchy prior)
Ticket Scalping laws are recent (No anarchy prior)
Private sexual laws are older, but not really enforced recently (No anarchy due to lack of enforcement)
Blue laws are older but are already being cut back (possible risk of anarchy if I have to work on weekends)
Drug laws are recent - 1906 Food and Drug Act (No anarchy prior)
Gambling laws have waxed and waned for over 200 years (No anarchy during)

Repealing these laws will not cause mayhem, it just reduces the number of excuses for the government to interfere in your life.

[Lurker]

Nicely put. Ms. Rand sure had a bead on human nature, didn't she.

Regards,

L

[Squantos]

Out ville has the........

go slow and see our town....go fast and see our judge

...........signs.

Stay Safe !

[BearArms]

"Today there are far more people in federal prison for marijuana crimes than for violent crimes," wrote Eric Schlosser in Reefer Madness, a book about America's black markets. "More people are now incarcerated in the nation's prisons for marijuana than for manslaughter or rape."

I wonder if anybody has calculated what the nationwide tax savings would be if these victimless crime perpetrators were all set free? This is a very important question to ask, particularly now, as many states are facing huge budget shortfalls and face the proposition of having to raise taxes. Prisons and police are a significant state/local government expense.

I think it's pretty obvious that legislating every little vice or moral lapse means more taxes will have to be exacted from all of us to pay for enforcement/incarceration. I really wish that social conservatives, instead of immediately jumping to the "let's ban it" option, would make an effort to try to find other solutions to social ills first. It would probably end up being a lot cheaper.

[dr_who_2]

And alcohol isn't?

[gcruse]

Excellent reply, and another example of why one must never use unsubstantiated, second-hand blather against an engineer.

[gcruse]

And, of course, the delightful folks in Tulia, who say, "There are no victimless crimes. We'll make a victim out of everyone!"

[Joe Miner]

Funny thing is, that I knew the argument was going to head towards drugs. I think the argument goes beyond common sense.

It seems the WOD types are off to a boot polishing convention.

It would be interesting to get their opinions on the other 5 laws.

[Squantos]

Lying LEO incident ......nothing more.....move along .....nothing to see here......

Stay Safe Mr Cruse !

[dcwusmc]

bump

[Squantos]

I'll be reposting that many times.........thanks for sharing it.

Stay Safe !

[KrisKrinkle]

Is DUI/DWI a victimless crime when no damage has been done?

[A CA Guy]

Sounds like you better invent a time-machine to go back into lawless times or learn to live with the law.

[A CA Guy]

I know I am not a Libertarian anarchist...