Some say that one Libertarian in office can’t do much. But in researching the position I’m running for, I’ve learned quite a bit about what I could do.
So please join me in imagining the possibilities were I elected as Salt Lake County’s next district attorney.
For example, on Day One I’d have quite an agenda.
I’d start the day by signing motions to dismiss every case that seeks to separate children from their parents based on unproven allegations.
Next, I’d sign motions to dismiss every case against anyone facing a non-violent drug or weapons charge, tax evasion charge, or any other consensual crime. I’d seek their immediate release if they are incarcerated, or the termination of their probation.
I did some of these things when I was the prosecutor for the Town of Big Water.
By emptying the county jail of those who haven’t harmed anyone else, we would make plenty of room for the violent criminals and property predators who are being released right now because of overcrowding.
My next task would be to announce a policy to penalize, dismiss, or prosecute any county employee who violated the Bill of Rights by treating you as guilty until proven innocent, by searching or seizing you or your property without due process of law, by treating you as a servant, or in any other way violating your rights as a sovereign citizen.
After that, I would direct my staff not to pursue civil asset forfeitures until the property’s owner has been convicted by full due process and exhausted all appeals. And I would initiate steps to make restitution to anyone whose property has been impounded, frozen, or seized by the county government without a legal conviction.
And my office will not engage in eminent domain for private gain.
That’s what I mean by “your home, your castle.”
Next, I would commission an audit of all existing federal grant and coordination programs and how that federal involvement has distorted the prosecutorial priorities of the district attorney’s office.
Then … I would break for lunch.
And when I get back from lunch, I would start an investigation into whether federal and state antitrust laws apply to political parties, and whether the two incumbent parties have broken those laws by unfairly dividing up Utah’s political market through the winner-take-all electoral system and gerrymandered single-member legislative districts, which cheat Utah voters out of competitive and representative elections.
Finally, I would set up a speaking tour to promote awareness of jury powers, so county residents who serve on juries will be fully-informed of their ability to judge the law, which jurors now have explicitly under the state constitutions of Georgia, Indiana, Oregon, and Maryland.
There are provisions in Utah’s law that seemingly authorize the Attorney General’s office, and even the Utah Supreme Court, to step in if they don’t believe that the district attorney is satisfactorily and adequately performing the prosecutorial duties of the office. So if I were elected it would be interesting to see what happens.
If they do investigate, I hope they would find that my office doesn’t have the time or resources to bother the peaceful and honest people of Salt Lake County -- because my staff and I are too busy prosecuting murderers, rapists, child molesters, con artists, burglars, thieves, and crooked government employees to keep our neighbors safe and our county government honest.
My thanks to Harry Browne for inspiring my remarks.
And my thanks to you for your nomination and your support.
Delivered at the Libertarian Party of Utah's Nominating Convention on April 29, 2006.
