Crime
The amount of our population that has served time in prison is growing more rapidly than ever before. Many of our population have had their lives ruined by being prosecuted and imprisoned by committing victimless crimes. A U.S. Senator that is acting responsibly in fulfilling their Constitutional duty must stop this dangerous trend.
The tenth amendment to the Constitution for the United States says, “The Powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively or the people.” The United States has no Constitutional power for their “War on Some Drugs”. A majority of prisoners being held in our state are Political Prisoners and victims of these wars. Many others are being incarcerated because their chosen occupation is seen as objectionable.
The famous Libertarian philosopher Ayn Rand explains how governments can make almost everyone a criminal, “One declares so many things to be a crime that it becomes impossible for men to live without breaking laws.” Often laws of this kind arise because of deeply held moral convictions held by a majority of society. In his 1875 essay “Vices Are Not Crimes”, abolitionist Lysander Spooner explains the problems with attempts at legislating morality. The establishment of moral standards rightly belongs to the religious leaders in our nation. Government must create laws based upon the fundamental premise of a free society that individuals can do what ever they want as long as they do not harm others. The use of government to force people to comply with certain moral standards is immoral. Even God gives man a free will to choose to obey or disobey his moral standards. God simply holds man responsible for the consequences of his choices. Why should the finite governments of man presume to exercise more authority than God? The United States Senate must resolve to repeal all laws that create victimless crimes.
The Senate should consider a constitutional Amendment enumerating the rights of individuals to choose their own occupation:
No State shall make or imposes any law which shall abridge the right of any citizen to follow any profession of his or her choice.
Tennessee is among the states that have privatized their prison systems.". No state in the union has privatized the management of its entire correctional system. In fact Tennessee came close to being the first state to do so but wasthwarted by political pressure to retreat from outsourcing in 1998. Tennessee expected to save more than 22 percent annually. This is a good example that could be followed with the Federal Prison System.
The United States Senate can do three main things to lower crime rates in the United States. First the U.S. Senate should move toward a total privatization of all correction facilities in the United States. Secondly the Senate must work to make our prisons self supporting, by having inmates work to pay for their expenses. The prison system should not be a burden to the nation’s taxpayers. Finally the Senate can reduce the number of inmates in custody by instituting a restitution program similar to the one being used in Japan. In such a program convicts would be required to negotiate a settlement with their victim through a mediator. If settlement cannot be reached the judge would decide how best to settle the dispute. Offenders who do not agree to settlements would face harsh sentences. This system encourages victims to report crimes while encouraging offenders to seek settlement. When criminals reap what they sow they are more likely to abandon a life of crime. In Japan, often restitution takes the form of some sort of compensation in money or services. For very severe crimes such as rape or murder the offender might still be required to serve a long sentence while also providing the victim or the victims family some sort of monetary compensation. The process of negotiating for restitution has both beneficial benefits for the victim and the offender. Requiring criminals to fully right their wrongs will discourage further criminal activity. In Japan, which uses alternative sentencing systems like restitution, only about 46% of prisoners are repeat offenders.
The best way to prevent real crime is to arm the public. This is also the surest way to insure their liberty. As a U.S. Senator, Daniel would work to remove all laws that restrict the right of the people to bare arms. Under the Second Amendment to the Constitution for the United States, “The right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.” All Federal gun laws should be repealed.
