2 Paragraphs 4 Liberty: #33 “Liberty and Government Officials”

Hypothetical sign in a government office in Montana: “No hunting licenses issued: clerk a vegetarian.” Now that is not to compare nutrition beliefs to religious beliefs, but regardless of what a government official’s personal, political or even religious beliefs are, all government officials must follow the law. Of course, that brings us to the clerk in Rowan County, Kentucky, who declined to issue marriage licenses to gay couples because she believed that would violate her conservative Christian beliefs.   But she was rightfully sanctioned by a federal judge when she refused the judicial order to comply with the law. Liberty demands that no government officials be above the law, even if that law happens to do be at odds with their personal beliefs. In fact, when it comes down to it, she was not punished for practicing her religion, she was jailed for using the government to force others to comply with the practices of her religion.

As a judge, I enforced many laws even when I did not agree with them. I didn’t have to do so quietly, but I still followed the law. Why? Because when I assumed that judicial office, I raised my hand and swore to uphold and defend the Constitution and laws of both the United States and the State of California. And if there came a time that I could not do so, I should have resigned. That was also the situation for the Rowan County clerk, and she was rightfully forced to uphold that duty. Liberty demands nothing less.

Judge Jim Gray (Ret.)

2012 Libertarian candidate for Vice

President, along with Governor

Gary Johnson as the candidate for President

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2 Paragraphs 4 Liberty: #32 “States’ Rights to their Land”

                  You are probably not aware of this, but the federal government owns more than fifty percent of all lands in the Western states. The most egregious example is Nevada, where the federal government owns about 81 percent of all of the land (compared to only one percent of the land in Nebraska). Why should that be? There is no justification in the Constitution for the federal government to own that much land, or no practical reason either.   So instead, the land should revert to the states, which would be free to administer it themselves or, better yet , to auction it off to private interests. Why would private ownership be preferable to public? That can be answered by asking another question: who takes better care of a house, an owner or a renter? Similarly, who takes better care of pasture or grazing land, an owner or someone who leases it? The answer to those questions is obvious. Public ownership yields to bureaucracies and politics, which innately involve cronyism and the less efficient allocation of scarce resources. Private ownership results most often in the most optimal and productive use of the land, which certainly can be recreational or even maintaining it as wildlands.

Just to be clear, we are not talking about national parks, national forests or military reservations. But virtually all of the land administered by the Bureau of Land Management should either be returned to the states, or sold at public auction. Of course, the land could be sold subject to restrictions, where appropriate, against the clear-cutting of forests or strip mining the earth. But not only would this reduce the administrative costs and politics, it would also generate more local control and property taxes for the states. For example, the American Land Council cites statistics that the federal government loses 27 cents for every dollar it spends on administration of these lands, but the states on average generate $14.54 for every dollar they spend. And, innately, this is a question of Liberty. The federal government should neither be our lord, nor our landlord, nor a privileged class in our society. The privileged class should be “We the People.”

Judge Jim Gray (Ret.)

2012 Libertarian candidate for Vice

President, along with Governor

Gary Johnson as the candidate for President

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2 Paragraphs 4 Liberty: #31 “Liberty and Hate Crimes”

This could be misunderstood (and realistically some people will do so intentionally), but all “hate crimes” should be repealed as being counterproductive. Why? Because if a law says that an assault based upon your race, sexual orientation, religion, etc. is a special or distinctive crime, then I – in most cases justifiably – will feel that an assault based upon my race, sexual orientation, religion, etc. should be seen a special or distinctive crime too! In addition, and as a practical matter, where can the line be drawn? An assault upon an Asian or a Buddhist? How about an assault upon an Italian, or someone that is Italian but for some reason looks Asian? Or upon someone who is simply thinking of converting to Buddhism? The problems and complications will never end!

Even though it is undeniably true that our society has done and even institutionally sanctioned some bad things to some people, like slavery, segregation and various other laws of prohibition, simply because of their race, sexual orientation or religion, the better approach in this complicated and multifaceted world is to realize that an assault is a crime. Of course, some are more serious than others. So if the offense is distinctively offensive for reasons based upon race, sexual orientation or religion, etc., or anything else, that can – and should – be explicitly addressed at the sentencing phase of the proceedings. But Liberty dictates that no one person by law should be deemed to be more special or distinctive than any other. And, once again, by following the dictates of Liberty we will not be required to pass so many laws, and we will also avoid a lot of legitimately hurt feelings.

Judge Jim Gray (Ret.)

2012 Libertarian candidate for Vice

President, along with Governor

Gary Johnson as the candidate for President

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2 Paragraphs 4 Liberty: #30 “Liberty to Offend”

24 words on Liberty: “If you do not fight for the Liberty of those you disagree with, then you do not know the meaning of the word Liberty.” One of the most heartwrenching moments in our country’s First Amendment history occurred in 1977 when a group from the American Nazi Party sought a permit to stage a parade, complete with Nazi armbands and flags, on the streets of Skokie, Illinois, which had a large Jewish population. And the U.S. Supreme Court, to its everlasting credit, ruled that the American Nazi Party had a Constitutional right of free speech to march and express their (misguided) opinions.

This underscored those 24 words. If we allow the government to prohibit “offensive” speech, even if the majority of us deem those ideas to be misguided, obnoxious and even satanic, what assurances do we have that all minority speech might soon be curtailed? Where can the line be drawn? Thus Liberty allows speech that can be contrary to the values we hold dear. But we must protect and defend the rights of people to state their views, even if we fervently disagree with them, in order to protect our Liberty to do the same. Otherwise the Constitutional right of free speech could be eroded to nothing. (But we can all take solace that just because someone has the right to state their views does not mean that they have a right for others to listen, or even to take them seriously.) So yes, once again, there is a price for Liberty, but it is a price truly worth paying.

Judge Jim Gray (Ret.)

2012 Libertarian candidate for Vice

President, along with Governor

Gary Johnson as the candidate for President

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2 Paragraphs 4 Liberty: #29 “The Tragedy of the Commons”

Why are private property rights so important in producing a thriving economy? Part of the answer is explained by discussing the theory of the tragedy of the commons. Imagine in the covered wagon days an apple orchard growing wild somewhere along the Oregon Trail. So the first wagon train finds it, and takes all of the ripe apples – more than they really need, but if they don’t take them someone else will. Then the next wagon train comes by, sees the mostly unripe apples on the trees, but takes them anyway, because if they don’t someone else will, and they can always feed them to their oxen. The next wagon train sees there are barely any apples, but they can always use some firewood, so they chop the trees down. Why not, because if they don’t, someone else will. That is the tragedy of the commons: the apples, the trees, the fish in the ocean, the water in the rivers – instead of being husbanded and protected, all will be plundered, “because if we don’t someone else will.”

But with Liberty, in the form of private property rights, the outcome would change. The owner of the apple trees would price them at a competitive rate, so the first wagon train would only purchase what they really needed. Of course, then apples would also be available for the many wagon trains to come. And, since the future apples would be worth more to the owner than selling the trees for firewood, not only would the trees not be chopped down, they would actually be watered, cultivated and fed, because that would bring a better crop for the owner to sell in the future.   In other words, and as anyone with an understanding of economics will tell you, incentives matter! So with incentives for the owners to maximize their profits, as facilitated by private property rights, there will be more good apples for everyone!

Judge Jim Gray (Ret.)

2012 Libertarian candidate for Vice

President, along with Governor

Gary Johnson as the candidate for President

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2 Paragraphs 4 Liberty: #28 “Liberty and Other People’s Money”

                  When I was attending USC Law School I happened to be elected to the student council as a graduate representative. In one of our meetings, a representative of the Black Panthers appeared and requested that some student activity funds be donated to their group for their program to provide breakfasts for hungry children. Although I certainly am in favor of feeding hungry children, I objected that this was an improper use of student activity funds. These funds were (involuntarily) taken from all students ostensibly to be used for their benefit, and the monies should be restricted expressly for that purpose. Nevertheless, the request was granted.

That experience has stayed with me, and I remain proud of my objection. Anyone in charge of any monies which belong to or were taken from other people, must keep in mind the reason that money has been entrusted to them. As an example, in the case of Citizens United the U.S. Supreme Court got it wrong. No corporate or labor union money should be used for any political purpose at all, because the money belongs to the shareholders or the union members. The corporations and labor unions are welcome to make recommendations, but the actual donations should be the sole choice of the individuals themselves. It is a matter of Liberty.

Judge Jim Gray (Ret.)

2012 Libertarian candidate for Vice

President, along with Governor

Gary Johnson as the candidate for President

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2 Paragraphs 4 Liberty: #27 “Liberty vs. Government Do-Gooding”

                  Common Wisdom: Pass laws to force a good result! That is the cry of many legislators, often pushed on by many of their constituents. So, for example, faced with severe traffic congestion and nasty air pollution in Mexico City, legislation was passed restricting people to drive their cars only on odd or even-numbered days of the month, based upon the odd or even last number on their car’s license plates. This was done to force people either to carpool or take public transportation. And legislation was passed in cities like Santa Monica and San Francisco to control the rent that landlords could charge for apartments, so that “fair rent” would be made available for their tenants.

Results: Many people in Mexico City purchased second cars with license plates that would allow them to drive on the days their first car didn’t. Of course, most of these were older cars that caused additional air pollution. And, yes, some lucky tenants in rent-control cities had their rents frozen at below-market rates. But this program severely reduced the availability of apartments in those cities for many other people. Why? Since apartment owners were restricted to a lower return on their investments, not only did they not build new apartment buildings, they also went to great (and logical) lengths to turn their present apartments into condominiums – or parking lots!

Moral: Government attempts to interfere in the marketplace often result in many unwanted and unintended consequences, like, in these cases, even greater pollution and a lower availability of apartments. But Liberty, here defined as freedom to engage in the free-enterprise system of supply and demand, achieves better outcomes. Specifically in the area of transportation, competition breeds innovative ideas that result in things like Uber, electric cars and rental bicycles, all of which reduce congestion and improve air quality. Similarly, fewer needless regulations in constructing apartment buildings will reduce their cost and, thus, increase the availability of lower-cost apartments which, through competition, will reduce the rents that can be charged. In other words, once again, Liberty works!

Judge Jim Gray (Ret.)

2012 Libertarian candidate for Vice

President, along with Governor

Gary Johnson as the candidate for President

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2 Paragraphs 4 Liberty: #25 “Liberty & Zero Tolerance”

Upon any reasonable analysis, so-called Zero Tolerance laws and regulations, which I define as automatic outcomes for particular offenses or transgressions, make zero sense. Instead they are used as an excuse for people to exercise their authority without thinking or being called upon to justify the reasons for it. So not only do these Zero Tolerance results frequently result in a direct deprivation of Liberty, they are also a source of much wrongful mentoring to our children and harm to us all. Thus if some elementary school children take a knife to school to slice open an apple during a healthful eating demonstration, or set up a lemonade stand in their neighborhoods without first obtaining a permit, or take a pen to school that has some liquid and an inert marijuana seed inside, they are all punished. Why? Because the school principal or city council members, etc. “have no choice” but to enforce the laws and suspend the students or close down the lemonade stands, “because that is what the laws require.”

Of course, many times those arbitrary decisions are reversed when a parent shows up with a lawyer to challenge them. So that not only results in our children learning to hate authority because it is arbitrary, but it also teaches them that only the wealthy who can afford attorneys can receive fair treatment. Of course, these zero tolerance laws also affect adults in instances involving things like medical marijuana, mandatory minimum sentencing, and when they attempt to make jokes while going through TSA screening at airports – with the same arbitrary results. So people who care about justice and fair play should lose no opportunity in trying to repeal all zero tolerance laws and regulations. Liberty demands it!

Judge Jim Gray (Ret.)

2012 Libertarian candidate for Vice

President, along with Governor

Gary Johnson as the candidate for President

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2 Paragraphs 4 Liberty: #24 “Liberty & Prisons”

                  I hope you are familiar with the troubling statistic that the United States has only 5 percent of the world’s population, but 25 percent of its prisoners. There is no question that a society needs jails and prisons, and while I was on the bench I sentenced defendants to both. But it was never easy, nor should it have been. In my view, prison mostly should be reserved for people who are a continuing danger to the rest of us. Unfortunately, for whatever reason, some people see us as their rightful prey, and have little compunction about using force to get what they want. So they simply must be removed from society. In addition, I am a believer in the benefits of short periods of jail for non-violent offenders. In that regard, my father, who was a highly-respected federal judge, told the story that after he sentenced a Beverly Hills doctor to jail for 90 days for an income tax fraud, the IRS agent later told him that he would be amazed at the number of amended tax returns the IRS had received from Beverly Hills doctors. So sentences of this kind really can be a deterrent to criminal conduct, which is a good thing.

But for decades our country has been mindlessly incarcerating vast numbers of people without any benefit to anyone except the prison guard’s unions. And in the meantime, this comes with an extraordinary cost both in human as well as financial terms. Removing people from society for long periods of time not only deprives them of their liberty, it also strongly tends to dehumanize and institutionalize them and make them cynical. Furthermore, it often renders them unemployable, thus making them excellent candidates to become repeat offenders. In addition, when we incarcerate a breadwinner, it often not only puts their families onto welfare, it also deprives their children of parental guidance, which likely will result in the children repeating their parent’s mistakes. And, of course, it is enormously expensive for the taxpayer. So I hope you agree that before we deprive people of their liberty through incarceration, we should be certain that it is necessary, and is being done for the right reasons.

Judge Jim Gray (Ret.)

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2 Paragraphs 4 Liberty: #23 “Reflections of the Fourth of July”

Every Fourth of July we appropriately waive flags, eat barbecue, see fireworks and otherwise have a good time with our friends and family. But the signers of our Declaration of Independence which we now celebrate placed everything they had on the line, including their property and even their lives. Why? Because they sought their Rights and Liberties as Englishmen, and those rights were that important.

Now we are giving those rights away to our government with barely a fuss, and our Founding Fathers would literally damn us for doing so. Like sheep we have in many ways been giving up our economic and religious rights, as well as our rights to be free from government search and seizure of our property and our persons based in large part on the so-called War on Drugs and War on Terror. People who have come to live in America from countries like Russia, Romania, Iran and China so that they could escape those governments’ intrusions into their liberties are horrified to see that our government is now going in the same direction as their former governments! So all of us should care and be more aware and active. It is so easy to give up our liberties to the government, and so truly difficult ever to get them back. Ask our Founding Fathers!

Judge Jim Gray (Ret.)

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2 Paragraphs 4 Liberty: #22 “What’s in a Word?”

The proud theme of this column has been Liberty.  In choosing this theme, I took the risk of sounding like a political nerd, because I know that some people will react to it that way.  Had I chosen “Freedom” as the theme, there would have been less of a risk.  So what’s in a word, and why take the risk?  Because Liberty is the theme that our Founding Fathers and Mothers stressed for our country.  Not only did they not shy away from it, they lost no opportunity to accent it.  Thus it is prominently stated in our Declaration of Independence: “Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness,” the Preamble to our Constitution: “Secure the blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity,” and later even our Pledge of Allegiance: “With Liberty and Justice for All.”  And what is the definition of Liberty?  People like Thomas Jefferson defined it as being able to live your life as you choose, as long as doing so does not wrongly affect the ability of other people to do the same.

So in the last 21 editions of this column, we have discussed how Liberty works in many different areas: in education, immigration, our tax system, healthcare, marriage equality, and allowing honest competition in the marketplace and world trade instead of employing crony capitalism and protectionism.  Thus we have seen that Liberty is not just a philosophy or an approach, we have seen that Liberty is practical – and it works!  It was Henry Ford, who is not my favorite American socially, but who, from a practical standpoint, said it best: “Anyone who thinks they can prosper by relying upon the Government should talk with the American Indian.”  So join with us Libertarians and stress and be a constant advocate for Liberty.  And don’t shy away from using that word.  We don’t have all of the answers in this complicated world.  But we certainly have one of them.

Judge Jim Gray (Ret.)

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