I applaud Graham Boyd and Jack Hitt for detailing how the drug war has made a mockery of the Bill of Rights ("This Is Your Bill of Rights, on Drugs," December). One important point, however, was left out. The fundamental principle of liberty on which our Constitution is based was expressed by Thomas Jefferson in his "Notes on the State of Virginia": "The legitimate powers of government extend to such acts only as are injurious to others." Hence, whenever the government seeks to prevent a person from doing some alleged injury to himself, it acts illegitimately. It is a great tragedy of American political history that this principle was considered so axiomatic by Jefferson and the other drafters of the Constitution that they neglected to articulate it explicitly there. Had they done so, misguided federal campaigns to criminalize private behavior, such as Prohibition and the war on drugs, would have encountered stiffer resistance. William Fusfield Pittsburgh [end]
Nullification of election results is the kind of thing found in military dictatorships, but which one hardly expects to find in a nation committed to free elections such as the United States. Suppressing Initiative 59 under Rep. Bob Barr's amendment is one of the most egregious historical violations of citizen's constitutionally protected right to majority rule, as well as their right to be informed of the results of an election. Denying the popular will sets a very dangerous precedent for democratic rule. [continues 233 words]
It is very disappointing that the press has not rigorously investigated and exposed the congressional suppression of the certification of Initiative 59, the medical marijuana initiative on the Nov. 3 ballot in the District of Columbia. This is a civil liberties outrage of the first magnitude, since it directly involves congressional nullification of election results for a political purpose, thereby violating the right of American citizens to propose and ratify legislative initiatives. Nullification of election results is the kind of thing found in military dictatorships, but which one hardly expects to find in a nation committed to free elections such as the United States. [continues 290 words]
