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 |  Subject: Oklahoma's Corrupt Attorney General, Drew Edmonson's, Pursuit of Political Activist  Mon Dec 29, 2008 5:21 pm | |
| Attorney General leads posse chasing critics of government.
Oklahoma Attorney General Drew Edmondson recently told supporters that he plans to run for Governor in 2010. So voters might be interested in how the AG has treated critics of government while serving as the state's top law enforcer. The case of Paul Jacob is instructive.
A veteran political activist, Mr. Jacob is the former head of U.S. Term Limits and the current head of Citizens in Charge. A year ago, he and two fellow grassroots organizers, Rick Carpenter and Susan Johnson, were indicted on criminal conspiracy charges. Mr. Edmondson's office alleges that they attempted to defraud the state by hiring people from out of Oklahoma to gather signatures for a ballot initiative that would impose spending limits on lawmakers.
If convicted, the "Oklahoma Three" face 10 years in prison and a $25,000 fine. But a conviction is unlikely given that last week the Tenth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals struck down as unconstitutional Oklahoma's law that bans nonresidents from circulating petitions. Despite the ruling, Mr. Edmondson has refused to drop the case and says he will appeal.
Mr. Jacob maintains that he and the other defendants never broke the law and were acting in good faith. "The Attorney General's office is well aware that the people who pursued this petition drive on the ground went to state officials first, asked them what the rules were and followed their advice," said Mr. Jacob in an interview. "And they were told that as long as someone is residing in the state for the duration of the petition drive, that's residency."
The Oklahoma ruling follows decisions this year in the Sixth and Ninth Circuits that have overturned similar residency requirements in Ohio and Arizona. All three rulings have been unanimous. Mr. Edmondson insisted that the residency rule was necessary to guard against fraud. The court disagreed, noting that "Oklahoma has failed to prove the ban on non-resident circulators is narrowly tailored to protect the integrity of the initiative process." Furthermore, the judges noted that the circulation of ballot petitions is "core political speech" that deserves the highest level of First Amendment protection.
Public officials claim residency laws are necessary to police the petition process, but these laws only serve to discourage its use. Unfortunately, more states are considering them. In recent years, South Dakota, Montana and Nebraska have passed residency bans. This year, Colorado's legislature passed a residency rule that was vetoed by the Governor. And in Missouri, a law passed the House but was blocked in the Senate.
Grassroots organizers pushing for term limits in the 1990s faced a barrage of attacks on the initiative process from state lawmakers and other elected officials nationwide. More recently, legislators have targeted advocates of tax and spending limits. Both issues are popular with voters but loathed by the political class.
Mr. Edmondson, a Democrat, is angling for support from public employee unions and other special interest groups that oppose tax and spending constraints. But more generally, his continued prosecution of the Oklahoma Three sends a chilling message to others who might consider exercising their right to petition government.
Earlier this year, Mr. Edmondson told Oklahoma City's Journal Record, "If the courts determine that the state's process violates the First Amendment, so be it. Until that time, our law will be enforced." Well, that time has come, yet he presses on, which suggests that Mr. Edmondson is motivated more by politics than justice.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123025574056134661.html?mod=sphere_ts&mod=sphere_wd
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“The state calls its own violence law, but that of the individual, crime.”-- Max Stirner
"Remember: Evil exists because good men don't kill the government officials committing it." -- Kurt Hofmann |
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