FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Libertarian Party's National Convention May 3-6 in Las Vegas

WASHINGTON – The Libertarian Party will hold the National Libertarian Convention at the Red Rock Resort in Las Vegas, Nev., from May 3^rd through May 6^th to select the Presidential and Vice Presidential nominees, adopt any changes to the platform and choose top party officials.

The convention, themed Liberty Will Win, coincides with the 40^th anniversary of the party, which is celebrated by Libertarians across the country. Between 600 and 700 delegates from all parts of the country are expected to take part. The keynote address “Big Government is the Disease; Voting Libertarian Is the Only Cure” will be delivered at 9:30 A.M. on Thursday, May 3^rd by Michael Cloud, a veteran party strategist and communications expert.

"The problem is not the abuse of power ... it's the power to abuse. Take away the power and no abuse is possible," Mr. Cloud will say, according to the text of his prepared remarks.

 

Mark Hinkle, Libertarian Party Chair, said he anticipated one of the most exciting conventions ever.

“We have strong candidates -- and a growing number of independents, Tea Party faithful, disaffected Republicans, and anti-war, anti-crony-capitalism Democrats looking to us to field true liberty candidates,” Mr. Hinkle said. “We’re the small government alternative to Big Government Democrats and Republicans, which resonates with millions of voters who are deeply concerned with our weak economy and who fear it will get worse.”

The Libertarian Party’s nominating process differs significantly from that of the Republican and Democratic Parties.

Both the Presidential and Vice Presidential nominees are elected at the convention through independent voting processes starting with the presidential nomination. The Presidential nominee does not choose his or her running mate.

The first round of balloting will begin after the opening of the convention on Thursday, May 3^rd and close at 3:00 P.M. on Friday, May 4^th when delegates will choose participants of a nationally-televised Presidential debate that will take place on Friday, May 4^th  from 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm.  Those included in the debate will be announced by 3:30 P.M. on May 4^th. Only candidates scoring 10 percent of the ballot or more will be allowed to take part.

This year’s contenders for appearing on the stage include, in reverse alphabetical order, writer, Libertarian activist, and Air Force veteran R. Lee Wrights, documentary producer Bill Still, attorney and Army veteran Carl Person, computer programmer Scott Keller, former New Mexico Governor and businessman Gary Johnson, and Libertarian activist and Marine veteran Jim Burns.

Party rules call for selecting the nominees after the debate through several rounds of balloting. If no candidate for President or Vice President attains a majority on the first ballot, the candidate finishing last will be eliminated from the race. In addition, any candidate polling less than 5 percent will also be eliminated from the subsequent ballot. A candidate securing a majority of convention delegates will be the nominee.

“We have an impressive roster of talent this year to challenge our Big Government opponents not only in the race for the White House, but also in state and local races,” noted Mr. Hinkle. “The major parties offer Americans only one solution: Bigger government.  Libertarians will show voters how we can make government small while dramatically increasing jobs, lowering taxes, and scaling back government debt.” 

The Libertarian Party is the third largest political party in the United States, which is active in all 50 states and has more than 250,000 registered voters. 

Libertarians call for ending government interference in personal, family and business decisions, much lower government spending, repeal of dangerous and unnecessary regulations, lower taxes, a currency free of government manipulation, free trade, and a peaceful, non-interventionist foreign policy.

Millions of Americans have voted for Libertarian Party candidates in past elections throughout the country, despite the fact that many state governments place roadblocks in order to keep third party candidates off the ballot and deprive voters of a real choice.

Additional information about the 2012 Libertarian National Convention can be found at www.LibertyWillWin.com. Additional information about the Libertarian Party can be found at www.LP.org.

P.S. If you have not already done so, please join the Libertarian Party. We are the only political party with a mission to give voters a choice to downsize Big Government, to do so in the most humane way possible, to greatly reduce taxes, and to slash high government spending. You can also renew your membership. Or, you can simply make a contribution.

GET INVOLVED:

   

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Americans Moving in a Libertarian Direction: More Back Gun Rights, Gay Marriage

Americans have made an about-face on gun ownership rights over the past 12 years and have become more supportive of gay marriage, a new opinion poll shows.
The results of the survey, conducted by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press in early April, suggest that on both issues, voters are drifting toward positions traditionally advocated by the Libertarian Party.
According to the poll, 49 percent of Americans now say it is more important for them to protect the right to own guns, compared to 45 percent who say it is more important to control gun ownership.
It is the opposite of the situation that existed in 2000, when 66 percent of those polled favored gun control and only 29 percent supported the right of individuals to own firearms.
On gay marriage, the poll showed that 47 percent of Americans now favored allowing gay and lesbian couples to marry legally, while 43 percent remained opposed.
In 2004, just 31 percent supported gay marriage, while 60 percent were opposed, according to the survey.
The Libertarian Party opposes laws that violate our right to defend our own lives. The party has also traditionally supported the right of individuals to make free choices regarding their personal lives.

P.S. If you have not already done so, please join the Libertarian Party. We are the only political party with a mission to give voters a choice to downsize Big Government, to do so in the most humane way possible, to greatly reduce taxes, and to slash high government spending. You can also renew your membership. Or, you can simply make a contribution.

GET INVOLVED:

   

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Fellow Libertarian - Please check out our new video

P.S. If you have not already done so, please join the Libertarian Party. We are the only political party with a mission to give voters a choice to downsize Big Government, to do so in the most humane way possible, to greatly reduce taxes, and to slash high government spending. You can also renew your membership. Or, you can simply make a contribution.

GET INVOLVED:

   

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Libertarian Solutions To Societies Problems

Dear fellow Libertarian Party Member,

Want to help advance or Libertarian agenda – while being entered in a contest that could win you a $500 cash prize?

Libertarian Solutions. That’s how the Libertarian Party can demonstrate to voters that we can make their lives better with more freedom and much less government. Voting Libertarian.

We’ll be producing and posting videos through this election year that feature LP spokespersons, our candidates – and you, if you choose to participate - delivering our Libertarian Solutions.

You may have seen in the new issue of LP News that we’re holding the Libertarian Solutions Contest at the convention. Convention attendees will pick the winners for the best 2-minute video presentations of Libertarian Solutions. Any Libertarian candidate or party member may participate.

Great news – if you have an idea for a Libertarian Solution but no way to film it, we now have slots open to film LP members and candidates at the upcoming convention!

If you submit a Libertarian Solution for pre-qualification in the next few days, and if you  attend the LP National Convention in Las Vegas next week, we can film you delivering your solution on site at the convention – and enter the video in the Contest!

Videos that make the final cut for the Libertarian Solutions Contest will be played in the main ballroom – giving other party members and any media that may be present exposure to your proposal.

We now have both a professional copywriter and a professional videographer on staff who are available to help write a script based on your idea and film you during the convention delivering your Libertarian Solution.

Added bonus: We’re awarding $500 cash prizes to the winners in each of 4 categories: Best Libertarian Solution at the local level, best at the state level, and best at the federal level. The fourth category goes to the video which best answers the question “Why vote Libertarian.”

Here’s how it works:

1. Read the material at the web page at the end of this email. Follow each link to understand how the contest works and how to submit a qualified Libertarian Solution. Be sure to read every page carefully to become familiar with how a well-crafted Libertarian Solution markets the Libertarian Party and our candidates in the most powerful and persuasive way possible. The goal is to offer Libertarians Solutions that are compelling to everyday voters.

2. Based on the area of government which you propose to reduce or eliminate, answer the questions in the form on the second page entitled “Libertarian Solutions Criteria Worksheet and Submission Form.” Do NOT attempt to write a script. Just jot down the answers to the 8 questions (what’s your solution? Whom does it benefit? How does it benefit them, etc.) and submit them using this form. Note that for this contest, they MUST meet all 8 criteria.

3. We’ll evaluate your idea to ensure it meets all 8 criteria. The ones that do, and that are most persuasive, will be selected for more development. We’ll then get in touch with you to develop them into a Libertarian Solution. If it there are ways we can strengthen your proposal, we will suggest improvements so you have a killer Libertarian Solution – that the voters will love.

4. We’ll then invite you to turn your idea embodied in the 8 criteria into a two-minute script – or offer to write it for you, time permitting, using our professional writers on staff. Our aim is to help you come up with a presentation that powerfully presents your Libertarian Solution. Positive, professional and persuasive. We’ll send it to you for your approval to ensure that it accurately represents your intent.

5. You can film it yourself and prepare it for submission into the contest. Alternatively, we can schedule you to be filmed at the convention for as long as we have slots available for you to be filmed. To take advantage of this offer and make use of party resources, we’ll insist that you practice delivering the script before arriving at the convention. Practicing in front of a mirror works just fine to get you comfortable and fluid in your delivery. It’s awkward at first, but it works. Just keep doing it over and over until it feels natural. You can also practice your delivery with friends, family members, etc.

6. You schedule a 10-minute time slot with our videographer at the convention on Wednesday, May 2^nd or Thursday, May 3^rd between noon and 6:00 P.M. to film you delivering your Libertarian Solution.

A few notes on booking a time slot:

• Only those Libertarian Solution that meets all 8 of the criteria for maximum effectiveness will be accepted.
• Time slots are first come, first serve with preference given to candidates, to those who are registered for the convention, and those who are committed to coming practiced and prepared on time.
• We will book your time slot only after we have agreed on the script that will be used. This is to ensure we use party resources for quality Libertarian material that will market our Libertarian agenda effectively.

7. You show up 30 minutes before your scheduled time in appropriate attire ready to be filmed. Note: because we’ll use a green screen – which gives us the flexibility to drop in any photo we want for the backdrop – please be sure to AVOID WEARING the color green. NO GREEN!

8. We will have a make-up artist on hand should you need or desire her services.

9. We’ll have your script loaded into our teleprompter ready for you to deliver in a “talking head” format where you’re speaking to the camera. We’ll have time to film just one (slightly-less-than) 2-minute take of you delivering your Libertarian Solution. So be sure you’re practiced and ready to go!

10. We will edit your video, adding title cards at the beginning and end of the video that identify you, and if you’re running for office, some details about your campaign.

11. If you’re a candidate, we’ll send you a copy of your video that you can use as-is for your campaign in your home district. For example, you may be able to run it free-of-charge on a local cable access station. Or edit it down to a 30-second or 60-second ad.

12. We’ll post videos that qualify for the contest at LP.org.

Now please visit:

     http://announce.lp.org/t/91279/70997/1001/5/

to read the full description. Please read this web page carefully, as well as the page it links to at the end.

If you wish to participate, please send us ASAP your Libertarian Solution data (answers to 8 questions) using the form at the above web page. Please include your name, phone number, and email address. If you’re a candidate, please also include the office you’re running for, name of your district and the date of your election (if not November 6, 2012).

If you’d like to participate in this offer and have a shot at the $500 cash prize, please submit your Libertarian Solution - 8 criteria as soon as possible to be considered for entry into the Contest.  

If your Libertarian Solution meets all 8 criteria, we’ll be in touch.

Please note that if you do not hear from us, you solution does not meet all the necessary criteria. You are certainly free to use your idea as you see fit. However we will only invest in video production for those Libertarian Solutions that meet these guidelines so that we help to create the most marketable and libertarian solutions possible.

Thank you for your interest and efforts in advancing our Libertarian goals.

Yours in liberty,

Carla Howell

Executive Director

National Libertarian Party

P.S. If you have not already done so, please join the Libertarian Party. We are the only political party with a mission to give voters a choice to downsize Big Government, to do so in the most humane way possible, to greatly reduce taxes, and to slash high government spending. You can also renew your membership. Or, you can simply make a contribution.

GET INVOLVED:

   

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Abortion Politics?

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

April 20th, 2012

LP Chair: "Not Pro-Life or Pro Choice but Individual Choice"

WASHINGTON - In response to the abortion restrictions signed into law in Arizona this month, Libertarian Party Chair, Mark Hinkle, issued the following statement:
“Like so many others, Libertarians wrestle with the moral issues associated with abortion.  While our party includes a significant number of people who describe themselves as pro-choice, nearly as many members describe themselves as pro-life.  In my own view, however, there is no conflict: the best way to respect life is to prevent government from interfering with individual rights.
“Most who refer to themselves as pro-life believe that the fetus becomes an individual endowed with full rights at the moment of conception.  Most of those who call themselves pro-choice believe that an individual entitled to rights does not exist at least until there is a functional brain, capable of consciousness, which most scientists place somewhere between 22 and 26 weeks.
“Regardless of one’s view on this matter, however, we should all be able to agree that a pregnant woman is an individual with rights.  And that includes the right to make often-difficult decisions concerning her own body.
“One provision of the recent modification to Arizona law prohibits the termination of a pregnancy once 20 weeks have passed from the start of the woman’s last menstrual period before fertilization.  After that, abortion is permitted only in medical emergencies threatening the mother’s health.
“This provision is more of an insult to women than a substantive restriction, since nearly 99% of all abortions already take place before the end of 20 weeks, while virtually all remaining abortions DO involve protecting the mother’s health.  Arizona might as well have passed a law prohibiting mothers from waterboarding their infant children for all its relevance to the actual behavior of these women.  There is no need to place any time restriction: pregnant women have historically shown they can be trusted not to engage in the apocryphal ninth-month abortion for convenience.  Politicians, on the other hand, have shown regularly that they CANNOT be trusted.
“The ugliest part of the Arizona law, however, is a provision requiring a woman to undergo a physically invasive transvaginal ultrasound before she is even allowed to choose.  The goal, of course, is to humiliate her into deciding not to proceed, as punishment for what Governor Jan Brewer and the majority of the Arizona legislature consider to be her great transgression.
“We all know that abortions still take place even when they’re prohibited.   The Guttmacher Institute has researched the rate of abortions in countries throughout the world.  Countries with severe restrictions on abortion actually have a HIGHER rate of abortions (once the illegal ones are included) than countries that have few restrictions.  The lowest rate of abortion in the world is in pro-choice Holland, widely considered to be a hotbed of promiscuous sexual activity.
“Ironically, while there are multiple causes for this, a primary reason Holland has a rock bottom rate of abortion is that their women have more choices.  Sexual information is widely available to women and girls, contraception is relatively easy to obtain, there is more social acceptance of unwed mothers, and adoption faces far fewer restrictions than in most of the world.  As a result, women and girls know how to reduce the risk of an unwanted pregnancy, can access the methods and, should they become pregnant, have more motivation to carry to term.
“As libertarians, we favor the removal of all obstacles to the free flow of information about contraception, including attempts to censor Internet sites.  We call for an end to the prescription requirement, which massively increases the inconvenience and cost of obtaining protection.  We also support the removal of restrictions on adoption including laws against cross-racial adoptions and adoptions by unmarried adults and same sex couples.  All of these changes will help reduce the number of abortions that take place.  Indeed, abortion rates have dropped steadily in recent decades as women, including teenage girls, have faced fewer obstacles to learning about sex.
"And we're REALLY pro-choice: we also defend the right of a woman (or man) to choose NOT to pay for some other woman's abortion or birth control.   Keep the government out of abortions. No regulations, no subsidies. Choice for all, including choice for those who are pro-life."
“At the same time, denying the humanity of a pregnant woman is never acceptable, and the decision as to whether or not she will carry a fetus inside her own body must not be surrendered to the sophistries of over-bearing politicians and bureaucrats.”

P.S. If you have not already done so, please join the Libertarian Party. We are the only political party with a mission to give voters a choice to downsize Big Government, to do so in the most humane way possible, to greatly reduce taxes, and to slash high government spending. You can also renew your membership. Or, you can simply make a contribution.

GET INVOLVED:

   

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End The Income Tax?

April 16th, 2012
LP CHAIR: "Violence is No Way For Civilized People to Get Their Revenue"

WASHINGTON -- In light of tomorrow's personal income tax filing deadline, Libertarian National Chair, Mark Hinkle, released the following statement:
"While everyone needs revenue, only criminals and politicians insist that they have to get it through violence.  The criminals, however, do not pretend they're doing it in order to serve the public, and taxes make politicians public masters rather than public servants.
"Certainly, the present size of government at all levels depends on taxation - not only the explicit kind, but the invisible kind that the Federal Reserve System imposes through inflation of the money supply.  People probably wouldn't voluntarily pay to bomb, invade, and occupy other countries, bail out large banks and other corporations, and try to dictate the personal choices of others.  Good riddance!  Government-monopolized services such as education and health care could be provided for less than half the cost if they could be returned to the voluntary sector of society with cost-raising regulations abolished and incentives restored.  Both mutual aid groups and charitable donations filled gaps prior to the rise of the Welfare State for those in need with an efficiency that is impossible when those in charge of aid get more money and power for themselves the worse the job they perform.  We'll have to take some personal responsibility for our own lives and stop using the excuse Ebenezer Scrooge made that his taxes supported institutions for the poor so he could ignore them.
"It is obscene for those claiming to protect life, liberty, and property to obtain their revenue by violating life, liberty, and property.  There are plenty of ways to obtain revenue without force: insurance, user fees, advertising, lotteries, and donations are already used by many local and state governments for a good portion of their revenue.  Let them be true public servants and live within the means that these sources provide.  People might even pay more voluntarily once they're no longer forced to turn over 1/3 to 1/2 of their wealth to governments.
"Ultimately, it is about the type of society we want to have.  We can accomplish a lot voluntarily when we mutually respect each other's lives and property.  It begins by respecting the right of people to keep the fruits of their labor.  A good start would be the abolition of the personal income tax, which only adds insult to the injury of theft by invading every part of the taxpayer's privacy as well as making the second week of April a misery instead of a time to enjoy the early spring."

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P.S. If you have not already done so, please join the Libertarian Party. We are the only political party with a mission to give voters a choice to downsize Big Government, to do so in the most humane way possible, to greatly reduce taxes, and to slash high government spending. You can also renew your membership. Or, you can simply make a contribution.

GET INVOLVED:

   

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Tax Day Approaching!

How Could I Live without Filing Taxes?

Tired of filing taxes? Take a break, executive Director Carla Howell's spoof on taxes has been played on dozens of radio stations nationwide. Enjoy!

P.S. If you have not already done so, please join the Libertarian Party. We are the only political party with a mission to give voters a choice to downsize Big Government, to do so in the most humane way possible, to greatly reduce taxes, and to slash high government spending. You can also renew your membership. Or, you can simply make a contribution.

GET INVOLVED:

   

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Real Libertarians Don't Make Threats

Orrin Hatch voices his hatred for libertarians, but he is confused!

Karl Dickey

West Palm Beach Libertarian Examiner

 

U.S. Senator Orrin Hatch of Utah was interviewed yesterday by NPR and came out with his opinion on libertarians - and he didn't sugarcoat it. “These people are not conservatives. They’re not Republicans,” Hatch angrily responds. “They’re radical libertarians and I’m doggone offended by it.” Then Hatch, a former boxer, turns combative. “I despise these people, and I’m not the guy you come in and dump on without getting punched in the mouth.”
Hatch was reacting to recent threats to "his seat" in the U.S. Senate as libertarians and small government constituents have made a substantive move to "unseat" the Senator who has been sitting there for the last 36 years. Hatch has confused libertarians with the Tea Party as there are no Libertarian Party candidates running against him in the 2012 election, however there is a Tea Party activist running against him. In fact, Hatch is facing a total of twelve opponents this time around.

Most interesting of the interview is Hatch is confusing libertarians with Tea Partiers and those from FreemWorks. Whereas it is clear libertarians and members of the Tea Party do have some commonalities, most those within the Tea Party are not libertarians, they are fiscal conservatives.
Ironically, this is the same mistake Van Jones made less than two weeks ago, confusing libertarians with those in the Tea Party and Grover Norquist. One would think Hatch would know the difference between true libertarians and the Tea Party.

 

Vote Libertarian!

How Many Libertarian Party Candidates Do You Want to Elect - this Year?

796 Libertarian Party Candidates ran for office in 2010.
592 Libertarian Party Candidates ran for office in 2008.
With high hopes and the best of intentions, they ran. But very few of them had LP campaign experience. Very few won.
It didn't have to be that way.
With the right Tools and Training and Coaching, they could have done a lot better. Many more of our Libertarian Party candidates could have won.
Do you want that?
Do you want to give a lot more LP candidates a real chance to make progress -- and maybe win?
You do? Great! So do I. And so does our Libertarian Party Chair, Mark Hinkle.
But before we talk about how to successfully do it, let's see WHAT FAILS OR FALLS SHORT.

1.      UNTRAINED LP CANDIDATES. Get a lot of LP members to file for office, wish them well, and give them NO TRAINING. They'll make tons of avoidable mistakes, get stuck, feel unsupported, and do poorly.

2.      UNPLANNED LP CAMPAIGNS. Without a good campaign game plan, our LP candidates and volunteers waste time and money -- and achieve too little.

3.      UNFUNDED LP CAMPAIGNS. NO fundraising or inept fundraising cripples LP campaigns. Money pays for campaign fliers, yard signs, web sites, targeted ads and publicity. Poverty pays for nothing.

4.      UNSTAFFED LP CAMPAIGNS. Motivated, trained LP campaign volunteers make a huge difference. Only a handful of LP activists have experience and skill in recruiting, training, and nurturing volunteers.

That's WHY so few Libertarian Party candidates have broken through.
Will you help us change that? Starting now?

WHAT WORKS. WHAT WE NEED.

'Give a man a fish, feed him for a day. Teach him how to fish, feed him for a lifetime.' - Proverb
We want to teach our Libertarian Party candidates and campaign workers 'how to fish,' so they can run great LP campaigns time after time, year after year.
AND teach other LP candidates in their cities and states 'how to fish.'

1.      CANDIDATE TRAINING FROM EXPERIENCED, SKILLED LIBERTARIAN PARTY EXPERTS. Not activists who have only worked with Democratic or Republican candidates. Not self-styled 'experts' who haven't spent at least 1,000 hours practicing the skill they claim they can teach.

2.      CAMPAIGN TRAINING FROM PROVEN, SEASONED LIBERTARIAN PARTY CAMPAIGN EXPERTS. Libertarian Party campaigns face radically different obstacles and challenges than Republican and Democratic campaigns. We need guidance from those who have successfully navigated them.

3.      FUNDRAISING TRAINING. Why not the best? Michael Cloud personally fundraised over $5.3 million for LP candidates and organizations between 1995 and 2002. He's agreed to teach LP candidates 'How to Simply and Easily Fundraise the First $10,000 for Your LP Campaign in Just 4 Evenings -  Even If You're Shy.' What's more, he's agreed to mentor and coach LP candidates over the phone - if they run into problems or get stuck.

4.      HOW TO RECRUIT, TRAIN, MOTIVATE, AND NURTURE DOZENS OF VOLUNTEERS FOR YOUR LIBERTARIAN PARTY CAMPAIGN. Whether it's a statewide or local campaign, volunteers make the difference.

5.      DOOR TO DOOR CAMPAIGNING. A Libertarian Party candidate can be elected with less than 1,000 votes in over 30,000 elective offices in the United States.

6.      LIBERTARIAN SOLUTIONS, NOT JUST POSITIONS. Running for office is like interviewing for a job. What will the candidate DO if she is elected? Our LP candidates need to offer simple, credible libertarian solutions to high taxes, high spending, and Big Government programs and policies - and show voters the huge, immediate, direct benefits to them and their neighbors. This is a master key to being taken seriously.

Great News! We are launching Phase 1 of this LP Campaign Tools and Training Project at this Libertarian National Convention.
But ONE-TIME SEMINARS, ONE-TIME TRAINING IS NOT ENOUGH to make sure our candidates regularly, repeatedly do what they learned.
We MUST REGULARLY PROVIDE tools and training for our LP candidates and campaigns.
Will YOU help us teach LP candidates 'how to fish'? Will you help us provide the tools and training for our LP candidates this year? Will you help us train and guide our LP candidates to keep practicing their 'fishing skills'?
796 Libertarian Party Candidates ran for office in 2010.
592 Libertarian Party Candidates ran for office in 2008.
This year, we will have about the same number.
BUT, if YOU HELP, this year they will be better-funded, better-trained, better-equipped - and together we can elect more and more Libertarians to office.
If you can donate $5,000 or $2,500 now, will you please do it now?
If you can give $1,500 or $1,000 to this high-leverage, high-payoff project, will you please do it now?
Or, if you can give $750 or $500, will you please donate now - and reap the benefits for the rest of the year?
If you can give $250 or $150, you will make a huge difference. Will you please?
If you can give $75 or $50 or another amount, you will be part of this historic effort. Will you please give now?
Your donation is our budget. Your donation means more and better Libertarian Party candidates and campaigns. And more victories, this year. And next.
Please give generously. You're going to love the results.

Thank you.

Carla Howell

Executive Director, Libertarian Party

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A Supreme Disaster!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

April 4th, 2012
LP CHAIR: "GET READY TO STRIP FOR UNPAID TRAFFIC TICKET"
WASHINGTON - The Libertarian Party denounces a U.S. Supreme Court decision, which on Monday struck down a legal complaint by a New Jersey man who was subjected to invasive strip searches after being erroneously detained on suspicion of an unpaid fine.
   The Libertarian Party warns that the 5-4 ruling, supported by conservative justices along with Anthony M. Kennedy, establishes a new judicial precedent allowing invasive searches of individuals in detention for even minor infractions or by mistake.
   "After this ruling, get ready to strip even if you have an unpaid traffic ticket," Mark Hinkle, Libertarian Party Chair, said in a statement. "We are dismayed. This ruling sanctions new and unprecedented levels of invasion of privacy.  Never before did U.S. courts allow such an outrageous affront to human dignity with so little justification."  
   The complaint was brought by Albert W. Florence, a black New Jersey man who was arrested by state troopers in 2005 on an outstanding warrant for an unpaid fine. The police record indicating the fine was unpaid turned out later to be erroneous.  Moreover, an unpaid fine is not a crime under New Jersey law.
   However, Mr. Florence was held for a week in two different jails before the charges were dropped. He was subjected to strip searches in both institutions. 
   Justice Kennedy, who wrote for the majority, argued that corrections officials "must have substantial discretion to devise reasonable solutions to the problems they face."
  Writing for the dissent, Justice Stephen G. Breyer said the strip searches were "a serious affront to human dignity and to individual privacy."
   Mr. Hinkle added: "Respect for individual dignity and privacy in America must be restored.  It seems like the majority of the high court has decided to short-shrift the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which specifically bars unreasonable searches.  We call for the repeal of the USA Patriot Act and other so-called 'home security' legislation that infringe upon the rights of rank-and-file Americans."

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P.S. If you have not already done so, please join the Libertarian Party. We are the only political party with a mission to give voters a choice to downsize Big Government, to do so in the most humane way possible, to greatly reduce taxes, and to slash high government spending. You can also renew your membership. Or, you can simply make a contribution.

GET INVOLVED:

   

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Real Due Process?

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

April 3rd, 2012

LP Chair- Executive Orders And Military Tribunals Are NOT Due Process

WASHINGTON -- Libertarian National Chair, Mark Hinkle, released the following statement today:
“Last month, the joint war on liberty by Republicans and Democrats continued, when Attorney General Eric Holder informed surprised students and faculty at Northwestern University Law School that President Obama can kill anyone in the world without charge or trial. This, of course, is just acceptance of the Unitary Executive Theory which President George W. Bush utilized to ignore the courts during his administration. Needless to say, both Presidents, Bush and Obama, assured us that they would be careful to only use their unlimited powers for the benefit of their subjects.
“Libertarians say this is not good enough. Until recently, most Americans believed that they could not be deprived of their life, liberty or property without due process of law. The very idea of having people judged by a jury of their peers was to limit the ability of politicians to act as if they were monarchs.
“Nowhere is this bipartisan disgrace better demonstrated than in the ongoing saga of the Guantanamo Bay detention camp. Bush established this camp in January 2002 so that he could claim the prisoners held there were outside US legal jurisdiction. When the Supreme Court rejected that administration’s quaint new category of people who were neither accused criminals, subject to the protections of habeas corpus, nor prisoners of war, subject to the protections of the Geneva Convention, Bush began to use military tribunals in which US military officers operated as both judge and jury.  As Groucho Marx once said, `Military justice is to justice what military music is to music.’
“Conveniently, the Military Commissions Act of 2006 gave Bush both the legislative cover and official acceptance of his newly-minted category of enemy combatant. At that time, most Democrats voted against this law, while in 2008, then-presidential candidate Barack Obama called for regular civilian trials and the closing of Guantanamo. Needless to say, upon election President Obama decided instead to continue both the tribunals and the indefinite detentions at Guantanamo.
“It is far too late to talk about due process for the Guantanamo prisoners. Of the nearly 800 men and boys sent there, most were released after years of imprisonment without ever being charged, let alone convicted of anything. Eight have died in custody. A total of three have been convicted: one for making an anti-American video, one for being a chauffeur for Bin Laden, and one in a vague plea bargain in exchange for his release. Of the remaining 171 detainees, most have already been cleared for release but are still being held. And for the few still awaiting a hearing, the legacy of torture based evidence taints the entire process. Fair trials are impossible at this point.
“Let us end this farce NOW. While no single policy can ever guarantee our safety, we are far more endangered by a government which has justifiably earned the contempt of the world than we are by a few more people running free who are angry at the US. Releasing the innocent is far more important than accidentally keeping a few who might be guilty. Close Guantanamo and restore due process.
Which poses a bigger threat to America? Americans whom politicians claim are a threat? Or the politicians themselves?

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