NNeeww JJeerrsseeyy LLiibbeerrttaarriiaann VOLUME XXVIII, Issue 8 Augustt,, 2002 © 2002 New Jersey Libertarian Party Page 2 – Are There Human Rights? By Tom Palven Page 2 – Who’s On The Dole? By John Paff Page 3 – Voter Affilation Update; Party Affiliation Form; Election Board Addresses Page 4 – Candidates Conklin and Carter Keeping Busy! Page 5 – From the Chair A good time had by all! The weather cooperated and turnout was good at the NJLP rd Annual Picnic and General Meeting. Page 7 – Minutes of June 23 Photo by Robert Hull Steering Committee Meeting Page 8 – Role of Political Director Page 9 – NJLP Members in Public Office Page 10 – County Info Left: Co-Host Len Flynn and activist Chris Weimann. Photo by John Paff. Page 11 – Membership Form See the September issue for the Minutes of the General Meeting held at our Annual Picnic Right: Senate Candidate Liz Macron. Photo by John Paff. Are there Human Rights? By Tom Palven Who’s on the Dole? As a long-time libertarian who originally came from the Goldwater right, I By John Paff have been a staunch supporter of the US Constitution and particularly the Bill of Rights. Many of my numerous letters-to-the-editor over the years have cited one or more of the Have you ever first ten amendments. However, at this late date I have reluctantly come to conclude wondered exactly who is that the term “rights” or “human rights” may be essentially meaningless, and that to cite collecting all those them as a cause for action or as a defense against governmental action is at best useless, and may even be counterproductive. federal farm subsidies? In the 1970’s Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-MA co-sponsored the “No-Knock If so, check out the Law” for Washington, DC allowing government employees to break into citizen’s Environmental Working homes. Arguing against the bill was Sen. Sam Ervin, D-NC who stated that the law Group's web site at would violate the spirit of the US Constitution. He noted that when the British http://www.ewg.org/far parliament proposed such a law in order to enforce a whisky tax, William Pitt argued that a man’s home was his castle, and that “though it might be frail and the wind might m/state.php?fips=us. enter and the rain might enter, the King’s men may not enter”. That measure failed. This site allows you to Kennedy cited the necessity of winning the War on Drugs. The “No-Knock Bill” search for subsidy passed as an emergency measure and is now employed throughout the country, granting recipients by zip code, th Americans less right to privacy in their homes than that enjoyed under an 18 century last name or business monarchy. Gun advocates can recite the Second Amendment until they turn blue, but name. Punch in your questions of the legalities of buying and selling guns, carrying concealed or visible zip code and see if any weapons, etc., will continue to have little to do with the Bill of Rights and a lot to do of your neighbors or with which pressure groups wield more political power. It should have been obvious to local politicians are on me years ago that political power trumps the Constitution, and that the electorate knows the dole. little and cares less about this fact. But it seems that we libertarians who have had a special reverence for the Founding Fathers and the Constitution have worn blinders with the regard to our Constitutional “rights”. How, for example, can our cherished rights to life and liberty possibly be squared with the draft that sent thousands of men to die in the senseless undeclared war in Viet Nam? One can spin it and rationalize it and it still just won’t compute. The best on can do is to take the reverence one step further and pretend that the US Government, like God, works in strange and mysterious ways, its wonders to perform, and that this fact should not be questioned. We seem to be the last to know that the Constitution is a joke. Police academies teach that citizens do not have rights, but privileges bestowed by Save $200 and Help government. Even the one right that police cite, the Fifth Amendment right to remain silent, has been overturned. A person is now given a limited immunity and if he or she the NJLP! refuses to testify he or she is held in contempt and permanently jailed. But it is not only Save $200! Become a the police academies that argue against rights. Professor Robert Bork of Yale Law $300 Lifetime Member School said that Americans do not enjoy a right to privacy because it cannot be found in today! the Constitution. And recently Professor Ruth Wedgwood, also of Yale Law School, argued regarding the Jose Padilla case, that American citizens could be jailed Lifetime Membership in indefinitely without charges being filed because this is an emergency. (See – Prof. Ruth the N.J. Libertarian Wedgwood Yale – on line.) Party will rise to $500 I am now convinced that when we libertarians seek to use the US Constitution starting October 1. But to bolster our arguments for freedom it makes us appear quaint and out of touch, if not if you upgrade your downright ridiculous. Rights simply do not exist here, in Nazi Germany, or anywhere, membership to Lifetime but only privileges doles out by the powers that be, and which may not include the before October 1 you'll “privilege to live” for young American men in the ‘70s, but may include the “privilege only pay $300. The to affordable housing” or the “privilege to paid maternity leave”. increase is the first in So, in our efforts as libertarians to secure liberty, we might well be more 30 years, so take effective ignoring the issue of “rights”. If we wish to make a case for gun ownership advantage on this and/or carrying guns, for example, we should forget what Madison or the Constitution limited time offer while said, but make a case regarding crime and self defense in the here and now. The flip it lasts. side is that if rights do not exist, the government has no right to tax us, send us to war, Save $200! Become a disarm us, send out building inspectors, etc. $300 Lifetime Member today! Tom Palven was one of the first two libertarians to run for Congress from NJ, and is past editor of the New Jersey Libertarian. New Jersey Liiberttariian 2 Augustt 2002 Voter Affiliation Update Overnight we doubled our affiliation numbers in Gloucester County! Two of our more dedicated members (who will go nameless to save them the embarrassment) finally got around to mailing in their forms after the last issue of the NJL came out and we jumped from two registered Libertarians to four. Yeah, that's silly. But it shows how easily we can increase our total of registered Libertarians. If every current dues-paying member simply took a minute or two to complete and mail the form below we'd soar from the 112 recorded by the State as of Primary Day to well over 600. The Monmouth-Ocean County organization did a mailing to all members in their locale including a copy of the form plus an addressed reply envelope. It was their second to Monmouth members and their first to those in Ocean County. The first such mailing was largely responsible for the 26 registered Libertarians recorded in Monmouth. If every active local organization did the same it should yield similar, positive results. To register your party affiliation as Libertarian simply complete the form below and mail it to your county Board of Elections at the address on the list. If you need a voter registration form you can obtain one by calling 1- 800-201-NJLP. Atlantic County 1333 Atlantic Ave., 4th Floor Atlantic City, NJ 08401 Bergen County 1 Bergen County Plaza, Room 310 Hackensack, NJ 07601 Burlington County P.O. Box 6000 Mount Holly, NJ 08060 Camden County P.O. Box 1066 Camden, NJ 08101 Cape May County 10-12 W. Mechanic Street Cape May Courthouse, NJ 08210 Cumberland County 60 Broad St. W., Suite 210 Bridgeton, NJ 08302 Middlesex County 777 Jersey Avenue Essex County New Brunswick, NJ 08901- Salem County 90 Market Street 33 Washington Street 3605 Newark, NJ 07102 Salem, NJ 08079-9856 Monmouth County Somerset County Gloucester County 300 Halls Mill Road 20 Grove Street P.O. Box 352 Freehold, NJ 07728 Woodbury, NJ 08096 Somerville, NJ 08876-1262 Morris County Sussex County Hudso n County P.O. Box 900 18 Church Street 595 Newark Avenue Morristown, NJ 07963-0900 Newton, NJ 07860-9965 Jersey City, NJ 07306 Ocean County Union County Hunterdon County P.O. Box 2006 P.O. Box 2900 Toms River, NJ 08754-2006 271 North Broad Street Elizabeth, NJ 07207 Flemington, NJ 08822-9952 Passaic County Warren County Mercer County 311 Pennsylvania Ave., 413 Second Street P.O. Box 8068 Room 103 Belvidere, NJ 07823 Trenton, NJ 08650 Paterson, NJ 07503 New Jersey Liiberttariian 3 Augustt 2002 Candidates Conklin and Carter Keeping Busy! Below is Joe Conklin’s latest update to supporters and the Atlantic Highlands Herald story covering his and Jennifer Carter’s fight against the Long Branch School Board. Way to go! th Lots to talk about in this update! Atlantic Highlands Herald, July 4 , 2002 1. Now that the candidates from all 3 major parties LONG BRANCH, NJ — Libertarian Monmouth have been chosen, it's time to vote in our poll.