Category: initiative, referendum, and recall

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First Amendment rights initiative, referendum, and recall national politics & policies

The Oklahoma Three, Free at Last

It seemed hardly necessary. The handcuffs and leg-irons, I mean. I wasn’t a threat to anybody. Neither were Rick Carpenter and Susan Johnson.

We had been charged with “conspiracy to defraud the state of Oklahoma” for our work to put a spending cap on the ballot.

The metal constraints were for show — to intimidate us and to scare the good citizens of Oklahoma.

The threatened penalty of ten years in prison was scary, too.

Being innocent, we defended our rights, even as the persecution dragged on for a year and half. Not even a preliminary hearing had been completed. Folks wondered if Attorney General Drew Edmondson was more interested in tying us up politically than in prosecuting us legally.

We never got our day in court; the Constitution intervened. Not only did we not break Oklahoma’s residency law, the federal Tenth Circuit declared the law itself an unconstitutional violation of our First Amendment rights.

So, on January 22nd, the AG dismissed the charges. It was a great day — for all of us.

But the underlying mindset of the original law and prosecution remains. Legislators continue to enact unconstitutional impediments against citizen use of ballot initiatives and recall petitions. Too often, officials seek to punish citizens who assert their rights.

Citizens in chains cannot control their government. That’s why, working with the group Citizens in Charge Foundation, I’ll keep fighting.

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.

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initiative, referendum, and recall

Amendment 2 . . . In Plain English

Today in Nashville, Tennessee, two issues are on the ballot. But voters may not  know what they are. Some people don’t want them to know.

You see, Amendment 1, a measure called “English-Only,” has stirred up lots of controversy. The initiative reads: “Official actions which bind or commit the government shall be taken only in the English language, and all official government communications and publications shall be in English.”

A group called Nashville for All of Us has raised $300,000 and has campaigned against it. In the course of their campaign, every ad urges a vote against both Amendment 1 and Amendment 2.

Yet, strangely, there is absolutely no mention in their ads or on their website as to what Amendment 2 is about — just constant exhortations to vote against it.

Well, in plain English, Amendment 2 has nothing to do with English-Only. It’s about Nashville voters protecting their initiative rights. Amendment 2 makes it easier to put ballot measures on the general election when the most people come out to vote, rather than on special elections that needlessly cost taxpayers millions of dollars.

Amendment 2 would also standardize and lower the petition requirement to place an issue on the ballot. And Amendment 2 would prevent the Metro Council from amending or repealing measures passed by voters . . . at least for four years.

No wonder some folks don’t want to discuss Amendment 2.

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.

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ballot access initiative, referendum, and recall local leaders

The Spirit of Initiative

Today is inauguration day for President Barack Obama. When I think of presidential inaugurations, I think of John F. Kennedy’s speech on another January 20, back in 1961. Kennedy told Americans to “Ask not what your country can do for you — ask what you can do for your country.”

In other words, government ought not be a spectator sport. Government is us. “We the People” must be engaged. And, around the country, people are engaging in all sorts of ways. Many are launching ballot initiatives. You could, too.

Initiatives allow voters a direct say on issues.

In Missouri, for example, Ron Calzone and Missourians for Property Rights are campaigning for two constitutional amendments to fully protect citizens from continuing eminent domain abuse.

Ron and the group worked their hearts out in 2008 to gather hundreds of thousands of signatures on two petitions. Unfortunately, both measures fell short in one of the six required congressional districts.

Would you have given up, saying you did your duty? Well, Calzone’s troops can be called “the minutemen” because they didn’t quit for a minute. They will not rest until governments are prevented from stealing our homes and businesses, at least in Missouri. The group has filed two new initiatives and will soon be gathering signatures for a 2010 vote.

The inaugural will be televised. I’m told the revolution will not be.

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.

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initiative, referendum, and recall

Something for All Seasons

A recent study shows that men tend to react to holiday shopping as if they were soldiers fighting in a war, or police putting down a riot . . . that is, with extreme stress, high blood pressure, accelerated heart rates.

Maybe that’s why I usually wait so long to do my Christmas shopping. It’s just not healthy.

So, here comes Christmas again and I’m still thinking about my gift list. At the very top of my list is something I wish all Americans had: the right to vote on their own laws.

Yes, what I want most for citizens in every state is to get what only 24 states offer: Voter initiative and referendum.

It’s no panacea. But it does enable “We the People” to nudge — even push — politicians. An amazing number of ballot measures in states with initiative rights have successfully reformed or limited government. Wouldn’t it be great to have that right everywhere?

I know, I know: Wishing for initiative and referendum everywhere is rather like wishing for World Peace. And yet . . . it’s not. We are Americans, and we can affect our own politics. We can tell our representatives that we simply won’t vote for them unless they pledge to give us legal rights to the initiative process.

Sure, world peace would be better. But we can’t control the world. We can, with effort, convince our very own elected politicians to give us a gift that, as they say, keeps on giving. It’s called initiative and referendum.

This is Common Sense. Happy Holidays. I’m Paul Jacob.

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initiative, referendum, and recall

A Congressman Makes Sense

Have I stumbled upon an alternative universe? There is a congressman actually making sense.

Well, to be more precise, he’s not yet a congressman, he’s Congressman-Elect Jared Polis, a Democrat from Colorado. Polis is a supporter of voter initiatives and has personally been involved in state ballot measures. He says the initiative process in Colorado and elsewhere “doesn’t work perfectly” but that it is “far better that we have one than that we don’t have one.” That’s certainly true.

Polis argues that “[t]here are some policies that by their very nature are unlikely to ever be implemented by an elected legislature. These are things like campaign finance reform, term limits — types of issues where it affects the members personally. . . .”

One example Polis cites is the open meetings law passed by initiative in Colorado. “The US Congress doesn’t have that,” he reminded radio listeners recently. “Congress literally still has the smoke filled room. . . .”

Polis adds that he is “very interested in seeing what a national initiative system might look like.” As a newly minted member, he is expected to introduce legislation to create such a system.

Knowing how Congress works, I’m not holding my breath, of course. The politicians and special interests won’t want any such citizen input.

But it is refreshing to see someone in Congress be serious about empowering the American people. At every level of government, voters should have a check on their elected officials.

That’s simply common sense.

So is this. I’m Paul Jacob.

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ballot access initiative, referendum, and recall

Barring Democracy in Wilkes-Barre

You may have a right to change your government . . . but that doesn’t mean government won’t fight back.

In Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, there was disagreement over a firehouse, whether it should be decommissioned, or not. The mayor wanted it gone; citizens wanted it kept. So citizens got active, petitioning to change the town’s home rule charter to allow voters to decide.

The city could have simply gone along with the petition, allowing a vote. That would have been the republican, democratic, and even decent thing. But instead, Mayor Tom Leighton set the town’s attorneys on the petitioners. They even sued the petitioners for $11,056 in attorney fees, for the city’s fight against their petition.

Now, the mayor had an almost-plausible excuse. It was about the petitioning, and charges of fraud. Those charges amounted to several folks who signed the petition who later said they’d been misled.

To the petitioners, the issue of attorneys fees seemed like nothing other than an attempt to squelch their rights . . . and to discourage other uppity citizens.

So they fought back, and, in mid-November, a federal jury ruled against the mayor and the town, and awarded activist Denise Carey $67,000 in her civil rights suit.

Carey’s lawyers had put the case very plainly, saying that “Mayor Leighton may be able to take away a fire station, but don’t let him take away our constitutional rights.”

The jury didn’t.

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.

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ballot access general freedom initiative, referendum, and recall

Wheels of Injustice

The wheels of injustice creak along slowly.

Indicted in October last year, the Oklahoma Three — Rick Carpenter, Susan Johnson, and I — have still not had a full preliminary hearing. That first step has now been pushed back to next February.

Our alleged crime? Oklahoma’s Attorney General, Drew Edmondson, argues that we conspired to hire non-residents to gather signatures on a petition.

Never mind that state officials said the campaign’s hiring practices were perfectly legal. Never mind that the law itself is under constitutional challenge, with similar laws in Arizona and Ohio having been struck down earlier this year.

The real goal? Frighten and intimidate those who would dare petition to do things like cap runaway government spending, provide protection from government’s abuse of eminent domain, or limit the terms of politicians — like, say, Mr. Edmondson.

Opponents of the petition that triggered this prosecution amounted to a who’s who of wealthy, powerful Oklahomans, including entrenched political interests such as the teachers’ and public employees’ unions.

Recently I sent out a news release with a statement declaring our innocence and attacking this politically-motivated prosecution. Next thing I know, the Citizens in Charge website gets shut down. An email from the Oklahoma Educational Television Authority complained to our hosting service that the news release was spam.

The website was restored, but I tell you: “These are the times that try men’s souls.”

That’s Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.

Categories
initiative, referendum, and recall local leaders

The John Lilburne Award

John Lilburne and Eric Ehst could never meet: They belong to different eras. But they have something in common.

Back in the 1600s, John Lilburne worked as a pamphleteer and champion of individual or “freeborn” rights. He pioneered the use of petitioning for redress against government power and abuse.

Lilburne was a term limits guy, too, arguing that members of parliament should not be able to serve for longer than a year at a time. Unfortunately, he spent far too much time in jail; his support for individual rights bugged both the Crown and then Cromwell. Lilburne’s trials sparked the fire that led to our own Fifth Amendment.

The Citizens in Charge Foundation, a group I work with, has just launched The John Lilburne Award. This monthly honor will go to a citizen working to protect and expand our petition rights.

Eric Ehst is the award’s first winner, for November 2008.

Ehst, executive director of the Clean Elections Institute, formed a coalition that helped defeat Arizona’s Proposition 105. This measure would have severely hampered Arizona’s initiative process by requiring a virtually impossible majority of all registered voters — not just those voting — to pass any initiative that would raise a tax or fee or that mandated any spending at all, even a postage stamp.

Long ago, John Lilburne struggled to establish the peoples’ right to petition their government. This year in Arizona, Eric Ehst defended that same right.

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.

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ballot access First Amendment rights initiative, referendum, and recall

Feeling Sorry for Oklahoma?

I’m beginning to feel sorry for Oklahoma.

That may seem a little strange to regular readers. They know that Oklahoma Attorney General Drew Edmondson is prosecuting me, along with two other activists, for work on a 2005 petition drive to cap state spending. He’s trying to throw us in prison for ten years.

This legal assault is “unjust” and “politically-motivated.” Those words aren’t mine: An Oklahoma City University law professor argued that this prosecution is “unjust,” and a state senator charged the AG’s actions are “politically-motivated.”

Since Edmondson began his chilling attack on the right to petition one’s government, poor Oklahoma has been compared to some horribly tyrannical regimes. An editorial in Forbes asked, “Has Oklahoma Been Annexed by North Korea?” A Wall Street Journal editorial connected the Sooner State to the kind of repression practiced in Pakistan.

And now, columnist Paul Mulshine with the New Jersey Star Ledger condemns Edmondson, saying Russia’s Vladimir Putin “could learn a thing or two from the Oklahoma boys.”

But wait a second. There are great people in Oklahoma. They don’t support this outrageous abuse of power.

As those of us threatened in Oklahoma finally have our preliminary hearing, I’m confident that this vicious attack has awoken Oklahomans . . . and Americans. Eyes wide open, Americans in Oklahoma and elsewhere will fight to protect the initiative process.

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.

Categories
initiative, referendum, and recall term limits

The Fix Is In

Congressman Randy Kuhl had an idea: Ask his constituents what legislation they would like him to propose to fix Washington. Out of many suggestions, he picked five for constituents to vote on. Whichever proposal got the most support would be submitted to his colleagues as legislation. Over one thousand voters in Kuhl’s district participated.

He called it the “Fix Washington Project.”

While the contest was still underway, I reported that 12-year term limits on Congress was one of the five options. Throwing caution to the wind, I predicted term limits would triumph. Was I right?

Before I answer, let me say how much I like the idea of voters getting involved in proposing legislation. In fact, I think voters should have a way to bypass legislators altogether and pass laws directly. Half the states of the union have a formal process for enabling this. It’s called “citizen initiative.”

Okay, enough suspense. Congressional term limits collected 43 percent of the vote in Kuhl’s contest, winning the greatest support of any of the five alternatives.

I’m no soothsayer. Term limits have always been popular with voters. A recent Rasmussen Reports poll shows 83 percent support for congressional term limits.

So hats off to Congressman Kuhl. But your term limits legislation is no doubt going to be more popular with your constituents than with your colleagues back in Washington.

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.