No conflict exists between freedom, security, civil order and individual rights. These concepts are based on the same fundamental principle: that no individual, group, or government may initiate force against any other individual, group, or government.

1. FREEDOM AND RESPONSIBILITY

The Libertarian Party of Georgia does not necessarily advocate or condone any of the behavior our policies would make legal. We refrain from moral judgment because we believe people's rights must be recognized; the wisdom of any course of peaceful action is a matter for the acting individual(s) to decide. Personal responsibility is discouraged when government either denies individuals the opportunity to exercise it, or insulates individuals from the consequences of their choices. Libertarian policies will create a society where people are free to make and learn from their own decisions.

At the same time, we recognize that only adults have the full range of rights and responsibilities. Minor children -- generally accepted to be under the age of 18 -- benefit from legal protections and restrictions that we would never countenance for adults.

2. CRIME

We welcome recent declines in violent crime rates in Georgia. But even so, violent crime remains at historically high levels, and the government's demonstrated inability to deal with it threatens the lives, happiness, and property of Georgians. At the same time, governmental violations of rights by asset forfeiture, the criminalization of consensual behavior, no-knock warrants, and roving wiretaps undermine the people's undermine confidence in law enforcement and the judiciary. The appropriate way to reduce crime is through renewed commitment to the rule of law: enactment of legislation that is easily understood; that makes citizens aware what behavior is not permitted and what punishment would result if violated; that is enforced consistently and impartially to protect individual rights; and that is subject to judicial review.

3. CRIMINALIZED CONSENSUAL BEHAVIOR

Because only actions that infringe on the rights of others can properly be termed crimes, we strive for the repeal of all state and local laws creating "crimes" without victims. In particular, we advocate repeal of all laws restricting or prohibiting the use or sale of alcohol, sexually explicit material, sexual acts between consenting adults, [and] drugs within and without the standard pharmacopoeia and laws prohibiting voluntary termination of one's own life or medical assistance with such termination. We wish to see an end to the state's legal monopoly of gambling; cessation of random police roadblocks; and the repeal of anti-racketeering statutes. Finally, we oppose third party liability related to any product or behavior, be it holding bartenders or hosts responsible for the behavior of customers and guests, or the attempt to blame gun manufacturers for the criminal use of their products by consumers.

We demand the use of executive pardon to free all those presently incarcerated and exonerate those ever convicted solely for the commission of these "crimes."

We recognize that the federal government often blackmails states with the threat to withhold federal funds when states refuse to enact the types of laws under discussion. We applaud all cases in which the State of Georgia refuses to be so coerced. Further, we urge the State of Georgia to resist such federal blackmail in any and all cases where the result of complicity in such "programs" would be the undermining of individual rights in Georgia.

4. THE WAR ON DRUGS

We believe the so-called "War on Drugs" is more accurately described as a war on freedom and the U.S. Constitution. It has provided a rationale by which the power of the state has been expanded to restrict greatly our 4th Amendment right to privacy, and poses an especially grave threat to individual liberty and to domestic order. Therefore, we call for the repeal of all laws establishing criminal or civil penalties for the manufacture, use, or sale of drugs. We wish to see an end to "anti-crime" measures that limit our rights to keep and bear arms and that restrict individual rights to be secure in our persons, homes, and property. Furthermore, the "War on Drugs" serves as a subsidy for illegal drug dealers by driving up their profit margin, and has the unintentional effect of increasing crime in our society.

5. THE WAR ON TERRORISM

While all Americans have a legitimate concern about terrorism, we believe that the new "War on Terrorism" is being used by politicians and demagogues to promote extraordinary and unnecessary increases in government power. Most of these powers had been previously proposed and rejected as part of other government efforts such as the so-called "War on Drugs". It continues the false rationale by which the state seeks to restrict our 4th Amendment right to privacy, without securing our lives or property in any meaningful way. Therefore, we call for the repeal of the misnamed USA PATRIOT Act and its successor legislation.

6. ASSET FORFEITURE

Under contemporary policy, government agencies commonly seize assets of individuals in criminal and civil cases. Too often this asset forfeiture occurs when individuals are never charged with criminal activity, let alone convicted. This violation of 4th and 5th Amendment rights to privacy and property has corrupted law enforcement nationwide, since police jurisdictions keep a share of seized assets. Such bald abridgements of the rule of law undermine the people's sense of justice. The Libertarian Party of Georgia calls for the repudiation of asset forfeiture statues. We also oppose pretrial seizure of property in all cases.

7. SAFEGUARDS FOR THE CRIMINALLY ACCUSED

We take seriously the American ideal that all citizens are presumed innocent of criminal activity until and unless they are proved guilty in a court of law. We are thus opposed to reduction of constitutional safeguards of the rights of the criminally accused.

We decry the debasement of "civil" law as a means to avoid both the due process protections of criminal law and the Constitutional prohibition against double jeopardy.

Preventive detention and "no-knock" warrants corrupt the clear and historical intent of the Bill of Rights. We consider police use of excessive force a violation of the rights of the disorderly and the criminally accused. We reject the notion that any criminally accused person in some way "deserves" instant punishment.

We support full restitution for all loss suffered by those whose person or property is injured in the course of criminal proceedings that do not result in their conviction. However, we find the use of taxpayer funds for this restitution to be an added insult, allowing those perpetrators to escape their responsibility while adding taxpayers to the list of victims of such abuses. When they are found responsible, government employees, agents, or law enforcement officials should be held personally liable for this restitution.

We call for a reform of the judicial system to allow criminal defendants and civil parties to a court action a reasonable number of peremptory challenges to proposed judges, similar to their right under the present system to challenge a proposed juror.

8. JURIES

We consider the current practice of forced jury duty to be involuntary servitude, just as we also see the military draft and compulsory education; therefore we favor all-volunteer juries. In addition, in all cases to which the government is a party, the judge should be required to inform the jurors of their right under Georgia's Constitution to be judges of the law as well as the facts, and to instruct them to acquit a criminal defendant, and to find against the government in a civil trial, whenever they deem the law unjust or oppressive.

9. INDIVIDUAL SOVEREIGNTY

For individuals as well as governments, the only legitimate use of force is in the defense of individual rights -- life, liberty, and property acquired by mutual consent -- against aggression, whether by force or fraud. We believe individuals have the right to ask for help as well as the right to provide help to others in these defenses.

The right of defense extends to defense against aggressive acts of government. We favor an immediate end to the doctrine of "Sovereign Immunity" which ignores the primacy of the individual over the abstraction of the State, and holds that the State, contrary to the tradition of redress of grievances, may not be sued without its permission or held accountable for its actions under civil law.

10. GOVERNMENT AND MENTAL HEALTH

We oppose the involuntary commitment of any person to or for involuntary treatment in a mental institution. We oppose the recent use of mental testing as a response to lawful dissent.

We advocate an end to the spending of tax money for any program of psychiatric, psychological, or behavioral research or treatment.

We favor an end to the acceptance of criminal defenses based on "insanity" or "diminished capacity" which absolve the guilty of their responsibility.

11. FREEDOM OF COMMUNICATION

As Libertarians, we believe a robust marketplace of ideas is essential for a free society. Accordingly, we defend the rights of individuals to unrestricted freedom of speech and freedom of the press in all media, including the internet. We hold that the First Amendment unequivocally protects the right of individuals to dissent from government itself.

We recognize that full freedom of expression is possible only as part of a system of full property rights: the freedoms to use one's own voice; to hire a hall; to own a printing press, broadcast station, transmission cable, or internet server; to wave or burn one's own flag; and to exercise similar property-based freedoms: these are precisely what constitute freedom of communication. At the same time, we recognize that freedom of communication does not extend to the coerced use of other people's property to promote one's ideas without the voluntary consent of the owners.

We oppose any expansion of common law restrictions on the right of free speech such as slander and libel laws. We oppose any abridgment of the freedom of speech through government censorship, regulation, or ownership or control of communications media. These include, but are not limited to, laws concerning:

• Commercial speech or advertising;


• Obscenity, including "pornography", as we hold this to be an abridgment of liberty of expression despite unsubstantiated claims that it instigates rape or assault, or demeans and slanders women;


• Reception and storage equipment, such as radar warning devices, and the manufacture of video terminals by telephone companies;


• Internet servers, communications networks, and other interactive electronic media as we hold them to be the functional equivalent of speaking halls and printing presses in the age of electronic communications, and as such deserving of full freedom; and


• Electronic newspapers, electronic "Yellow Pages", and other new information media, as these deserve full freedom.

We oppose speech codes at all schools that are primarily tax funded, and we counsel against their use at privately funded institutions. That some language is found offensive by certain groups or individuals is not a cause for legal action.

We oppose government ownership or subsidy of, or funding for, any communications organization -- specifically public broadcasting.

We strongly oppose the government's burgeoning practice of invading newsrooms or the premises of other innocent third parties in the name of law enforcement. We further oppose court orders gagging news coverage of criminal proceedings -- the right to publish and broadcast must not be abridged merely for the convenience of the judicial system. We deplore any efforts to impose thought control on the media, either by the use of anti-trust laws, by government payments to broadcast outlets or content providers for including "proper" story lines in entertainment programming, or by any other government action in the name of stopping "bias."

Removal of all of these regulations and practices throughout the communications media would open the way to diversity and innovation. We shall not be satisfied until the First Amendment is expanded to protect full, unconditional freedom of communication in all media.

12. FREEDOM OF RELIGION

We defend the rights of individuals to engage in (or abstain from) any religious activities that do not violate the rights of others. We hold that exercise of this freedom does not enhance nor diminish an individual's right to participate in secular political activity. In order to defend freedom, we oppose government actions that either aid or attack any religion. We oppose taxation of church property for the same reason that we oppose all taxation. We oppose the harassment of churches by the Georgia Department of Revenue through threats to deny tax-exempt status to churches that refuse to disclose massive amounts of information about themselves. Government harassment or obstruction of religious groups for their beliefs or non-violent activities must end. We also recognize that the expression "wall between church and state" does not appear in the U.S. Constitution; we believe public expressions of religious belief on government property are not in and of themselves a threat of religious establishment.

13. THE RIGHT TO PROPERTY

Property rights and human rights are mutually dependant; we believe the idea of human rights without property rights is a fantasy that has never existed in practice. Since property rights are the rights of humans with respect to property, they are entitled to the same respect and protection as all other human rights. Indeed, self-ownership is the basis of such rights as the freedom from involuntary servitude, freedom of speech, and freedom of the press. Our bodies are our property every bit as much as is justly acquired land or material objects. Further, one's body is one's to do with as one sees fit and is not the concern of the state in any measure.

We further hold that the owners of property have the full right to control, use, dispose of, or in any manner enjoy, their property without interference, until and unless the exercise of their control infringes the valid rights of others. We oppose all violations of the right to private property, liberty of contract, and freedom of trade done in the name of national security, the wars on drugs or terrorism, or public health. We also condemn current government efforts to regulate or ban the use of property in the name of aesthetic values, historic preservation, riskiness, moral standards, cost-benefit estimates, or the promotion or restriction of economic growth. We hold that zoning laws are an intolerable violation of property rights. We specifically condemn all government interference in the operation of private businesses by either requiring or prohibiting designated smoking or non-smoking areas for their employees or their customers.

We demand an end to the taxation of privately owned real property, for property taxes have the effect of making the State the owner of all lands, and force individuals to rent their homes and places of business from the State. We condemn attempts to employ eminent domain to municipalize sports teams or to try to force or appease them to stay in their present location.

Where property, including land, has been taken from its rightful owners by the government or by private action in violation of individual rights, we favor restitution to the rightful owners.

14. PROTECTION OF PRIVACY

Present practice demonstrates that the biggest threat to an individual's privacy is not industry or fellow citizens, but government at all levels. We hold the right to privacy should not be infringed by the government. The state should not use any covert surveillance of an individual's actions or private property without the consent of the owner or occupant. Correspondence, financial records, doctors' and lawyers' communications, employment records, and the like should not be open to review by government without the consent of all parties involved in those actions; accordingly, we oppose proposals for government mandated central databases of medical records, and the attempt by federal regulators to institute the "know your customer" rule for financial institutions.

We oppose any government use of search warrants to examine or seize materials belonging to innocent third parties. We also oppose police roadblocks aimed at randomly, and without probable cause, testing drivers for intoxication and police practices to stop mass transit vehicles and search passengers without probable cause.

So long as government agencies' compilations of data on an individual continue to exist, they should be conducted only with the consent of the persons from whom the data is sought.

If a private employer screens prospective or current employees via questionnaires, polygraph tests, urine tests for drugs, blood tests for AIDS, or other means, this is a condition of that employer's labor contracts. Such screening does not violate the rights of employees, who have the right to boycott such employers if they choose. Private contractual arrangements, including labor contracts, must be founded on mutual consent and agreement in a society that upholds freedom of association. On the other hand, we oppose any use of such screening by government or regulations requiring government contractors to impose any such screening.

We oppose government regulations that require employers to provide health insurance coverage for employees, which often encourage unnecessary intrusions by employers into the privacy of their employees.

We categorically oppose the creation by the government of an identity card, to be required for any purpose, such as employment, voting, or licensing. This opposition extends to state laws requiring fingerprinting as a condition of drivers, firearms, and/or professional licensing.

We further oppose the nearly universal requirement for use of the Social Security Number as a personal identification code, whether by government agencies or by intimidation of private companies by governments.

15. FINGERPRINTING:

It is our position that no jurisdiction in a free state has the right to require fingerprinting of citizens without probable cause, or without their freely given consent. We therefore urge the State of Georgia to cease its complicity in the Federal government's pattern of legislative blackmail, whereby it threatens to withhold federal highway funds unless Georgia requires the fingerprinting of applicants for new or renewal drivers licenses; such coercion is not worthy of a legitimate government. Until the time that the state ceases altogether to interfere with an individual's inherent right to travel freely, we urge the repeal of this drivers' license fingerprint law.

16. THE RIGHT TO KEEP AND BEAR ARMS

The Bill of Rights recognizes that an armed citizenry is essential to a free society. We affirm the 2nd Amendment right to keep and bear arms belongs to individuals, and we oppose all laws at any level of government restricting, regulating, or requiring the ownership, manufacture, transfer, or sale of firearms or ammunition. We oppose all laws requiring registration of firearms or ammunition, for history has shown registration leads inevitably to confiscation. We also oppose any government efforts to ban or restrict the use of other self-protection devices such as tear gas, "mace," or tasars. We further oppose all attempts to ban weapons or ammunition on the grounds that they are risky or unsafe. We especially decry attempts to use the court system to create an illegitimate concept of "strict liability," which would hold firearms manufacturers financially liable for third party uses of a lawful product that functions exactly as advertised and allowed.

17. GOVERNMENT DISCRIMINATION & FREEDOM OF ASSOCIATION

No level of government can be allowed to deny, abridge, or enhance the individual rights of members of any group at the expense of other people's rights, no matter how well-intentioned. This includes attempts to classify people on the basis of sex, wealth, race, color, creed, age, national origin, personal habits, political preference, genetic makeup, or sexual orientation. Protective labor laws, so-called "hate crime" laws, and other laws that violate rights selectively should be repealed entirely rather than be extended to all groups.

Discrimination imposed by the government has brought disruption in normal relationships of people, set neighbor against neighbor, created gross injustices, destroyed voluntary communities, and diminished human potential. Anti-discrimination laws enforced by the government are the reverse side of the same coin, and for the same reasons create the same problems. Consequently, we oppose any government attempts to regulate private discrimination, including choices and preferences, in employment, housing, and privately owned businesses. The right to trade includes the right not to trade -- for any reasons whatsoever; the right of association includes the right not to associate, for exercise of the right depends upon mutual consent. We agree with Friedrich Hayek that radical egalitarianism -- socialism -- is incompatible with individual freedom.

18. "HATE" CRIMES

The Libertarian Party of Georgia opposes what are commonly called "hate crimes." We oppose all attempts to prosecute people because of their thoughts or words. We support the vigorous prosecution of criminals only for their criminal acts. We do not believe people should be criminal penalized in any way for their beliefs, for that would be criminalizing dissent. We oppose all legislation providing enhanced or reduced penalties for crimes based upon the bias or prejudice of the criminal in selecting the victim or property. Therefore we believe Georgia should repeal the 2000 Hate Crimes statute immediately.

19. SEXUAL RIGHTS AND THE STATE

We hold that individual rights should not be denied or abridged on the basis of sex or sexual preference. We call for repeal of all laws discriminating against women, such as protective labor laws. We oppose all laws likely to impose restrictions on free choice and private property or to widen tyranny through reverse discrimination. We affirm the right of adults to private choice in consensual sexual activity.

Government must neither dictate, prohibit, control, nor encourage any private lifestyle, living arrangement or contractual relationship. We therefore call for repeal of all legislation and state policies intended to condemn, affirm, encourage or discourage sexual lifestyles or any set of attitudes about such lifestyles; this specifically extends to Georgia's infamous sodomy laws as they relate to consenting adults.

Recognizing that abortion is a very sensitive issue and that libertarians can hold good-faith views on both sides, the Libertarian Party of Georgia believes the government should be kept entirely out of the question, allowing all individuals to be guided by their own consciences. We oppose legislation restricting or subsidizing women's access to abortion or other reproductive health services; this includes requiring consent of the prospective father, waiting periods, and mandatory indoctrination on fetal development, as well as Medicaid or any other taxpayer funding. It is particularly harsh to force someone who believes that abortion is murder to pay for another's abortion.

We also condemn state-mandated abortions.

It is the right and obligation of the pregnant woman, not the state, to decide the desirability or appropriateness of prenatal testing, Cesarean births, fetal surgery, voluntary surrogacy arrangements, and/or home births.

20. FAMILY LIFE

We support protection of the integrity of families and households as contractual institutions against government intrusion and interference. Such governmental interference has undermined the value of families and households as cultural institutions of love, nurture, companionship, kinship, and personal development by forcing them to conform to a rigid, inflexible design. Moreover, we condemn the usurpation by government through morals laws, government welfare programs, and government schools, of activities long carried on by families and households. We further accuse government of designing educational programs that place civic and moral education under the control of politicians and of designing welfare laws that destroy families and households.