Last year, I wrote about Doug Guetzloe of Orlando, Florida, threatened with jail time for sending out a postcard talking about candidates. I haven’t yet written about Tim Pope, another victim of Oklahoma Attorney General Drew Edmondson. In Gloucester County, in my home state of Virginia, a judge recently ordered 40 citizens who had sought to recall county supervisors to pay $80,000 in legal fees. The supervisors had run up quite a tab in a lawsuit to block their recall petition. (County taxpayers are to pick up $45,000.) It seems that those in power have a tendency to want to squelch speech. Especially petitions . . . because petitions allow citizens to truly address issues. Without hiring a lobbyist. And without having to grease any politician’s palm. The initiative petition process end-runs the corrupt cabals that our legislative chambers have become. Love or loathe Obama, beneficial, empowering change is just not coming from Washington. It can come from regular folks at the state and local level, petitioning for political reform and putting better ideas onto the ballot. But we have to protect the process. We have to protect the people who work for a voice, for a vote. Citizens in Gloucester are likely to appeal, maybe with help from the ACLU. And two Republican state delegates from the Gloucester area have introduced statewide legislation to prevent such lawsuits against citizens petitioning their government. In a recent Common Sense e-letter, I applauded a jury that awarded damages to Denise Carey. The mayor and town government in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, had sought to punish her with attorneys’ fees for a petition drive seeking a local vote on a local fire station. In Oklahoma, citizens are demanding reform. Legislation that would open up the state’s initiative system and make it usable again is under consideration. I’m not through fighting back, either. Working for Citizens in Charge and Citizens in Charge Foundation, I’m more driven than ever to work with people all across the political spectrum to protect and expand the right of the people to check their government through initiatives, referendum and recall. It’s true: Some see the initiative as a threat. My goodness, citizen control of government might break out! We can always hope. And, as free citizens, work for that day. |