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PERSPECTIVE
- September 2000 by Pat Freibert Selective
Enforcement “Slow down, Mom. The law in Lexington is 25 MPH and you’re driving 35 MPH.” “Don’t worry, son. The police chief said local police are unable to enforce the new law because there are not enough police officers.” This is an example of current political practice of passing laws to quiet a vocal voter group, knowing they won’t be effective or enforced. Countless federal laws on the books, not to mention the ineffable proliferation of state and local laws which increase yearly, merely gather dust. Neither business nor individuals can be completely confident of operating totally in compliance with all laws. Many obscure laws are rarely used or only selectively enforced. Deciding which laws to enforce or obey invites contempt for the rule of law. Businesses and citizens develop cynicism when government continually enacts ineffective statutes that will rarely, if ever, be enforced. The cruel reality is that every human problem cannot be solved by a new law or program. An obscure Kentucky law allowing a specific tax surfaced earlier this year. A tax never before collected must now be paid by Kentuckians, while state officials alibi that it’s not a new tax. What other obscure laws lurk, waiting to be sprung on unsuspecting citizens? A Kentucky DUI case, highlighted recently in news stories, tells of a suspected drunken driver in a crash that killed one person and injured three others. The suspect was charged at least five times previously for DUI and those charges were either amended down or dismissed altogether. Kentucky’s DUI law is exceedingly strict, but what good is a law not evenly enforced, not prosecuted, or if the charges are reduced to minor infractions? Just one more law insufficiently enforced. The president has liberally used an obscure 1906 Antiquities Act to remove land from mining, logging and grazing previously allowed on federal land. Clinton removed from coal mining nearly 2 million acres of Utah land, containing the nation’s largest reserve of low sulfur coal. (The other largest reserve is in Indonesia and is controlled by the Lippo Group, prominently connected to campaign finance irregularities.) In this case, mineral owners had their property rights taken with no compensation. Critics complain that these designations bypass Congressional approval. Again, an obscure law is employed selectively at the discretion of a single official. In another instance, the Constitution grants war powers to Congress exclusively. Presidents have repeatedly sent American troops into harm’s way without even consulting Congress. Recent Clinton deployments include Haiti, Somalia and Bosnia. Congress has not exercised its clear war powers responsibility. What are citizens to think when such basic laws are not observed? Should we observe only those convenient at the moment? Recently, in order to “get around” (ignore) federal laws prohibiting American trade with Cuba, Congress facilitated easier trade by failing to fund enforcement rather than change the law! Another law on the books will not be enforced. Laws should be revisited for continued relevance. The word “reform” suffers from overuse, but the most beneficial reform our country could undertake would be to review all existing laws for effectiveness, and dump those no longer helpful to a free society. Laws should have a “sunset” date to be stricken from the books if they cannot withstand the test of relevance. Making narrow interest groups “feel good” does not qualify. Complex IRS laws are understood neither by IRS enforcement personnel, nor taxpaying businesses and individuals. Because most cannot afford the costs of challenging the government on revenue, environmental or other matters, they usually “just pay up” while being whipsawed for what passes as justice, even when they believe they have been wronged. Robert K. McCormick, the once “larger than life” owner and publisher of the Chicago Tribune, said, “Government, like fire, can be a dutiful servant but a destructive master.” That still applies. Each time our country reaches for new laws to solve every human problem, liberty gives way to a destructive master. Pat
Freibert is a former Kentucky state representative from
Lexington.
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