Resolved:Opposition to so-called “victimless crimes” or “consensual crimes” has long been a hallmark of libertarian and anarchist thought. It’s time the ball started rolling a little bit faster on this question. These kinds of laws are the primary reason why the U.S. police state has grown dramatically in recent decades, and are the primary reason why the U.S. prison population is so large. While some progress has been made in the areas of medical marijuana and marijuana legalization in recent years, for the most part there has been very little traction on the issue of consensual crimes. This is because neither the Left nor the Right has adopted it as a primary issue in the way that the Right has adopted gun rights and the Left has adopted abortion rights and gay rights. It would appear that this is a natural issue for libertarians and anarchists to take up, and essentially make this into a definitive issue for all enemies of the state.
We need to begin organizing a political coalition of all those impacted negatively by consensual crime laws for the purpose of repealing all of these laws across the board and at every level of government. It would be a mistake to focus on some of these laws on an individual basis (for example, focusing solely on drug legalization or solely on repealing seat belt laws). Rather, it is best that opponents of these laws unite and take up each others’ banners in the name of unity of those persecuted by the state. The first order of business might be to make up a list of specific laws to be repealed and policy actions to be pursued. My recommendations would be these:
-Repeal of all laws criminalizing the possession and/or sale of drugs by and for adults, an end to drug prosecutions and arrests, and the release of all drug war prisoners.
-Repeal of all laws barring consensual adult prostitution, an end to all consensual prostitution prosecutions and arrests, and the release of all prisoners incarcerated for consensual prostitution offenses.
-The same set of recommendations as above with regards to gambling.
-The same set of recommendations as above with regards to the illicit production of alcohol (“moonshining”).
-The repeal of all laws pertaining to vagrancy, panhandling, or sleeping in public where this does not involve obstructing traffic, undue harassment, or trespassing on other people’s property.
-The repeal of laws barring consensual assisted suicide.
-The repeal of all laws banning smoking on private property if the owner wishes to allow smoking.
-The repeal of all nanny state regulations pertaining to foods, beverages, seat belts, or motorcycle helmets.
-The repeal of all laws barring sexual relationships between consenting adults (to the degree that any of of these remain).
-The repeal of all laws barring voluntary, consensual practice of polygamy.
-The repeal of laws criminalizing underage drinking or smoking.
-The repeal of compulsory school attendance laws.
-The repeal of mandatory Selective Service Registration for eighteen year olds.
-The repeal of laws criminalizing or banning alternative food or medical practices such as the use of raw milk or midwifery.
-An end to state harassment of unconventional religious sects.
-An end to the involuntary psychiatric incarceration of persons labeled “mentally ill” but who have not been convicted of a crime.
-An end to mandatory minimum sentencing.
-Dismantling of police SWAT teams.
-Informing jurors of their nullification rights.
This would seem to be a pretty good list to start with. Of course, there is always gray area when discussing consensual crimes. Some libertarians argue drunk driving is a victimless crime as long as you don’t actually hurt anyone. Statutory rape is another gray area issue as it involves people who are not considered adults. Advocating legalizing all sex between consenting adults spills into taboo topics like incest that would make many people uncomfortable. Advocating legalizing polygamy would certainly be controversial, but much less so now that gay marriage is about to be legalized nationwide. There are also those who argue that mere possession of child pornography should not be criminalized. Again, some gray area there. Building an effective coalition of this type may require leaving out a few things that would be the most offensive to the public and to other coalition members.
But all things considered, the creation of a coalition against consensual crimes would seem to be a very practical, viable, and strategically beneficial means of building the leftist and libertarian wings of the pan-secessionist radical alliance and the pan-anarchist struggle against the state.
