Libz says Brash half right on crime

"Dr Brash is half right - but the half he has wrong is very wrong," declared Libertarianz Leader Bernard Darnton today, responding to the launch of National's Law and Order Policy.

"More preventive detention and tougher sentencing for repeat offenders are both measures to be applauded when applied to crimes of violence - that's what Dr Brash has got right," says Darnton. But he has concerns. "National's proposals will also apply tougher sentences for people imprisoned for victimless crimes," he says, "and reversing the burden of proof for defendants as he suggests simply undermines the National Party's professed belief in freedom."

Darnton says that before the Brash regime is introduced, then victimless crimes such as laws on gambling and adult drug use should be removed from the books, along with the "obscenity" of jail-time for the likes of cutting down a tree on one's own land. "Abolishing these victimless crimes would allow police to focus on real crimes with real victims,"say Darnton, "and would remove drugs from the subculture of organised crime. Among Libertarianz' first moves would be wiping all such 'crimes' from the statutes and re-focussing the criminal justice system on offences that have real victims - something which is long overdue."

Darnton also expressed concern at the policy of reversing the burden of proof for individuals suspected of gang involvement, requiring them to prove they legally acquired their property. "Overturning such long-held bulwarks of liberty as the presumption of innnocence smacks of authoritarianism - this disgusting proposal has the jackboots of Tony Ryall and Simon Power all over it. Libertarianz categorically opposes ANY reversal of the burden of proof for criminal law," affirms Darnton.

"Dr. Brash's tough stand on crime is to be applauded - but real crimes only have victims, and a tough stand on victimless crime is the first step to a Police state. Only Libertarianz is committed to abolishing victimless crime!" he concluded.

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