More Stupidity from the Ohio Statehouse
Friday, August 12, 2005
In yet another example of how completely retarded our elected officials can be, the Ohio House of Representatives passed SB9, more commonly known as the Ohio Terrorism Law, which allows for a number of redundant and absurd changes to current Ohio law. I apologize, but I must quote from the AP story on Cleveland.com site, because it approximates the legalese without becoming unendurably mind numbing.
Let's break this down shall we:
Chapter 1:Why do we need this?
The measure (SB9), "require(s) law enforcement officers to comply with certain federal mandates regarding homeland security; (Are there any of our police officers who are currently unwilling to comply with federal mandates regarding homeland security, and, if so, why are they still employed?) to create the offenses of criminal possession of a chemical weapon or biological weapon, criminal use of a chemical weapon or biological weapon, illegal assembly or possession of chemicals for the manufacture of a chemical weapon or biological weapon, money laundering in support of terrorism, (Aren't all these acts already crimes and won't the FBI, ATF and Homeland Security boys be stepping all over each other much less Ohio cops to line up and prosecute these kinds of cases in federal court?) and unlawful possession of a powerful laser. (Put away those laser pointers you bought down at the Kwik-E-Mart!)
Chapter 2: No good deed goes unpunished.
Adding these laws to the current Ohio statutes, while a waste of time, is not the real problem. The real problem comes as you read further. The next provision requires "applicants for certain specified licenses to disclose any material assistance they have provided to an organization on the United States Department of State Terrorist Exclusion List; to prohibit the state or a political subdivision of the state from conducting business with any person, company, or others that provide material assistance to any organization on the United States Department of State Terrorist Exclusion List. . ." I'm not sure what "specific licenses" means but have you ever tried to find out who is on the State Department's Exclusion List? I did just for kicks, (and to make sure that twenty bucks I gave to the guy last Christmas didn't fall into the wrong hands. I'm pretty sure that was a Santa hat, but you can never be too careful.) At this point, I'm not sure even the State Department knows who's on the Exclusion List and who's not anymore. What I do know is that this law is less about protecting us from terrorism and more about creating another avenue for discrimination in the public sector. This section of the law and the broad net the federal government is casting over Muslim society can and will be used to prevent people (especially Arab and/or Muslim people) from securing contracts to do business with the state of Ohio.
There are a number of groups who raise funds to be used for both terrorist activities and humanitarian aid to certain groups of people, the most famous being Sinn Fein and the IRA. Sinn Fein is a legitimate political organization in Ireland and has for years fought, through politics and activism, for Irish independence. For years, however, they used this public face to raise funds in America, supposedly for humanitarian aid, which actually went to supporting the activities of the IRA, the "terrorist" group which was responsible for so many bombings and deaths in the UK. The Irish-Americans who donated money may or may not have been aware of how their money was being used but no one suggested they be barred from doing business in any state in the union. Any number of Muslim groups who receive donations here in America may ultimately end up on the Exclusion List because of the ridiculously shoddy intelligence capabilities of the US in regards to the Muslim world. I'm not saying we should do business with people who support terror, far from it, but this is another knee jerk reaction to a pseudo-problem in the hopes that the appearance of action will satisfy the people of Ohio.
Papers Please!
While the recriminalization of already criminal acts is an obvious waste of taxpayer time and money and the witch-hunting of samaritans is a looming civil rights disaster waiting to happen, the third provision in SB9 is the one that really gets the goosebumps crawling up my spine and has me lying in bed in the fetal position clutching my ACLU membership card to my chest.
SB9 "require(s) a person in a public place to provide the person's name to a law enforcement officer when the law enforcement officer has reasonable suspicion that either the person is or has been engaged in criminal activity or the person has witnessed a felony offense of violence; to expand the homeland security duties of the Department of Public Safety. . ."
Papers Please! Vat do you zink you are doing here in zis public park after curfew, eh? Vy are you not home in bed preparing for anozer day in ze factories for the glory of ze Faderland. . .
Huh! What! Where am I? Oh sorry, I nodded off there for a second. Is it just me or do you hear the sound of jackboots? Never mind. Police now have a right to ask you to identify yourself for any reason whatsoever. Yes, I know it says the police officer has to have a "reasonable suspicion" but when was the last time you met a cop who was what most people would call reasonable. They're by nature suspicious, that's why they're COPS! Believe me that's the way I want my cops; suspicious, distrustful, etc. That way they get the bad guys and put them behind bars, but that's also why I like the Constitution, so they don't get out of hand. The simple fact is we do and should always have the right to be out and about without fear of having to answer to a cop anytime he or she thinks we might possibly have seen something. What that little snippet of summary doesn't tell you is that the police can also ask you to identify yourself if he or she thinks you or someone you might know nearby is about to commit a criminal act. So now if you look shady and you know who you are (piercings, tattoos, brown skin, a birka, etc) you better have some ID handy. Believe me, this will be challenged by the ACLU almost immediately if not sooner.
Chapter 3: No more protesting OSU science labs.
One final clause includes "animal and ecological terrorism in the definition of corrupt activity." This is, to put it simply, another simpering offering by the legislature to business interests who are not what you would call "environmentally friendly," (Columbus Steel Drum, Buckeye Egg Farm, etc.) This clause is aimed at elevating eco-terrorism to the level of groups like Al-Qaeda. While I do not condone any action that may eventually result in the loss of human life, groups like ELF (Earth Liberation Front) and ALF (Animal Liberation Front) have been overtly cautious in their planning to prevent any loss of life, while at the same time racking up a personal property damage total of more than $50 million. It is this destruction of property that this clause is aimed at. Do developers and and the business community really need this level of protection from the government? ELF came to light in the 90's, (forgive me, I'm not really sure of the date) and in that whole time their destruction total is less than 75 million dollars. Does that really make them the number one domestis terrorist threat? How many acts of eco-terrorism have their actually been in Ohio recently. Can you name one?
This bill is a joke and a bad one at that. It's one part needless rehash, one part discrimination and one big swipe at our civil liberties. That's a recipe for disaster.
Coming Soon: Why shouldn't we be allowed to carry concealed weapons on college campuses?
