Thursday, June 23, 2005

Goverporation, Inc.

So when a local government is bulldozing houses for a wealthy development, it's a local issue, and the rich and powerful may bulldoze what they please. But if a local government is allowing terminally-ill patients to ease their suffering by smoking medical marijuana, it's a federal issue, and DEA agents can raid marijuana dispensaries. Right.

Isn't the federal government supposed to protect the liberty of we the people, not the privileges of they the corporations?

Sandra Day O'Connor nailed it in her dissent:
"The beneficiaries are likely to be those citizens with disproportionate influence and power in the political process, including large corporations and development firms."
She also dissented in the Raich case:
"[The decision] stifles an express choice by some states, concerned for the lives and liberties of their people, to regulate medical marijuana differently."
Radley Balko is correct in saying that this was "worst Supreme Court term for the cause of liberty in a very long time."

UPDATE: For comments, see the original blog post here.

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