editorial comment Such a fuss for a small case of collateral damage......

Donald Sheldon
Chairman, Libertarian Party of Broward County Florida hollywood
Posted August 29 2005


The tragedy in Sunrise in which a young man, Anthony Diotaiuto, age 23, was brutally shot to death in his home by police, brings into focus the greater tragedy that is played out daily in our current "drug war." Tragedies like this, arguably to a lesser dramatic extent, are played out daily in our courts and in our police stations at all levels of law enforcement.

This prohibition by another name daily locks up 4,000 of our young people. These are mostly young black and Hispanic males and they are forced into what amounts to legalized slavery for an average of seven years to be followed by "supervised release" for anywhere from five years to life. These young men lose their citizenship rights, including their right to vote and most never fully recover their rights.

Let me address the unintended tragedy that the society is also imposing on the people who are sworn to uphold the law. This includes the police like the young men who actually fired the 10 shots that killed Anthony Diotaiuto, to the very president of the United States. It also extends to all of us for we are all accountable for the terror that is wrought under the flag of "law," which we tacitly approve of by our lack of action to get this abomination ended.

Before we condemn any police officer we need to look in the mirror and see who and what we see. Prohibition is a failed policy and it failed our grandparents before us. By many accounts, Prohibition caused the greatest crime wave in the country's history.

The "first responders" may make mistakes when enforcing the law, however, they will never make a mistake enforcing laws that have been removed from their responsibility to enforce.

Let us understand that the Sunrise tragedy represents a watershed that will give us the opportunity to see both sides of this equation. The young men who committed murder at the behest of society and the young citizen who was executed for less that 2 ounces of a substance made illegal by a wrong thinking prohibition are equally victims.

We must end the "drug war" and send the POWs home with all their citizenship rights reinstated. This is the only solution to the drug problem. We must also educate our people to the tragic consequences of drug use and abuse.

Please visit our Website at Lpbroward.org for more information on this and other subjects.

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