I had a fascinating interview yesterday with Mr. Paul Jacob, one of the "Oklahoma Three" who are under indictment for violating a law that requires petitioners on behalf of ballot initiatives to be residents of that state.

He is facing a ten-year prison sentence for violating a law that he insists he didn't violate in the first place, and which may well be unconstitutional. In any event, the prosecution is clearly a politically motivated one—an attempt to shut him up, and shut down the initiative process.

Mr. Jacob is a libertarian, and we had plenty to talk about—from his history of draft resistance to his work on behalf of term limits and his activism across the country to keep the ballot initiative process alive, and expand it into states where it isn't yet used.

"So term limits and ballot initiatives are complementary, equal parts of your approach to government reform?" I asked him.

"Complementary, yes. But not equal. Not equal at all," he replied. "Just because I think term limits are the best thing since sliced bread, doesn't mean I would give them priority over the initiative process. That's the safeguard: that's what gives citizens the ability to go over the heads of politicians."

"Since you're here in California, you know I'm going to ask you about >Proposition 13," I remarked—alluding to Howard Jarvis' ground-breaking "tax revolt" initiative from 1978. "That changed everything here; it allowed a lot of people to keep their houses."

"I know it was huge here," he told me. "But it was enormously beneficial outside California. It showed the possibilities of the initiative process."

Talking with Mr. Jacob was a surrealistic experience: the whole saga sounded like something my friend Jane would be covering on behalf of the Yemenis; not events that that could be occurring in this country.

And yet, here he was—a good husband, and a father of three, looking at 10 years behind bars.

"My older daughter is getting married," he told me. "So she's making sure to have her wedding before we go to trial [tentatively schduled for February 2009], so I can walk her down the aisle."

This is reality; it affects every area of this family's life.

Free the Oklahoma Three. Support the initiative process. Free Paul Jacob.

Ten years in prison—for attempting to petition the government?

Posted by: Attila Girl at 10:03 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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