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| Socialist Party USA: 2012-2013 National
Platform |
Civil
Rights
Bill
of
Rights
The Socialist Party is committed to the rights of free speech, free
press, free assembly, and personal privacy, and the freedom of
religious choice through the separation of church and state.
- We condemn the
so-called War on Terrorism and call for the immediate
repeal of the U.S.A.P.A.T.R.I.O.T Acts and the Anti-Terrorism and
Effective Death Penalty Act.
- We call for the
elimination of the Dept.of Homeland Security and the
sweeping police powers accorded to it.
- We demand the
exclusion of the military from domestic law
enforcement.
- We call for the
abolition of the Federal Bureau of
Investigation.
- We oppose so-called
anti-terrorist measures and criminal code
reforms that restrict legitimate dissent.
- We oppose all forms
of censorship both legislative and institutional
Immigration
The Socialist Party works to build a world in which everyone will
be able to freely move across borders, to visit and to live wherever
they choose. We recognize the central role global capitalism plays in
forcing the
immigration of people from the less developed to the more
industrialized countries, often leading to further economic and social
injustice.
- We support secular
democratic states, assuring equal rights to every
citizen and resident in accordance with the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights.
- We oppose the
militarization of the United States/Mexican border,
and an increase in the service budget instead of the "military" budget
of the INS.
- We defend the rights
of all immigrants to education, health care,
and full civil and legal rights and call for an unconditional amnesty
program for all undocumented people. We oppose the imposition of
any fees on those receiving amnesty.
- We call for an end to
the use of "secret evidence" in deportation
hearings, a ban on all immigration detentions and military tribunals,
and full due process and habeus corpus rights in U.S. courts for all
non-citizens on U.S. territory or in U.S. custody.
- We demand an end to
police raids in areas where immigrants
congregate.
- We oppose "guest
worker" programs. We call for full
citizenship rights upon demonstrating residency for six months.
Free
and Fair Elections
The Socialist Party stands for political activity independent of the
two major corporate parties. We view electoral activity as an
important component of the struggle for fundamental social
change. Participation as socialists in local, state, and national
elections is a valuable way to clarify our position on a wide range of
issues, of broadly disseminating our principles and programs, and of
asserting and reaffirming our commitment to the democratic
process. We believe that capitalism is fundamentally incompatible
with democracy and that true democracy can only be achieved with
society’s transformation to socialism.
- We support the public
financing of candidates for public
office as long as this funding extends to the candidates of alternative
political parties.
- We call for strict
limits on the use of personal funds in elections,
either for one's own campaign or for that of another candidate.
- We oppose
representation based on anything other than
population.
- We support the
introduction of proportional representation at
every level of government.
- We call for uniform
ballot access laws for all states that
give all political parties a chance to have their candidates on the
ballot.
- We call for the
closing of the loophole sanctioned by the
Supreme Court which allows candidates to spend an unlimited sum of
their personal wealth on their own campaigns.
- We call for the
elimination of the Electoral College and
support instant run-off voting of all elected officials.
- We stand opposed to
the disenfranchising of any U.S. citizen
by the federal, state, or local government.
- We demand greater
access to media for all political parties
and free, equal access to all forms of mass media for all
candidates
- We call for full
representation for the U.S. territories of
Guam and Puerto Rico, all Native American reservations, and the
District of Columbia.
- We call for the
restoration of the right to vote for all citizens
incarcerated in jails and prisons
- We call for a
mandatory paper trail of all votes to allow for
recounts and verification.
Legal Justice
The Socialist Party recognizes the right of all people to equal
treatment under the law, and to a humane criminal sanction system based
on prevention, mediation, restitution, and rehabilitation rather than
on vengeance, forced labor, and profits for the prison-industrial
complex.
- We call for free,
quality, legal and court services with
skilled and experienced attorneys of choice for all.
- We call for
prosecution of the criminal activities of
politicians, corporate managers, and other privileged individuals,
rather than the over-emphasis on minor infractions by working class
people and for a sliding scale of fines based on income
- We call for the
expansion of community release programs and
other alternatives to prisons, and for a moratorium on new prison
construction.
- We call for support
services for prisoners and prisoners'
families to reduce ostracism, maintain family ties, and provide for
non-degrading visitation policies.
- We call for the
immediate closure of all “Supermax” prisons and
abolition of “prisons for profit”.
- We call for the
abolition of prison labor for profit, forced labor
(“chain gangs”) and the use of prison labor to perform state services.
- We call for the right
of prisoners to organize unions and
cooperative groups to negotiate for better living conditions
- We call for the
immediate establishment of completely
independent and democratically elected police control and oversight
councils, with full power to fire police and to arrest, detain, and
indict police officers who brutalize or abuse people or who commit any
violation of laws or civil rights and liberties.
- We call for the
ultimate replacement of the police with community
residents trained in conflict resolution who live in and serve the
community under community control.
- We call for community
response services for crime victims,
including the establishment of crisis centers and shelters for victims
of domestic violence, spousal and child abuse, and rape and incest.
- We support federal
buyout programs for arms, federal safety
standards and licensing for arms, and community-based public training
for gun owners.
- We call for the
decriminalization of drug use and the
regulation of narcotics by doctors through the use of prescriptions
rather than by the criminal justice system.
- We call for the
redirection of funds spent on the "war on drugs" to
comprehensive community-based, client-controlled rehabilitation
programs.
- We call for the
abolition of the death penalty.
Media
and Intellectual
Property
An ever-smaller band of huge corporations controls virtually all news
and entertainment media. The Socialist Party stands for the right
of ordinary people to express opinions and communicate freely by vastly
extending the public sector of all forms of mass media. Ultimately, a
genuine democratization of the mass media will require a democratic
socialist transformation of society. Within such a society, free
expression will flourish, allowing for the broadest expression of
viewpoints and perspectives.
- We support the
breakup of large media companies so that no one
company or individual owns more than one newspaper, radio or television
station, or television channel. We call for the re-regulation of
the communications industry (in particular, the assertion of public
ownership rights over radio and television frequencies).
- We call for
government ownership of satellite and cable companies
with revenues generated by these operations allocated to a publicly
controlled fund to finance innovative visual and audio programming
(including movies), over the air radio and television, and cable and
satellite programming. The fund would also greatly increase the money
going to community cable programming.
- We support public
funding of newspapers and magazines. Any
non-profit organization that publishes a journal would receive public
funding in proportion to its paid subscriber list.
- We oppose all efforts
to trim "fair use" rights, such as the
right to excerpt a copyrighted work in a review.
- We call for the
repeal of all existing copyright extension
laws.
- We oppose legislation
to force electronics manufacturers to
build "Digital Rights Management" into computers and appliances.
- We oppose private
ownership of the Internet backbone. We
call for direct public ownership of at least 50% of the total bandwidth
and for democratic ownership and control of the Internet domain naming
system.
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