Why Can't Americans Sue Politicians for Their Deadly Programs?
If politicians can sue gun and tobacco companies
for damages caused by their products, why can't ordinary
Americans sue politicians for the destruction caused by
their products: Government programs?
After all, government programs -- such as wars,
exploding automotive air bags, and grisly radiation
experiments -- have killed and maimed tens of thousands of
Americans over the years. Even the government acknowledges
this.
Admittedly, the concept of suing government
officials for their misdeeds sounds unconventional, even
radical. But those who challenged the divine right of kings
also sounded radical, once upon a time. In fact, a similar
doctrine of "sovereign immunity" is what courts today
invoke to protect government officials from the legal
consequences of their actions.
Now that we've established that no human has a
divine right to rule, why should any human -- or any
government -- enjoy sovereign immunity from lawsuits?
After all, private businesses under attack by the
government get no immunity at all.
At this very moment, for example, tobacco companies
are being forced to shell out $40 billion to 41 states to
reimburse them for the cost of smoking-related illnesses.
Firearms manufacturers are gearing up to defend themselves
against lawsuits filed by New Orleans and Chicago, which
are trying to recoup the costs of firearms violence by
criminals. And Philadelphia Mayor Edward Rendell has
proposed a simultaneous filing against gun makers by as
many as 100 cities on the same day sometime this year.
In every case, politicians claim a "right" to
extort billions of dollars from companies because their
products have injured people. Using that same standard, why
not allow ordinary Americans to prosecute the government
for:
- War deaths: Recent military actions totally
unrelated to U.S. national security -- like those in the
Persian Gulf, Lebanon, Panama, and Somalia -- have claimed
hundreds of American lives. If gun company executives can
be held liable when criminals use guns irresponsibly, why
not hold presidents and Congressmen liable when they use
American troops irresponsibly? * Cancer deaths:
The federal government admitted last year that Cold War
nuclear tests exposed 230,000 Americans to high levels of
radioactive iodine, and may cause 75,000 people to develop
fatal thyroid cancer. If it's fair to force tobacco
companies to pay for smoking-related illnesses, isn't it
fair to force the government to pay for legislation-related
illnesses -- like thyroid cancer?
- Air-bag deaths: According to the federal
government, at least 49 children have been killed by
government-mandated air bags. Shouldn't the grieving
parents of these 49 children be able to file wrongful-death
suits against the Congressmen who demanded this law and the
Transportation Department bureaucrats who wrote it?
- Alcohol-related deaths: Eighteen state
governments control the liquor stores that operate within
their borders. So why aren't those state politicians and
bureaucrats sued for the cost of every alcohol-related car
crash?
- Deaths caused by gun-control laws: According to a
landmark study in 1997 by criminologists John R. Lott and
David B. Mustard, the refusal of 24 state governments to
pass concealed-carry laws caused an additional 1,414
murders and 4,177 rapes in 1992 alone. Shouldn't residents
of these states file an immediate injunction to prevent
these dangerous laws from causing more innocent blood to be
shed?
- Deaths caused by criminals on parole: According
to Department of Justice figures, murderers are freed from
prison an average of 11.6 years before their full sentence
expires; armed robbers are sprung 5 years early; and
rapists are back on the streets 5.9 years early. Why
shouldn't the politicians who handed these criminals
get-out-of-jail-early cards -- usually so they could fill
the jails with people convicted of victimless crimes -- be
charged as an accessory to every action these violent thugs
commit?
- Gambling-related suicides: Heavily advertised
state-sponsored lotteries siphon billions of dollars a year
from America's poor, and are directly responsible for
uncountable numbers of gambling-related bankruptcies,
suicides, and broken homes. Since politicians addicted to
taxes are harming vulnerable Americans addicted to
gambling, shouldn't the state officials who run these
destructive lotteries be held personally responsible?
Of course, you say. Of course government employees
should be held to the rules as the rest of us; Americans
shouldn't tolerate a double standard of justice, one for
the politicians and one for the people.
But don't hold your breath. Whether you like it or
not, death-by-government-programs is not yet against the
law.
Sadly, until that changes, prosecution-proof
politicians will continue to escape the consequences of
their misdeeds -- while hypocritically sending ordinary
Americans off to jail, or demanding billions in damages.
David Bergland is national chairman of the Libertarian
Party.
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