RE: [lpsf-activists] Re: Civil Liberties Initiative (Police Accountability Ideas)

Thanks, Morey. I like your proposal about mandating priorities, and
also the point about being pro-freedom rather than anti-cop.

The strange thing about the idea of abolishing the vice squad was that
it was already tried, in 1980. Libertarians got it on the ballot, and,
to my amazement, it went down to a landslide defeat--when, if half the
gay men in San Francisco had voted for it, it would have won. Perhaps
we should find out what we can about why it failed. That was my first
year in SF, and I wasn't active in the Party; but Bart Lee, who I think
lurks on the lpsf-discuss list, was the author of the proposition, as I
recall; and he may have more insight. A lot can change in 25 years, but
it's not obvious to me that the political climate in the late '70s would
have been _less_ receptive to abolition of the vice squad.

Thanks Mike. I'm not sure I agree about the political climate. If
I'm not mistaken, I thought there was a conservative presence in our
elected officials until sometime in the late 80's or early 90's. I
could be wrong, but I thought the city was a little more diverse
(thought-wise) then than it is now.

-Morey