Rand Paul presidential campaign, 2016/Civil liberties
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 Rand Paul |
U.S. Senator (Assumed office: 2011) |
 Republican candidate: |
2028 • 2024 • 2020 • 2016 |
This page was current as of the 2016 election.
- During a campaign event on November 9, 2015, at the University of Minnesota, Rand Paul said, "The government, it's none of their damn business what you do with your credit card.” Paul also “called for less government intrusion into personal financial records, according to the Star Tribune.[2]
- Paul discussed marijuana while speaking to a group of students at the University of Colorado-Denver on October 27, 2015. He said, “I want to give you an idea what it’s like in Washington. They are really, really worried about you. … And I kid you not, they think you are wielding axes and running naked through the streets. They think it’s utter mayhem out here. ...I’m not here to advocate for marijuana. But I’m here to advocate for freedom. And you know what, if I’m president I’m going to leave Colorado the hell alone.”[3]
- On March 10, 2015, Paul cosponsored a bipartisan bill, S 683 - Compassionate Access, Research Expansion, and Respect States Act of 2015, that would allow states with medical marijuana programs to function freely without fear of federal prosecution and lower the classification category of marijuana.[4]
- In a 2013 interview with the Hoover Institution, Paul questioned the harsh penalties for marijuana possession while noting the drug's harmful effects. Paul said, "What I think is that if your kid or one of his friends goes out and gets caught with marijuana, sticking them in prison is a big mistake. So I don’t really believe in prison sentences for these minor, non-violent drug offenses, but I’m not willing to go all the way to say it is a good idea either. I think people who use marijuana all the time lose IQ points, I think they lose their drive to show up for work.”[5]
- The Hill reported in November 2014 that Paul was opposed to the government restricting online gambling.[6]
Race and ethnicity
- During an interview with Fox News’ Sean Hannity on August 26, 2015, Rand Paul said the Black Lives Matter movement should reconsider its name. “I think they should change their name maybe, if they were ‘All Lives Matter’ or ‘Innocent Lives Matter.’ I am about justice, and frankly I think a lot of poor people in our country, and many African-Americans, are trapped in this war on drugs and I want to change it. But commandeering the microphone and bullying people and pushing people out of the way I think really isn’t a way to get their message across.”[7]
- On August 24, 2015, Rand Paul addressed the Black Lives Matter movement in a television interview. “Do I think it's a good idea for people to jump up and commandeer the microphone? No, and I wouldn't let them take my microphone. You know things cost money, and they need to learn that things cost money, and really all lives matter. Someone said that the other day, and then they had to apologize, and it's like 'Really? You're apologizing because you said all lives matter?' But I think there are some grievances, and I think the drug war has disproportionately affected black individuals, and I'd be willing to meet with them anytime; I'd be willing to sit and have a forum with them. I've been to 10 criminal justice forums that include many African Americans talking about all these same things, but we do it in a civil way. We don't get up there and grab someone's microphone and yell at them. And they're getting attention, but I don't know if they're making a good point,” Paul said.[8]
| Chris Matthews of MSNBC interviews Paul about Eric Garner case in December 2014. |
- On June 30, 2015, Rand Paul tweeted, "You can be a minority because of the color of your skin or the shade of your ideology. #StandWithRand."[9]
- In December 2014, Paul suggested there was a connection between overreaching cigarette laws and the death of Eric Garner, a black man who died after a white police officer placed him in a chokehold. Paul explained, "I think there's something bigger than just the individual circumstances. Obviously, the individual circumstances are important, but I think it's also important to know that some politician put a tax of $5.85 on a pack of cigarettes. So they've driven cigarettes underground by making them so expensive. But then some politician also had to direct the police to say, 'Hey, we want you arresting people for selling a loose cigarette.' And for someone to die over, you know, breaking that law–there really is no excuse for it. But I do blame the politicians. We put our police in a difficult situation with bad laws."[10]
- Paul wrote an op-ed in TIME in response to the unrest in Ferguson, Missouri, following the death of Michael Brown, a young black man shot and killed by a white police officer. Paul wrote, "In the search for culpability for the tragedy in Ferguson, I mostly blame politicians. Michael Brown’s death and the suffocation of Eric Garner in New York for selling untaxed cigarettes indicate something is wrong with criminal justice in America. The War on Drugs has created a culture of violence and put police in a nearly impossible situation. In Ferguson, the precipitating crime was not drugs, but theft. But the War on Drugs has created a tension in some communities that too often results in tragedy." Paul cited the racially disproportionate consequences of drug laws and noted "there is a gnawing feeling that simply being black in a high-crime area increases your risk for a deadly altercation with police."[11]
- After discussing the connection between crime and poverty, Paul cautioned, "Reforming criminal justice to make it racially blind is imperative, but that won’t lift up these young men from poverty. In fact, I don’t believe any law will. For too long, we’ve attached some mythic notion to government solutions and yet, 40 years after we began the War on Poverty, poverty still abounds....Escaping the poverty trap will require all of us to relearn that not only are we our brother’s keeper, we are our own keeper. While a hand-up can be part of the plan, if the plan doesn’t include the self-discovery of education, work, and the self-esteem that comes with work, the cycle of poverty will continue."[11]
- On July 22, 2014, Paul cosponsored a bipartisan Senate resolution encouraging organization to interview at least one minority candidate for managerial positions.[12]
- In April 2014, Paul supported thea Supreme Court upholding a ban on racial preferences in the admissions process at Michigan’s state-run universities. Paul said, “There was a time when we had done such terrible things in our country that there really needed to be special protections. We’ve come a long way, and I think really that the time in which justice can be colorblind is now, as far as admissions and things like that.”[13]
Recent news
This section links to a Google news search for the term Rand + Paul + Civil + Liberties
See also
Footnotes
- ↑ Politico, "Rand Paul dropping out of White House race," February 3, 2016
- ↑ Star Tribune, "GOP's Rand Paul courts students with small government message," November 9, 2015
- ↑ The Denver Post, "Ahead of GOP debate, Rand Paul talks marijuana, budget filibuster," October 27, 2015
- ↑ Congress.gov, "S.683 - Compassionate Access, Research Expansion, and Respect States Act of 2015," accessed May 26, 2015
- ↑ The Huffington Post, "Rand Paul: Marijuana Use Makes You Lazy, Lose 'IQ Points'," June 18, 2013
- ↑ The Hill, "Online gambling fight in need of consistency from politicians," November 15, 2014
- ↑ BuzzFeed News, "Rand Paul: Black Lives Matter Should Change Its Name," August 26, 2015
- ↑ KING 5, "Presidential hopeful Rand Paul sits down with KING 5," August 24, 2015
- ↑ The Washington Post, "Rand Paul says you can be a ‘minority’ because of your politics. Let’s break that down.," July 2, 2015
- ↑ MSNBC, "Paul on Eric Garner: I ‘blame the politicians’," December 3, 2014
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 TIME, "Rand Paul: The Politicians Are To Blame in Ferguson," November 24, 2014
- ↑ Congress.gov, "S.Res.511 - A resolution establishing best business practices to fully utilize the potential of the United States.," accessed May 26, 2015
- ↑ Bloomberg, "Rand Paul Appeals to Democratic Base in Obama’s Hometown," accessed May 26, 2015
