Proposed Platform and Bylaw Changes - 2023
The following changes to our bylaws and platform have been approved by the Executive Committee to be posted for public comment before deciding which to vote on at convention (Apr 22, Topeka).
Proposed Bylaw Changes
- A. Developing an on-going political strategy to identify, expose, combat, and defeat the opponents of liberty in the political arena;
- B. Engaging in political activity that promotes these stated goals;
- C. Identifying, persuading, and recruiting influential individuals and opinion leaders to become members of the Party;
- D. Identifying and developing coalitions with other organizations in order to realize the ideas of liberty as proclaimed in the Statement of Principles;
- E. Employing media experts, political tacticians, field workers and others, as needed;
- F. Preparing a statewide political environment to enhance the election of Party candidates pledged to the Statement of Principles for the singular purpose of restoring civil and economic liberty and property rights as proclaimed in the Principles and defined in the Platform;
- G. Nominating, endorsing and promoting registered Libertarians who pledge to proclaim and implement the Statement of Principles of the Libertarian Party of Kansas as candidates for public office in Kansas; and
- H. Promoting, chartering, and coordinating County Affiliates throughout the state.
- 1. Attend all party conventions, meetings and gatherings.
- 2. Vote at State Nomination Convention for candidates for public office.
- 1. To be eligible to be a Gold Star LPKS member, one must live in the state of Kansas, be registered Libertarian in the state of Kansas (if eligible) at least thirty (30) days prior to State Convention , pay $25 annual membership dues, and sign the Non-Aggression Pledge Policy (NAP).
- 2.The rights and privileges of Gold Star Kansas Libertarian Party membership:
- a. Hold elected or appointed office on the Executive Committee.
- b. Nominate, endorse, and/or vote for officers, National Delegates, Judicial Committee Members of the LPKS.
- c. Be eligible as an LPKS delegate to the National LP Convention.
- d. Seek LPKS nomination/endorsement for public office within the state of Kansas.
- A. Intentionally involving, or threatening to involve, legal authorities in any non-civil dispute against the Party or one of its affiliates; or
- B. Having unpaid debts over ninety days old outstanding to the Party; or
- C. Committing the Party to financial obligations without the consent of the Executive Committee; or
- D. Making statements to the public in the name of the Libertarian Party which are deemed in violation of the Statement of Principles.
- a) The Party Platform shall consist of planks which adhere to the LPKS position on specific state issues. The Platform may be amended by deletion, substitution, or addition of any plank at any Party convention. The delegates, by a two-thirds vote, but not less than a majority of all registered delegates, may add a new plank, substitute a new plank for an old plank, or delete a plank.
- b) If a delegate believes an adopted plank conflicts with the Statement of Principles to the LPKS, then the delegate may challenge that plank in writing, during the convention, to the Judicial Committee. The delegate shall specify in the challenge the manner in which the delegate believes the plank is in conflict. The Judicial Committee shall decide whether the plank in question conforms to the Statement of Principles and shall make a report to the floor of the convention stating the justification of its decision. If the plank is vetoed by the Judicial Committee, it will be declared null and void; but the plank may be reinstated in the Platform by a three-fourths (3/4) vote of the convention.
Proposed Platform Changes
Proposed Platform Submission #1 - Monetary Freedom.
To be added to Article II - Taxes and Economics (of the current platform).
Article II, Section 5. Kansas Libertarians call for the dismantling of the Federal Reserve. We oppose any government monopolized monetary system and the legal tender laws by which such systems are enforced. We oppose the creation of a central bank digital currency or state backed "digital dollar". We advocate the use of barter; non-governmental cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and other distributed ledger technology; gold; silver; along with any other voluntary means of exchange.
Proposed Platform Submission #2 - Health Freedom (Abortion).
To be added to Article VI - Health Freedom (of the current platform).
Article VI. Section 6. Recognizing that abortion is a sensitive issue and that people can hold good-faith views on all sides, we believe that government should be kept out of the matter, leaving the decision to each individual and their healthcare provider for their conscientious consideration.
Proposed Change: Delete “A sentence of life in prison with no possibility of parole is a reasonable alternative to execution and should be adopted in its place.”
Existing Language: As men and women are fallible and imperfect, and can and do make mistakes, the death penalty should be abolished. A sentence of life in prison with no possibility of parole is a reasonable alternative to execution and should be adopted in its place.
Marked Up Proposal: As men and women are fallible and imperfect, and can and do make mistakes, the death penalty should be abolished. A sentence of life in prison with no possibility of parole is a reasonable alternative to execution and should be adopted in its place.
Final, if adopted: As men and women are fallible and imperfect, and can and do make mistakes, the death penalty should be abolished.
Public Comments
Submission for public comment in opposition to the following:
Proposed Platform Submission #3 – Death Penalty.
Proposed Change: Delete “A sentence of life in prison with no possibility of parole is a reasonable alternative to execution and should be adopted in its place.”
I am reviewing this proposal from the perspective of a Libertarian, a board member of the Kansas Coalition Against the Death Penalty and that of a citizen from the Kansas general public. I oppose this proposal. It is damaging to the effort of the abolition movement and it will not be helpful to the LPKS in drawing voters to the party.
As a Libertarian, I like proposals and positions that come with Libertarian solutions. The needed and appropriate solution is being removed. While this proposal is short and sweet it is sorely in need of an alternative idea to the death penalty. By it’s absence it leaves the reader to draw their own conclusions. Those conclusions will be undoubtedly negative for the party.
It is important to view this from the perspective of the general public. Many have little actual knowledge or opinions of the subject. Many others either already support the continuation of the death penalty or at a minimum have wildly incorrect preconceived beliefs. This is all working against us. What the public wants is “safety assurance”. What the public wants to see is that there are real consequences to murder. As a long time advocate of abolition, it has been my experience that the base public support for the death penalty is revenge. The immediate response to the wording of this proposed plank will be “well then you must want the murders to walk free”. Not having a consequence statement will make the public nervous. We need a statement that guarantees the public’s safety from additional danger from perpetrators as well as to secure protections from big government state sponsored murder. And that is murder of the guilty and the unfortunate innocent. While the elimination of the “life in prison” portion of the platform may open up possibilities other than a life sentence, our society has not come up with a better one yet. An improved consequence solution will be an incremental process. We as a state and nation lack in our response to homicide. This is where we are now.
My view of the proposal as a board member of the Kansas Coalition Against the Death Penalty is that without the current alternative to execution, most if not all, legislative support for abolition in Kansas goes away. It is a current requirement for the passage of abolition and is a unifier to all our outreach groups (which includes the LPKS). The LPKS needs to know the importance of a singular position and message within all the abolition supporters. Inconsistency is damaging to the abolition movement because it creates confusion on what we want on sentencing. The Abolition Coalition would not recommend the removal of the current language.
The LPKS in the future should consider expanding it’s abolition plank language to include additional thoughts that would not only support the consequence of life in prison but would make the point that we believe that the perpetrator’s life can still be useful and have meaning. There is always an opportunity for future good. Capital punishment eliminates that possibility and life in prison maintains that possiblity. This language would help draw favor to abolition and to the reasoning of the LPKS. The LPKS needs to educated the public of the healing of restitutional and restorative justice, the recompense for loss/injury and the transformational opportunity for the redemption of perpetrators. Sister Helen Prejean, a prominent national abolition leader said, “people are not the sum of their worst act”. People who commit terrible crimes still have the opportunity to evolve and transform up to the moment they die. Many Christians believe that God is always working on people. He never stops. If this is true, life in prison without the possibility of parole allows for the opportunity for transformation (redemption), it allows for healing of the community, maintains the dignity of life and stops capital punishment’s expanding circle of pain.
In closing, while I do support the consequence of life in prison without the possibility of parole, because it gives the public safety assurance, I believe there is opportunity for improvement in our justice system to a more restitution-base system rather than one focused singularly on punishment.
Since the death penalty is the poison arrow at the heart of a failed criminal justice system this language and thinking could be an nice bridge to a Libertarian position regarding smaller crimes. One where a “private” rather than the current “public” prosecution model initiated by the state can exist.
Al Terwelp
Manhattan, KS
Comment on proposed platform amendment #2 Health Freedom (Abortion)
I object strongly to this addition. This is just what was removed from the national platform at the Reno convention and, as a delegate, I voted for that removal. This proposal clearly says that we have no objection to killing babies with no conditions.
Our party advocates for freedom and the non-aggression principle. I see killing a baby in utero as the most serious of aggressions, murder.
A platform plank labeled as “Health Freedom” should be addressing items like vaccine mandates, mask mandates and forced lockdowns. Those are true violations of the non-aggression principle.
Michael Kerner
Lenexa, Kansas
Bylaws Public Comment
Bylaw proposal #1. Seems entirely unnecessary. We should not spend any time on this at convention.
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