A slap in the face to Ohio GA, and a measure of stupidity by Ohio Lawmakers
Recently, Larry Dighera posted:
On Sat, 20 Jan 2007 09:55:15 -0800, C J Campbell
wrote in
m:
Definitely one of the most inane laws ever passed. But the purpose of
this law is not to fight terrorism. It is to embarrass Democrats. The
outgoing party knew full well that this law would probably be
repealed, so now they can say during the next election that the
Democrats repealed an 'anti-terrorism' measure, without saying
exactly what that measure was.
Perhaps.
But why isn't the law designed to cause aircraft owners to perjure
themselves by failing to declare there affiliation with listed
terrorist organizations, so that they can be prosecuted? I doubt that
the Constitution would permit prosecuting people for merely being
members of the listed terrorist organizations alone.
You are talking about a State that just recently deported an Imam who, on
his application for citizenship didn't declare his affiliations with a
group that *wasn't* on a terrorist watch list at the time. As if that
wasn't bad enough, instead of winding up in the Palestinian territories to
where he was deported, he is being detained by Isreal, where he was
delivered. So, yes, Ohio prosecutes people for far less than merely being
members of listed terrorist organizations.
On a lesser note, this State also increased the licensing tax on GA planes
to the same amount as commercial aircraft. They do these things to pilots
because there aren't enough of us to create a political problem for them.
I agree with C J on the motivations behind this law, and the only
practical benefit to its existance.
Neil
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