Live music in danger: Ashcroft's "Rave" Act

scott murray · From: Asheville, NC

This is scary, folks:

<< In reviewing the advance sheets of proposed bills before the US House
of Representatives and US Senate, I came accross several proposed laws
that, if they pass, will have a chilling effect on all future live concerts
from intimate theatre settings to 20,000-seat ice rinks, summer amphitheatres, and outdoor
summer festivals of any size.

Congress may soon give Attorney General John Ashcroft the power to
take away more of your rights, including your right to free speech --
unless you act right now. Congress is now considering two proposed laws --
the RAVE Act (HR 718) and the Illicit Drug Anti-Proliferation Act (S.226) --
that would further expand the federal "crack house law" to apply to more
people, including home owners and organizers of concerts, festivals or
rallies. These laws give the federal government the power to imprison you
for up to twenty years if you smoke marijuana.
A third proposed law, the CLEAN-UP Act (HR 834), would make it a
federal crime -- punishable by up to nine years in prison -- to promote any
entertainment event in which drug offenses might occur, such as festivals
and music concerts.
If enacted, the CLEAN-UP Act (HR 834) would make it impossible to hold
hemp festivals and music concerts. At first glance it is a seemingly
harmless bill that provides more money and training for the clean up
of illegal methamphetamine laboratories. Buried within it, however,
are provisions (Section 305) that would make it a federal crime --
punishable by up to nine years in prison -- to promote for commercial
purposes "any rave, dance, music or other entertainment event" that
might attract some attendees that would use or sell drugs -- even if
promoters work to prevent drug offenses at their events. Under the
provision, any concert promoter, nightclub owner and arena or stadium
owner could be fined and jailed, since a reasonable person would know
some people use drugs at musical events.

It is important that you contact your Members of Congress today and
forward this alert to everyone you know. Even as you read this e-mail,
politicians in Washington, DC are plotting to quickly pass these laws.
They will succeed, unless you ACT NOW.
You could even be jailed for crimes that you take no part in -- that's
how much power Congress wants to give John Ashcroft.

ACTIONS TO TAKE

(1) Urge your Representative to oppose the RAVE Act (HR 718) and Section
305 in the CLEAN-UP Act (HR 834) by faxing him or her for free at
actioncenter.drugpolicy.o...&item=1516

(2) Urge your Senators to oppose the Illicit Drug Anti-Proliferation Act
(S. 226) by faxing them for free at
actioncenter.drugpolicy.o...&item=1448

(3) Forward this alert to your friends, family members, and co-workers. It
is vital that thousands of Americans speak out.

Paul King · From: Gainesville, Texas, USA

I have never understood why can,t we get a bill with just one item on it. They always talk about what they consider the most important item while they are sneaking something else in there that might hurt us. There is no telling the bills that have been passed with outrageous items put in. I wonder how many bills have been passed by Congress, vetoed by the President and went back to Congress and were made law. If I remember correctly, the President can veto a bill and Congress can override his veto with a vast majority of Congress approving it. We all really need to pay more attention to all of our politicians....Paul

chas smith R.I.P. · From: Encino, CA, USA

Our beloved Attorney General is attempting to trample our Constitution and the rights of freedom that our fighting men and women gave their lives to protect. The "Rave" Act is the least of it. this man should be impeached.

We impeached a standing president for having sex and then allow these ideologues to take away our rights. We might as well be living in Iran.

Tony Prior · From: Charlotte NC

Search HR 718 and HR 834

Come on folks, this is Politics 101.

This is not an Ashecroft law, when was the last time an Atty general wrote a law ? ..right..never..Even Robert Kenneddy didn't write laws.

This is not a Right Wing Conservative thing....trying to take over your civil rights...geeze....

These bills are co-sponsored by about 50 Congressional members from both parties..I repeat , both parties.

IF you don't like it, contact your Congressional rep, and if you look up the bill you may find the person you voted for is one of the sponsors. And you may also learn that the person you voted against, is against the bill...which means you may have voted for the wrong person.

You cannot hang this on an Atty General, he is handed laws whether he likes them or not, from Congress.

Read the bill.. they are actually not trying to eliminate live music, they are trying to eliminate alcohol and drugs from places that promotors have live music at illegally.

IF a club has a liquor license , there is no problem. IF an American Legion does not sell liquor and you bring your own Beer, thats not an issue.

My feeling is where we will be playing is so far under the umbrella that it will have no effect. They are looking for dealers at huge venues and such..and they are looking at the promotors who may be partially involved with some of the activity. Thats not Mrs. Frittle down at the Moose lodge.

Anyway..go back to your basic education, look up the bill, read it and look to see if your elected rep is on the list of sponsors. Then tell that dude or dudette that you oppose it , not Ashecroft..what the heck does he have with writing laws?...

Absolutley nuthin ' ..

tp

Gene Jones · From: Oklahoma City, OK USA, (deceased)

....but Tony, Ashcroft is (a brief pause for a drumroll and rising crescendo of scary music) a Conservative!....and as such should be blamed anyway!

www.genejones.com

[This message was edited by Gene Jones on 03 April 2003 at 06:44 AM.]

Tony Prior · From: Charlotte NC

Yes Gene..true..but that does not entitle him to just write his own laws and enforce them..

and thats a good thing..for any Atty Gen.

But this brings up a good point..IF Ashecroft was in a Democratic adminstration , would it be ok to write his own laws and enforce them ?

Just a thought..

Here in NC we have bigger problems, a $25 fine for holding and talking on the cell phone while driving because it is so dangerous.

No points or driving penalties, just a cash fine. I guess it's not enough of a danger to make it a driving offense, just a pay now and keep driving offense.

Once again, proof positive of Politicians doing their best work.

tp

Ray Jenkins · From: Gold Canyon Az. U.S.A.

And it all started with all the "no smoking" laws.Whats next?

------------------
Steeling is still legal in Arizona

Tony Prior · From: Charlotte NC

Oh Come on Ray..everyone knows that once you start smoking ( its' been provin by the anti smoking gang , just ask one ) it leads to POT and than those stronger drugs...and then soon you loose your job and go to jail,( where you bargain for everything with cigarettes ) then you loose your family and then when you finally get out of jail, the first thing you do is have a smoke and now you're homeless and standing at the intersection with a sign:

"Will work for cigarettes"

Is this how you want your life to end up ? Huh ? Huh ?

some people...geesh....

T

Randy Pettit · From: North Texas USA

Tony:
Thanks for adding some sanity (and accuracy) to this thread. Like you said, this is Civics 101. Attorneys General don't write bills - senators and representatives do. Besides, it likely won't pass anyway. These are activities already overseen by state ABC commissions, and state and local law enforcement. You might as well make c-store owners liable because they might attract armed robbers.

Chip Fossa · From: Monson, MA, USA (deceased)

What about the iminent de-funding of NPR?

All this attempt at censorship is no less
like the drumbeat of Hitler and his pack-of-
thugs to "burn the books".

It's no accident that only a handful of "nazi's" run the airwaves and mass media.

Wake up!!!

Gene Jones · From: Oklahoma City, OK USA, (deceased)

Chip, explain your post....are you saying that Bush is equivalent to Hitler....and he is involved in ethnic cleaning?.....give me a break.....please explain your analogy!!!! www.genejones.com

chas smith R.I.P. · From: Encino, CA, USA

quote:
This is not an Ashecroft law, when was the last time an Atty general wrote a law ? ..right..never..Even Robert Kenneddy didn't write laws.

This is not a Right Wing Conservative thing....trying to take over your civil rights...geeze....

These bills are co-sponsored by about 50 Congressional members from both parties..I repeat , both parties.

IF you don't like it, contact your Congressional rep, and if you look up the bill you may find the person you voted for is one of the sponsors. And you may also learn that the person you voted against, is against the bill...which means you may have voted for the wrong person.

You cannot hang this on an Atty General, he is handed laws whether he likes them or not, from Congress.

Read the bill.. they are actually not trying to eliminate live music, they are trying to eliminate alcohol and drugs from places that promotors have live music at illegally.

The Attorney General can sponsor and promote legislation, it's up to the Congress to pass it. The AG can also choose, to some degree, which laws he wants to concentrate on enforcing and how he wants the DOJ to act. Anyone who has witnessed a top lawyer in action knows that the law can be manipulated.

The issue here is the loss of personal freedom, which I oppose regardless of who is in office. Give up a little one here, give up a little one there, it all adds up and it's unlikely that you'll get them back at a later date.

Illegal drugs is a "hot button" that is used as camoflage. For example, witness the war on drugs in Columbia. Millions of dollars pour into that country to .......stop drugs. Think about it, we are currently taking down the entire government of a nation on the other side of the world. Why couldn't we stop the flow of cocaine, if we wanted to. What if, Occidental Oil had the good sense to built an oil pipeline in a country that was experiencing a civil war, Columbia, and needed to protect it. So we spend millions of dollars to.....

Mike Perlowin · From: Los Angeles CA

Tony is right. Ashcroft does not make the laws. He only enforces them. But he is a prominent part of the Bush administration which IS whittling away at our constitutional rights. It should be noted that in March of 2001, 6 months BEFORE 9/11. Bush said "There ought to be limits to freedom."

Under the patriot act, the government can now enter and search your home without a warrant. They can do this without even telling you. American citizens, under this act, can, for the first time in out nation's history and in direct violation of the Constitution, be labeled "enemy combatants" at the discretion of Ashcroft and/or Bush, and as such, arrested and held indefinitely without being charged with a crime, and without a trial or access to an attorney.

Under the pending Patriot 2 act, any American, including those who were born here, can have his or her citizenship revoked and be deported. Again, this takes place at the discretion of Ashcroft and or Bush, and again, the person involved need not be charged with a crime and has no right to a lawyer or trial.

Folks, this isn't some paranoid fantasy. if you have any doubts, do some research and look it up for yourselves.

Meanwhile the war rages on and is estimated to cost $70 Billion dollars. Much of that going to munitions manufactures like United Defense, a weapons manufacturer based in Arlington, VA. United Defense provides the Defense Department with combat vehicle systems, fire support, combat support vehicle systems, weapons delivery systems, amphibious assault vehicles, combat support services and naval armaments. Specifically, United Defense manufactures the Bradley Fighting Vehicle, the M113 armored personnel carrier, the M88A2 Recovery Vehicle, the Grizzly, the M9 ACE, the Composite Armored Vehicle, the M6 Linebacker, the M7 BFIST, the Armored Gun System, the M4 Command and Control Vehicle, the Battle Command Vehicle, the Paladin, the Crusader, and Electric Gun/Pulse Power weapons technology.

SURPRISE SURPRISE SURPRISE. United Defense is part of the Carlyle group, whose sr. staff includes former secretary of State and promanent Republican James Baker the 3rd and former president George Herbert Walker Bush.

Here's another surprise. Dick Cheney's company, Halliburton, has already been awarded a multi- billion dollar contract to rebuild Iraq's oil fields after the war.

Can anybody say CORRUPTION?

b0b · From: Cloverdale, CA, USA

This has become a political discussion. I'm closing it as Off Topic. It's not about music anymore.

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Bobby Lee
-b0b- quasar@b0b.com
-System Administrator

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