California Libertarian Party Approves My Proposal for "Prosecutorial Budget Sharing"

The CLP has approved my idea for what I termed "prosecutorial budget sharing" (above link). I'd intended it as a Platform Plank, but it ended up in the CLP Program.

Details: Last Friday (2/18/05), at the Platform Committee's suggestion, I submitted my proposal to the Program Committee, which passed it by unanimous consent. On Sunday (2/20/05), the CLP convention delegates adopted my proposal, as re-drafted by the Program Committee, adding it to Section IV (as Item 6) of the LPC Program. The final language:

Government fines, civil commitments and prosecutions can be as damaging as criminal prosecution. While in cases of criminal prosecution, the defendant is entitled to representation, no such right exists in civil cases.

To remedy this, in all cases of government civil prosecution, civil commitment, or regulatory fines, the defendant shall be entitled to representation and funding equal to that of the prosecuting agency's, to be paid from the agency's budget.

The next step is to make this program plank part of California law, most likely through initiative and referendum.