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[[Image:Paul_Jacob_in_2006.gif|thumb|Paul Jacob]]'''Paul Jacob''' (1960 - ) is an activist, organizer, and advocate for legislative term limits, initiative and referendum rights, and [[limited government]] in the [[United States]]. He writes a weekly column for [[Townhall.com]] and his short radio commentary feature, "Common Sense," is syndicated by the [[Sam Adams Alliance]] on over 120 [[radio]] stations around the U.S. He has held positions with the [[Libertarian Party (United States)]], [[U.S. Term Limits]], [[Americans for Limited Government]], Citizens In Charge and the Sam Adams Foundation.
'''Paul Jacob''' (1960 - ) is an activist, organizer, and advocate for legislative term limits, initiative and referendum rights, and limited government.  He has held positions with the Libertarian Party, U.S. Term Limits, Americans for Limited Government, Citizens in Charge and the Sam Adams Foundation.  In 1987 and 1988, Jacob was the Libertarian Party's national director.  In 1988, he worked to put [[Ron Paul]] on the ballot for president as a Libertarian, winning ballot access in 47 states.


==Free Paul Jacob==


On October 2, 2007, Oklahoma Attorney General Drew Edmondson announced that a multi-county grand jury had issued a criminal indictment against Jacob and two others for their role in a 2005 Oklahoma petition drive.  In November 2007, the indictment was dismissed.  It is believed that the Attorney General's office will re-issue it directly from their office.


== Political philosophy ==
Had that petition drive succeeded, it would have placed a Taxpayer Bill of Rights spending-limitation ballot measure on the 2006 Oklahoma ballot. The charges against Jacob and the other two are that they "willfully, corruptly, deceitfully, fraudulently and feloniously" conspired to defraud Oklahoma.[http://www.kotv.com/news/local/story/?id=137199 "Petition Backers Indicted On Felony Charges"]  
Because Jacob emphasizes institutional and procedural reforms--most notable being legislative term limits--his [[libertarianism|libertarian]] philosophy appears more centrist than either [[Left-libertarian]] or [[Paleolibertarianism|rightist]]. Though often writing from a background of [[cultural conservatism]], his frequent criticisms of what he regards as [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican Party]] "excesses" distances his writing from that of most other columnists usually defined as "on the right". Examples of Jacob's views can be read in his columns on Townhall.com, as well as in his "Common Sense" commentaries. Frequent targets of his commentary include Republicans known for their [[pork barrel]] spending, such as Senator [[Ted Stevens]], and both Democrats and Republicans who support campaign spending regulations, such as Senators [[Russ Feingold]] and [[John McCain]]. Paul Jacob has repeatedly argued that the [[Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act|McCain-Feingold]] law, and all similar campaign finance reform measures, are clear violations of the [[First Amendment]].


== Draft resistance ==
In a prepared statement released upon indictment, Paul Jacob wrote that the prosecution was "not about the law, but rather 100 percent politically motivated. This is politics – very ugly politics." As well as challenging the motives of the prosecution, Jacob noted the many troubles of the constitutionality of the laws upon which the prosecution is based, adding that "constitutional or not, we obeyed the statute."[http://www.pauljacob.com/?p=6 "Statement of Paul Jacob"],
[[Image:Free paul jacob.jpg|thumb|Two bumper stickers feature slogans from different periods of Jacob's political activism.]]
Jacob first came to political prominence in the early 1980s as a [[conscription|draft]] registration resister. His crusade against forced military service and for the all-volunteer army was featured in ''[[Rolling Stone]]'' magazine<ref>Greider, William: "Nothing about the Draft Makes Sense," 'Rolling Stone', September 30, 1982, 9, 10</ref>. In 1985, after being convicted of violating the Selective Service Act, he served five and a half months in federal prison, longer than any American draft resister since the [[Vietnam War]]. During the trial, Congressman [[Ron Paul]] testified on his behalf.<ref>Doherty, Brian, ''Radicals for Capitalism: A Freewheeling History of the Modern American Libertarian Movement,'' Public Affairs, 2007, pages 510-513.</ref>


Jacob's argument against the draft can be found in his brief essay titled "The Draft is Slavery,"<ref>[http://www.pulpless.com/rainsamp/cadenzas.html#RED ''The Draft is Slavery,''] an essay by Paul Jacob, stored on the [http://www.pulpless.com/ Pulpless.Com, Inc.] website.</ref> originally published as one of several "afterwords" to [[J. Neil Schulman]]'s science fiction novel ''[[The Rainbow Cadenza]]''.
The charges revolve around the fact that petitioners came into Oklahoma from out-of-state to collect signatures on the petition.  Oklahoma has a law saying that signatures may only be collected by residents of the state. Legal issues in the case surround whether such residency requirements are constitutional, and the claim of those indicted that they followed the state's laws because petitioners who came into the state registered, as required, as state residents.


==Prosecution compared to Pakistan, North Korea==


A November 19 editorial in the Wall Street Journal compared the prosecution to what one might expect from the Pakistan government.[http://www.opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=110010882 ''Oklahoma's Most Wanted; The latest thing in political felonies: a petition drive'']  Steve Forbes, editor-in-chief of Forbes magazine, asked in an editorial in the November 26, 2007 issue of that magazine, "Has North Korea annexed Oklahoma?"[http://www.freepauljacob.com/?page_id=47 ''Has North Korea Annexed Oklahoma?'']


== Support for Legislative Term Limits ==
==Support of Paul Jacob==
[[Image:Paul_Jacob_US_Term_Limits_v_Thornton_1994.gif|thumb|Paul Jacob, during oral arguments of U.S. Term Limits v. Thornton (1994)]]Primarily known as a leader of the [[term limits]] movement, Jacob ran [[U.S. Term Limits]], the nation's most active term limits lobby, from its inception in 1992 until 1999, becoming the movement's leading voice. Jacob helped citizens in 23 states place limits on their congressional delegations, prompting columnist [[Robert Novak]] to call him "the most hated man in Washington."{{Fact|date=June 2007}} But on [[May 22]][[1995]], those state-imposed congressional term limits, encompassing nearly half the U.S. Congress, were struck down by the [[Supreme Court of the United States]] in the case of ''[[U.S. Term Limits v. Thornton]]''. Today, 15 state legislatures, 36 governors and thousands of local officials, including those in nine of the country's ten largest cities, are under term limits. Jacob held several positions with U.S. Term Limits (including national director, senior fellow, and president), until resigning his board membership in early 2007.
R-Randy Brogdon, Oklahoma Senator Randy Brogdon released a public statement on October 5, 2007 in support of Jacob, saying, "It appears Drew Edmondson is more concerned with protecting his own political power than he is with preserving, protecting, and defending the right of Oklahomans to free speech,” Brogdon said. “This is nothing less than an attack on our Republican form of government.”[http://www.oksenate.gov/news/press_releases/press_releases_2007/pr20071004a.html ''Sen. Brogdon says Oklahomans Should be Dismayed by Politically Motivated Indictment of Citizen Activists'', Oklahoma State Senate, Oct 5th, 2007]


== Rise in the Libertarian Party ==
*[http://www.reason.com/news/show/122839.html Reason Online, "Losing Our Initiative"]
Jacob served on the National Committee of the [[Libertarian Party (United States)|Libertarian Party]] and then in 1987 and 1988 as the party's national director. In 1988, he worked to put [[Ron Paul]] on the ballot for president as a Libertarian, winning [[ballot access]] in 47 states, the [[Washington, D.C.|District of Columbia]], and [[Guam]].
*[http://www.lewrockwell.com/blog/lewrw/archives/015899.html Lew Rockwell]
*[http://www.examiner.com/blogs/tapscotts_copy_desk/2007/10/2/Oklahoma-AG-indicts-national-term-limits-leader-Paul-Jacob-vows-to-fight?cid=rss-tapscotts_copy_desk Mark Tapscott]
*[http://mrebman.info-blogs.com/?p=10836 M Rebman]
*[http://www.wendymcelroy.com/news.php?extend.1013 Wendy McElroy]
*[http://lfb.com/index.php?action=help&helpfile=oct07archive.html#100207 Can you be indicted for petitioning your government? In Oklahoma, yes].
*[http://chetlyzarko.com/b2evolution/index.php?p=780&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1 Chet Zarko]
*[http://www.insideronline.org/blogarchive.cfm?month=10&year=2007#67DEDFB8-D8AA-08B7-02685B0BB2EFB30B A Vindictive Indictment]
*[http://www.tuccille.com/blog/2007/10/payback-for-activism.html Payback for Activism]
*[http://www.badcopnews.com/2007/10/03/petition-backers-busted-on-unconstitutional-oklahoma-in-effort-spearheaded-by-state-attorney-general-drew-edmondson/ Unconstitutional Oklahoma law]
*[http://www.bobwaldrop.net/wordpress/?p=49 Who is next on the state's hit list?]
*[http://key-words.blogspot.com/2007/10/gagging-paul-jacobs.html Gagging Paul Jacob]
*[http://samadamsalliance.org/publication/id.2871/pub_detail.asp Outrageous political ploy to quell citizen rights]
*[http://noisyroom.net/blog/?p=22883 Speakers indicted. We're proud of them.]


== Citizens in Charge & Foundation ==
==Draft resistance==
In 2001, Jacob started Citizens in Charge, a group dedicated to protecting the voter initiative process where it exists and expanding it to more states and localities. Between 2002 and 2004, CIC worked closely with Let Minnesota Vote in an unsuccessful effort to bring statewide initiative & referendum to Minnesota. CIC provided much of the funding for voter issue education in the state’s 2002 legislative elections, through direct mail, television ads and radio spots. In those elections, five incumbent state senators were defeated by pro-initiative challengers, but the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party retained control of the state senate and continued to block a vote of the people on statewide initiative. CIC also led a 2004 lobbying effort against restrictions on the initiative in Florida, working with the Florida Initiative League and later with Hands Off Florida. In 2005, Citizens in Charge was instrumental in blocking a number of proposed legislative restrictions to the initiative process in Nevada. Jacob serves as president of the organization.
Jacob also founded the Citizens in Charge Foundation, which litigates to protect petition rights and provides education on the initiative and referendum process. He also serves as the group’s president.


== The Sam Adams Alliance & Foundation ==
Jacob first came to political prominence in the early 1980s as a draft registration resister. His crusade against forced military service and for the all-volunteer army was featured in ''Rolling Stone'' magazine. In 1985, after being convicted of violating the Selective Service Act, he served five and a half months in federal prison, longer than any American draft resister since the Vietnam War. During the trial, Congressman [[Ron Paul]] testified on his behalf.
Jacob is a senior advisor at the [[Sam Adams Foundation]], which produces his radio and [[Internet]] commentary program [[Common Sense (program)|Common Sense]].


==2007 Indictment in Oklahoma==
{{Wikipedia}}
[[Image:Paul Jacob mug.jpg|thumb|Paul Jacob was indicted in federal court on October 2, 2007.<ref>[http://www.freepauljacob.com/Legal_Docs/Jacob_Indictment.pdf" Copy of Paul Jacob Indictment] — copy stored on Free Paul Jacob website</ref>]]In 2005 and 2006, Jacob worked with an Oklahoma group, Oklahomans in Action, to place on the ballot an initiative, Stop Overspending, one of several measures run in different states known as the [[Taxpayer Bill of Rights]], or TaBOR. Among the paid petitioners used were some that had come to Oklahoma from other states to work on the drive. On October 2, 2007, Jacob was formally indicted in Oklahoma on a charge of conspiracy to defraud the state on the matter of hiring out-of-state petitioners. Jacob claims the petition's organizers had sought, and received, approval for this from the Oklahoma Secretary of State.<ref>[http://www.freepauljacob.com/2007/10/02/statement-of-paul-jacob/ "Statement of Paul Jacob"], Free Paul Jacob website, October 2, 2007</ref> The maximum fine for their alleged crime is $25,000, and the maximum sentence is ten years in prison. Jacob was indicted with two others in the case, and each pleaded not guilty.<ref>[http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?articleID=071003_1_A9_hThey33120 "Indictment Lists Three in TABOR Case"], ''Tulsa World'', October 3, 2007</ref> A website--FreePaulJacob.com--was put up in Jacob's defense.<ref>[http://www.freepauljacob.com/" Free Paul Jacob] — website</ref>


== References ==
{{start box}}
{{Reflist}}
{{succession box |
before= [[Honey Lanham]] |
title=[[Libertarian Party]] [[Executive Director]] |
years=[[1987]]-[[1988]] |
after=[[Nick Dunbar]] |
}}
{{end box}}
 
==See also:==
 
*[[List of Libertarian Party National Directors]]


==External links==
==External links==
*[http://www.samadamsalliance.org/ The Sam Adams Alliance]
*[http://www.thisiscommonsense.com/ Common Sense with Paul Jacob]
*[http://www.citizensincharge.org/ Citizens In Charge]
*[http://www.townhall.com/columnists/PaulJacob Paul Jacob, Townhall columnist]
*[http://www.draftresistance.org/herotoday.php Hero of the Day, column by Steve Stephens]


{{DEFAULTSORT:Jacob, Paul}}
* [http://www.freepauljacob.com Free Paul Jacob]
[[Category:1960 births]]
* [http://pauljacob.com/ Paul Jacob blog]
[[Category:Living people]]
* [http://www.ballotpedia.org/wiki/index.php?title=Paul_Jacob Paul Jacob on Ballotpedia]
[[Category:American libertarians|Jacob, Paul]]
* [http://www.samadamsalliance.org/publication/id.2878/pub_detail.asp Paul Jacob in the Press] Sam Adams Alliance "Full Coverage" link page
[[Category:Members of the Libertarian Party (United States)|Jacob, Paul]]
* [http://www.citizensincharge.org/freepaul.html Citizens in Charge: ''Free Paul Jacob''] Defense/Donation site
* [http://newsok.com/article/3168811 ''Tall order: Petition process needs a fix'', NewsOK, Nov. 14, 2007]
 
[[Category:Current and Former Libertarian Party Executive Directors]]

Revision as of 12:30, 19 November 2008

Paul Jacob (1960 - ) is an activist, organizer, and advocate for legislative term limits, initiative and referendum rights, and limited government. He has held positions with the Libertarian Party, U.S. Term Limits, Americans for Limited Government, Citizens in Charge and the Sam Adams Foundation. In 1987 and 1988, Jacob was the Libertarian Party's national director. In 1988, he worked to put Ron Paul on the ballot for president as a Libertarian, winning ballot access in 47 states.

Free Paul Jacob

On October 2, 2007, Oklahoma Attorney General Drew Edmondson announced that a multi-county grand jury had issued a criminal indictment against Jacob and two others for their role in a 2005 Oklahoma petition drive. In November 2007, the indictment was dismissed. It is believed that the Attorney General's office will re-issue it directly from their office.

Had that petition drive succeeded, it would have placed a Taxpayer Bill of Rights spending-limitation ballot measure on the 2006 Oklahoma ballot. The charges against Jacob and the other two are that they "willfully, corruptly, deceitfully, fraudulently and feloniously" conspired to defraud Oklahoma."Petition Backers Indicted On Felony Charges"

In a prepared statement released upon indictment, Paul Jacob wrote that the prosecution was "not about the law, but rather 100 percent politically motivated. This is politics – very ugly politics." As well as challenging the motives of the prosecution, Jacob noted the many troubles of the constitutionality of the laws upon which the prosecution is based, adding that "constitutional or not, we obeyed the statute.""Statement of Paul Jacob",

The charges revolve around the fact that petitioners came into Oklahoma from out-of-state to collect signatures on the petition. Oklahoma has a law saying that signatures may only be collected by residents of the state. Legal issues in the case surround whether such residency requirements are constitutional, and the claim of those indicted that they followed the state's laws because petitioners who came into the state registered, as required, as state residents.

Prosecution compared to Pakistan, North Korea

A November 19 editorial in the Wall Street Journal compared the prosecution to what one might expect from the Pakistan government.Oklahoma's Most Wanted; The latest thing in political felonies: a petition drive Steve Forbes, editor-in-chief of Forbes magazine, asked in an editorial in the November 26, 2007 issue of that magazine, "Has North Korea annexed Oklahoma?"Has North Korea Annexed Oklahoma?

Support of Paul Jacob

R-Randy Brogdon, Oklahoma Senator Randy Brogdon released a public statement on October 5, 2007 in support of Jacob, saying, "It appears Drew Edmondson is more concerned with protecting his own political power than he is with preserving, protecting, and defending the right of Oklahomans to free speech,” Brogdon said. “This is nothing less than an attack on our Republican form of government.”Sen. Brogdon says Oklahomans Should be Dismayed by Politically Motivated Indictment of Citizen Activists, Oklahoma State Senate, Oct 5th, 2007

Draft resistance

Jacob first came to political prominence in the early 1980s as a draft registration resister. His crusade against forced military service and for the all-volunteer army was featured in Rolling Stone magazine. In 1985, after being convicted of violating the Selective Service Act, he served five and a half months in federal prison, longer than any American draft resister since the Vietnam War. During the trial, Congressman Ron Paul testified on his behalf.

Template:Wikipedia


Preceded by:
Honey Lanham		 Libertarian Party Executive Director
1987-1988		 Succeeded by:
Nick Dunbar



See also:

External links

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