Sarah Carrillo
Living Editor
Judge Jim Gray, who is running for senator on the Libertarian ticket, recently visited Pepperdine to speak to students about his campaign and the “War on Drugs,” which is one of his main platforms.
Gray, who is taking a year off from his job as a Superior Court judge, has also written a book titled “Why Our Drug Laws Have Failed and What We Can Do About It — A Judicial Indictment of the War on Drugs,” in which he outlines how current drug policies have failed and proposes solutions to the problem.
Other issues Gray is campaigning on are a more free market economy and less government involvement in employment, giving control of education to local school districts, and leaving gay and lesbian rights and abortion policies up to the states to decide.
He also advocates a repeal of the Patriot Act.
“We won the Cold War without surrendering our rights and liberties.”
Gray said on his Web site he does not feel we should have to do so now.
“I agreed with his view on the Patriot Act — I think it takes away a lot of our personal freedoms and takes away trust in the judicial system,” said senior Stephanie Andrews, who attended one of Gray’s talks.
Gray said during his speech that his chances of winning the Senate race are slim, but he said his goal is not to win, but rather to raise awareness of important issues. He said voting for third party candidates, even if they do not win, brings attention to the issues the third-party candidates support and as a result the Democrat and Republican candidates will take notice of the issues as well.
“If you are wondering whether your voice will be wasted on a third-party candidate, my honest answer is, if you want to be heard, you must vote your conscience,” Gray said on his Web site. “You cannot vote for the lesser of two evils. You still end up with evil.”
10-28-2004