Green Party Platform:
Nonviolence
Green principles oppose violence in all its forms: assaults against individuals, families, nations, wildlife and the environment. We also recognize that threats, intimidation and fear can be as destructive as physical violence. On the personal as well as the national level, means can never be separated from ends.
American society has a historical legacy of violence which results in a widespread acceptance of violent methods. This is reflected in high violent crime rates, the highest handgun murder rate in the world, a propensity for military solutions and a patriarchal desire to dominate through threats and outright force.
Governments have a special responsibility to set good examples through their policies and actions. We, therefore, oppose the death penalty. Executions are motivated more by vengeance than by justice. Executions are carried out in disproportionate numbers among minorities and the poor. Executing criminals has not proven to be an effective deterrent to crime, and it does not address the underlying causes of crime: lack of economic opportunity and education, drug use, child abuse, etc. We recognize the need to protect society from violent criminals, but support a basic right to life and humane treatment. The lengthy appeals process is itself inhumane as well as costly.
The Green Party proposes actions to counter these patterns of violence:
- Teach nonviolence and peaceful conflict resolution at all school levels. Corporal punishment in schools should be abolished since to use it is to teach violence.
- Provide adequate funding to remedy the conditions that spawn violent crime. Such funding is economically more effective than the cost of trials and prisons.
- Register all legal fire arms, especially hand guns and other cancelable weapons. We should strengthen the ban on sales of automatic and semi-automatic weapons. We support the "Brady Bill" and any similar legislation that would establish a nationwide waiting period before a handgun can be purchased.
- Police agencies should develop training and procedures that stress handling situations through mediation and negotiation, while minimizing the necessity for armed confrontations.
- Support incarceration rather than executions, with the provision that dangerous criminals will not be released as long as they pose a threat to society or other individuals.
- Avoid military solutions to international conflicts. Such conflicts should be avoided, if possible, and be handled according to the principles set out in the Foreign Policy plank.