I am in support of the proposed change to the borough charter preamble. The intent of the founding fathers was that only human beings be accorded constitutional rights. The misguided extension of the 14th Amendment regarding the due process of law to corporations through a U.S. Supreme Court ruling has resulted in a host of very unfortunate results, not the least of which is loss of control of our government to corporate lobbyists.
The borough assembly asked for a legal opinion from the borough attorney on this ballot measure. The gist of the legal opinion was that making this change to the charter would likely have no effect on how business was conducted in the Borough of Haines. So long as due process is accorded to artificial entities, the change to the charter preamble will not cause the borough to “trample the constitutional rights of federally recognized sovereign Indian tribes.” The paid “sky-is-falling” advertisement by the Chilkoot Indian Association has too many errors to enumerate, but suffice it to say that passage of this initiative will not have any effect on borough business with the CIA. According to the borough attorney, Haines would be very unlikely to be involved in any test cases or lawsuits from this initiative.
We have a responsibility to have our voices heard on this important issue. This ballot measure is an appropriate way to do so.
Robert W. Miller