There’s the case of Bryan Gonzales, a border guard with the U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Correction, former border guard. Mr. Gonzales was fired for expressing an opinion.
In April 2009, the 26-year-old Gonzales told another agent that he thought legalizing drugs would end the prohibition-caused violence inMexico, where an estimated 35,000 people have been killed since 2006 when that country’s military was enlisted to enforceU.S. drug prohibition.
While the other agent, Shawn Montoya and Mr. Gonzales strongly disagreed, that lone conversation was the end of it until Gonzales was called to the regional office inEl Paso,Texas. It seems a third officer learned of the conversation and reported it to theBorder Patrol's Office of Internal Affairs.
According to a suit filed by Gonzales, he was asked if he was either a socialist or someone who wanted to take over the country. In September of that year, he was fired. The termination letter said his views conflicted with the border service’s values of "patriotism, dedication, and esprit de corps."
Perhaps Border Patrol supervisors should be reminded that patriotism does not mean blind obedience to laws that one thinks are unjust, ill-conceived, dangerous or unconstitutional. Indeed, dissent is the highest form of patriotism. They should also be reminded that they took an oath to uphold the Constitution and that freedom of speech is guaranteed.
The conversation that led to the arrest was private. Agent Gonzales did not attend an anti-prohibition rally and give a speech while in uniform. All he did was express his opinion to a colleague.
There was nothing wrong in what he did. Indeed, many people, including current and former colleagues, drug agents, law enforcement officers, prosecutors and judges who formed a group called LEAP, Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, share his opinion.
One former Border Patrol agent and now a member of LEAP is Terry Nelson who said agents should be encouraged to speak their minds. Disagreeing with draconian drug laws does not mean an agent can’t patrol the border looking for people entering the country illegally.
Drug prohibition has led to this country having the highest per capita rate of incarceration of any nation in the “civilized” world. It has eroded a variety of civil liberties including Fourth and Fifth Amendment guarantees. Now apparently, First Amendment guarantees are under assault as well.
Prohibition of alcohol caused more problems in the 1920s than alcohol itself did. It led to disrespect for the law and thugs, such as Al Capone, accruing more power than they could ever have had if there had been no laws interfering with what an adult consumes.
Agent Gonzales is correct. Ending the war on drugs will save lives. It just won’t bring back the tens of thousands who have already died.
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