WHEREAS the Libertarian Association of Massachusetts defends individual freedom for everyone with no exceptions.

WHEREAS the platform of the Libertarian Association of Massachusetts has two pillars: Self Ownership and Non-Aggression.

WHEREAS Self Ownership implies the right to engage in sexual activity between consenting adults and consequently sex work by consenting adults.

WHEREAS the platform of the Libertarian Party at the national level, which the Libertarian Association of Massachusetts was affiliated with, explicitly states: "The Libertarian Party supports the decriminalization of prostitution. We assert the right of consenting adults to provide sexual services to clients for compensation, and the right of clients to purchase sexual services from consenting sex workers."

BE IT RESOLVED that the Libertarian Association of Massachusetts supports the full decriminalization of sex work and endorses Massachusetts Bill HD.2200 - “An Act to promote the health and safety of people in the sex trade” - as a first good step in that direction.

BE IT FURTHER  RESOLVED that the Libertarian Association of Massachusetts urges the legislature of the Commonwealth to pass this bill as a step towards the urgently needed broader Criminal Justice Reform.

Adopted by the LAMA State Convention on March 20, 2021

Whereas the Libertarian Association of Massachusetts recognizes that the COVID-19 pandemic created an overreaction by state and local governments including business shutdowns last spring that didn't show any tangible benefit in slowing spread of the virus, and

Whereas multiple peer-reviewed studies, including by the British medical journal The Lancet, have shown that these business shutdowns had no measurable benefit, and

Whereas the Libertarian Association of Massachusetts has consistently opposed mandatory lockdowns and government overreach since the beginning of the crisis, and

Whereas individuals have the ability to choose from multiple effective preventative measures and treatments for COVID-19, and

Whereas the Libertarian Association of Massachusetts believes voluntary social distancing will continue among at-risk populations,

It be resolved that the Libertarian Association of Massachusetts calls for an end to ALL government mandated social restrictions related to the COVID pandemic.

Adopted by the LAMA State Convention on March 20, 2021

There are many forms of oppression and disenfranchisement against groups and individuals, the Libertarian Association of Massachusetts acknowledges that the repeated cycle of violence and abuse experienced by people of color in America is especially prevalent among them.

Libertarian Association of Massachusetts decries any form of political violence, of assault, and destruction of property.

Libertarian Association of Massachusetts acknowledges the pain of those protesting and that the institutions are broken and have failed the people.

Libertarian Association of Massachusetts holds that oppressive laws, government overreach, and lack of accountability perpetuated by both Republican and Democrat-run governments are the underlying cause for the kind of injustice exemplified by the murder of George Floyd.

Libertarian Association of Massachusetts stands in support of the peaceful protests against the murder of George Floyd and the countless other victims of police violence and brutality.

Libertarian Association of Massachusetts does not in any way condone the violence against people and property or the looting that has occurred alongside the peaceful protests. These acts of vandalism only serve as an excuse to delegitimize the protests, to divide us, and to preserve the prevailing system of oppression.

Libertarian Association of Massachusetts calls for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to lead the necessary change by abandoning the war against drugs, to end police militarization, to take concrete steps towards re-establishing law-enforcement accountability, specifically by abolishing the concept of qualified immunity, and to remove the pretext for so much of the police violence by revoking laws that fabricate ‘victimless crimes’ - illegal acts that directly involve only the perpetrator or occur between consenting adults.

Libertarian Association of Massachusetts rejects any attempt by state and federal governments to instrumentalize the protests themselves or thoughtless acts of vandalism and crimes perpetrated by a violent minority and individual criminals as a pretext for another expansion of the oppressive security state.

Adopted by the Libertarian Association of Massachusetts State Committee on June 1, 2020.

Whereas the Libertarian Party of Massachusetts recognizes that the COVID-19 pandemic has created a global and national crisis that is threatening lives, especially of those with a weakened immune response and of the elderly.

Whereas the Libertarian Party of Massachusetts sees indications that social distancing and stay-at-home recommendations for those who have that option, as well as cancellations of mass-events have likely contributed to slowing the further spread of COVID-19, although the actual infection rate of the general population is unknown.

Whereas the Libertarian Party of Massachusetts holds that government regulation in general and the government reaction to the COVID-19 pandemic specifically has contributed in multiple ways to worsening the crisis and has created an additional economic threat with significant long-term consequences, especially for the working population, family owned and small businesses, and the communities they are part of.

Whereas the Libertarian Party of Massachusetts holds that the expansion of government reach with forced detentions, mandatory lockdowns and government officials making arbitrary decisions on ‘essential’ vs ‘non-essential’ businesses, etc. has gone beyond the boundaries of what constitutes a free society or in some cases beyond what is permitted by the US Constitution.

Whereas the Libertarian Party of Massachusetts holds that the response to the crisis needs to protect the vulnerable while respecting the civil liberties of all, and that it needs to be based on scientific evidence not speculation.

Whereas the Libertarian Party of Massachusetts sees arrests for violation of social distancing rules and curfews as a clear violation of constitutional rights and as risking the lives of innocent people by violating the recommended social distancing in the enforcement of these very rules..

Whereas the Libertarian Party of Massachusetts sees insufficient evidence that the extreme measure and government mandates have a significant impact beyond voluntary compliance to justify the significant rights violations and human cost of the human and economic crisis it has created.

It be resolved that the Libertarian Party of Massachusetts calls for an end to the government mandated shutdown of the economy and the curtailing of civil liberties, as well as an end to the discriminatory treatment of businesses that might not be politically in favor; that any and all measures of extended government authority if they stay in place must be strictly time limited.

It be further resolved that the Libertarian Party of Massachusetts calls for a more efficient and just approach against the COVID-19 pandemic, focusing on voluntary collaboration: voluntary identification of the immune, voluntary social distancing, voluntary avoidance of large gatherings and mass events, targeted isolation of the infected, as well as on enabling the vulnerable to self-protect; that measures be adjusted to the concrete local circumstances rather than driven by centralized planning.

Adopted by the LAMA State Committee on May 04, 2020

The Libertarian Party of Massachusetts calls on the Baker Administration to respect civil liberties in the Commonwealth, particularly the rights enshrined in the 2nd Amendment, and to acknowledge firearms retailers and shooting ranges as essential businesses. 

The Republican Governor of Massachusetts, Charlie Baker, continues to use the COVID-19 crisis  to advance an anti-2nd-Amendment agenda: After initially adopting the updated Federal guidelines on essential businesses, which includes firearm retailers and shooting ranges as essential, on March 31 the guidelines on the state website were changed to exclude these firearm businesses. 

The Libertarian Party of Massachusetts asserts that civilian access to firearms, ammunition, and training is indeed essential, particularly during times of crisis, to ensure the safety of all citizens, to enable a lawful self-defense by citizens for themselves and their families, and to put food on their tables through hunting during a time of reduced access to store-bought resources. None of these activities “...undermine the safety of our police officers, first responders and domestic violence victims,” as attorney general Maura Healey has disparagingly declared. The assertion that law abiding gun buyers are a threat to their community is wholly unsubstantiated. According to the Gun Owners’ Action League of Massachusetts, licensed gun owners commit less crime than citizens who do not own guns.  Naked fear mongering by government officials is not a foundation upon which just policy can be built. The Libertarian Party also sees no evidence that firearms retailers or gun ranges pose a greater threat to the goal of limiting the spread of the COVID-19 disease than other businesses, as long as proper social distancing is observed.

The right to bear arms, and the right to self-defense, as protected by the 2nd Amendment of the United States Constitution, does not become less essential during a crisis. Just the opposite, in fact. During times of strained governmental resources, individuals must have the freedom to exercise their self-reliance and independence. Restricting citizens' access to the tools they feel are needed to protect and care for their loved ones handicaps their ability to do so. Citizens clearly think that firearms are essential during the COVID-19 crisis because, according to the FBI, 3.7 million civilian NICS gun purchase background checks were performed in March alone - the most transactions for a single month since the system began in 1998. Restricting such heightened-need purchases hurts families.

“The Democrat-dominated Massachusetts political establishment has for a long time been hostile towards the constitutional rights of lawful firearms owners in the Commonwealth.” said Don Graham, Chair of the Libertarian Party in Massachusetts. “Singling out firearms businesses that serve the law-abiding civilian firearm owners and selectively shutting them down is just another example of that bias. That it is a Republican Governor pushing an anti-2nd-amendment agenda, demonstrates that the GOP only pays lip service to our individual rights. The Libertarian Party is the only major political party to unwaveringly support the 2nd Amendment along with the whole Bill of Rights. Voters who support the 2nd amendment should remember that in November."

The Libertarian Party of Massachusetts calls on the Republican Governor of Massachusetts to disregard these knee-jerk restrictions on firearm sales and services, which are based on faulty and unsubstantiated reasoning, thereby allowing retail firearm businesses and firearm ranges to return to their standard practice of providing essential services which law-abiding citizens demand. 

Further information on the positions of the Libertarian Party of Massachusetts can be found at www.lpmass.org

Information on the situation for firearms owners  and firearms business in Massachusetts can be found on the website of the Gun Owners’ Action League of Massachusetts:
https://goal.org/discrimination-from-baker-administration-shines-bright-during-covid-19-crisis/

As adopted by the LAMA State Convention 2020

Resolution:

WHEREAS the Libertarian Association of Massachusetts holds that victimless crimes - illegal acts that typically either directly involve only the perpetrator or occur between consenting adults and for which because they are consensual in nature, there are no true victims, i.e. aggrieved parties - are not actually crimes.

WHEREAS the current COVID-19 crisis can realistically be expected to spread quickly within incarcerated populations, and medical care for the incarcerated has proven over and over to be inadequate, and exposing individuals to this risk who have not harmed any victims must be considered cruel and unusual punishment.

BE IT RESOLVED that the Liberatarian Association of Massachusetts calls for the immediate release of all persons incarcerated for such victimless ‘crimes’ as defined above and the commutation of sentences or better full pardon for anyone convicted for such victimless ‘crimes’.

As adopted by the LAMA State Convention 2020

Resolution:

WHEREAS  the Libertarian Association of Massachusetts holds that the two party system is not an appropriate representation of the political will of the people of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and that many of the existing election regulations only serve the purpose to cement this broken system and to suppress dissenting votes.

WHEREAS  the Libertarian Association of Massachusetts holds that the freedom of association is the one of most fundamental principles of the political process as envisioned by the Constitution.

WHEREAS most petitioning is done by paid signature collection services.

WHEREAS the current COVID-19 crisis has made petitioning in person a public health risk, aggravating the challenges for third parties, ballot initiatives, and individual candidates.

BE IT RESOLVED  that the Libertarian Association of Massachusetts calls for reducing the ballot access requirements, as well as reducing signature requirements for ballot initiatives.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Libertarian Association of Massachusetts calls for abolishing tax-payer funded and state-regulated primaries, and instead for letting the individual political parties to determine their own process of selecting candidates and carry the cost for that.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Libertarian Association of Massachusetts calls for easing ballot access by allowing online-petitioning for ballot access in the same manner that online voter registration has been adopted by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts or substitute a filing fee in lieu of nomination signatures to qualify for the ballot.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Libertarian Association of Massachusetts calls for removing the state-imposed, exclusionary criteria for the recognition as a political party and instead recognize any political party that has member candidates who have gained ballot access in any election in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts (including non-partisan elections).

As adopted at LAMA July 2019 Convention:

Resolution:

WHEREAS, the Libertarian Party acknowledges that the defense of the country requires intelligence to detect and deter threats against the country, the Party asserts that the civil liberties of individuals must never be sacrificed in the pursuit of this intelligence, and that government must be transparent, as codified in the Platform of the Libertarian Party, which states “We oppose the government’s use of secret classifications to keep from the public information that it should have, especially that which shows that the government has violated the law”;

WHEREAS, information has been made public which shows that the government has not been transparent nor has respected the civil liberties of its citizens, and has sought to suppress this information by imprisoning those who have exposed these actions;

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Libertarian Party of Massachusetts supports the immediate release and pardon of political prisoners Edward Snowden, Julian Assange, Chelsea Manning, and other patriots who have been prosecuted for reporting the illegal activities of the U.S. government.

As adopted at LAMA July 2019 Convention:

Resolution:

WHEREAS, the Libertarian Party acknowledges that a military is necessary to protect against foreign aggression, but that it must be limited to scope in defense, and that this is codified in the Platform of the Libertarian Party which states “The United States should both avoid entangling alliances and abandon its attempts to act as policeman for the world”, and that our policies should be based on the principles of peace, as stated in our Platform which emphasizes “American foreign policy should seek an America at peace with the world”;

WHEREAS, the United States government has engaged in physical and economic warfare against foreign nations, through armed conflict and imposing of sanctions, and has established military bases in over 100 foreign countries, and placed offensive weapons on foreign soil and sea;

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Libertarian Party of Massachusetts calls for the immediate cessation of all physical and economic hostilities against foreign nations, and for the closure of U.S. military bases in foreign countries and for the redeployment of all military personnel to U.S. territories.

As adopted at LAMA July 2019 Convention:

Resolution:

WHEREAS, the Libertarian Party asserts that all individuals have the right to self-defense, and that defense of individual rights against aggression is a legitimate use of force, where this is codified in the Platform of the Libertarian Party which states “We affirm the individual right recognized by the Second Amendment to keep and bear arms, and oppose the prosecution of individuals for exercising their rights of self-defense.”, and we condemn government in restricting these rights, where the Platform states “We oppose all laws at any level of government restricting, registering, or monitoring the ownership, manufacture, or transfer of firearms or ammunition”;

WHEREAS, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts has enacted laws which regulate and restrict the possession of firearms, in a manner not uniform or consistent within the state but at the discretion of the local authority, and enacted arbitrary lists of acceptable firearms under the guise of public safety and at the opinion of the attorney general, and modified existing law without debate or by constitutional legislative processes;

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Libertarian Party of Massachusetts supports the repeal of all existing firearms licensing laws and restrictions on firearm ownership in the Commonwealth, and that the Party condemns any restrictions on any individual’s right to bear arms where due process has not been followed.