PROP 109: WILD THING
Proponents of Proposition 109 want to take away your constitutional right to ever vote on any wildlife issue. If passed, this constitutional amendment would give the legislature exclusive authority over the regulation of all wildlife issues. It would erode the principles of good wildlife management using sound science and would replace it with politics.
Prop 109 also threatens the authority of the Arizona Game and Fish Department (AZGFD), which historically had power to regulate wildlife issues. This threat makes it difficult for the AZGFD to regulate hunting, even if science deems it to be a necessity. Even more frightening, this constitutional amendment could cost taxpayers millions of dollars brought on by frivolous lawsuits by criminals who violate wildlife protection laws.
Prop 109 endangers our democracy. The very first words in the Preamble of both the Arizona and United States constitutions are: “We the People.” In a democracy, the people, as a whole, are the government. The government is the servant of the people, not their master.
[…] The right to vote is not only a law guaranteed by the Constitution — it is a principle of democracy. Proposition 109 is asking the people to give up that right, reverting us back to the days of King George, when the government not only told the people how to act — but how to think as well.
In a country born on the will to be free and the right of the American people to decide for themselves how they want to live, there is nothing more fundamental than this issue. Voting “no” on Prop 109 is a vote for democracy.
John Xander Yi and E. Elizabeth Maupin
Graduate law students at the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law
