About the Candidate
Name: Daniel Robin
DOB: 1950
Occupation: Attorney
Political Experience: None
Website: DanRobin4AG.org
Facebook: Daniel Robin for Illinois Attorney General
Candidate Statement
My name is Daniel Robin. I am the Libertarian party candidate for Illinois Attorney General. I am very proud to have been selected by the Libertarian party to carry on the tradition of bringing freedom and liberty to the people of the state of Illinois.
The office of attorney general is quite special. Although you might think that the attorney general's client is the G-man or woman sitting with you at council table. It is not. Your client is the people. I believe that the role of government is to protect the rights of the people both from each other and from the government. My job should be to prevent the government from abusing the rights of the people.
I knew since I was a child that if one party held the executive’s office, you should pick the other party to act as the prosecutor. Therefore I ask the people of the state of Illinois to elect a proud member of the Libertarian party as attorney general. Thank you.
Candidate Q&A
Why are you running?
The right to earn an honest living.
Five years ago the prior Attorney General filed a lawsuit against the Chicago Police Department to protect the people’s right to be free from the unconstitutional violation of their fourth amendment privacy rights.
Kudos to the Attorney General. We should all be free from unlawful search and seizure.
But what I like more is the right of every individual to earn an honest living. Municipalities and counties across the country violate your rights to start an honest business.
The Institute for Justice (IJ) studied 20 cities and found that none made it simple, clear and easy to get a business started. IJ made suggestions to improve the fundamental right to the pursuit of happiness. IJ, in that regard, sat down with the City of Washington DC, made reform suggestions and some were implemented.
My book, the Libertarian War on Poverty, points out that the number one aspiration of poor people is to start their own business. As your Attorney General, I will motivate cities and counties to end poverty by streamlining their procedures and fostering a business friendly environment.
Every city and town should be a refuge of liberty.
What does this office do well, and what needs fixing?
The existing Attorney General is a man of good character and a good lawyer. He has managed his office well.
What needs to be fixed are the goals of the office. The executive branch should be confined to its constitutional and statutory powers. Elections are, in part, about choices. I offer a clear choice. Libertarians are the party of principle. There should, in all public policies, be a presumption that freedom and liberty work. The feeling is much like the presumption of innocence. The burden must be on the state to prove that its laws are based upon real, known facts. Executive orders must be based upon actual authority of the legislature. The purpose of government is to protect the rights of the people. It should not interfere with those rights unless such regulation is based upon imminent harm, not the imagined fears of the legislature.
What is the most pressing issue facing your constituents and how do you plan on addressing it?
Some of the most pressings issues facing the people of Illinois are a combination of 1) criminal Justice reform and 2) the need to feel safe from violent crime.
The Attorney General has only a minor role to play in the prevention of violent crime. Local police, prosecutors and the general public carry the heavy load in that regard. But the Attorney General is not without a voice and influence. I would encourage the prosecutors and police to exercise their discretion to apply themselves only to crimes involving direct violence to persons or property. With that change, members of the general public would no longer view the police as their enemy. Police should not treat their friends and neighbors as a piggybank (traffic violations) or as moral inferiors (drug use). Only through improved cooperation with the public will we be able to catch and punish the bad guys.
Although far from perfect, the commendable goal of the Safe-T Act was criminal Justice reform. We could accomplish that goal with a far different approach. There are far too many criminal laws. For the most part, criminal laws should be confined to events that injure someone or harm their property. Keep it simple. Plus, incentives matter. The police have very difficult jobs but they are our servants. If they violate the law or violate the people’s constitutional rights, they should be subject to civil suit.
What specific steps would you take to ensure your office is accessible and responsive to your constituents?
For the most part I would not be a chief executive or a legislator and therefore responsiveness to the voters is not my job. I practiced law for 45 years and I understand that doing a very good job for a client is how to be responsive.