Elian: Supreme Court Upholds Slavery Over Freedom
June 30, 2000

     MARINA DEL REY, CA -- Wednesday's decision by Supreme Court Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, refusing to hear an appeal that would have kept Elian Gonzalez in the United States, should have every American hanging their head in shame, said the executive director of the Ayn Rand Institute.

     "The United States was founded on the principle that every individual has rights -- to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness," said Yaron Brook, Ph.D. "Kennedy and the other Federal judges who heard the case have effectively torn up the Declaration of Independence, denying that Elian has rights; and conceding, in effect, that he is the property of Fidel Castro and Cuba."

     Brook added that the courts should have acted as Elian's champion, making sure the focus was on the fundamental issue: his individual rights.

     "Instead, the courts were the agents of political forces that saw nothing wrong with returning a small boy to a totalitarian slave state," said Brook. "This is what has to be remembered as Elian arrives in Cuba: he is returning to a country that views him as a thing that can be disposed of in any way his masters see fit; a country in which rights are nonexistent."
 
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Dr. Yaron Brook is available for interviews. To interview Dr. Brook or book him for your show, please e-mail media@aynrandcenter.org

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