Kill the Spider!

An short essay on the checks and balances in the U.S. Constitution.

By Lester Townsend

Did you know that congress has the power to overturn Roe v. Wade, and to put issues such as the display of the 10 Commandments, prayer in school, and same sex marriage back into the jurisdiction of the various states? Decisions by the Supreme Court, and edicts by Federal Court Judges who have arrogantly assumed god like powers, do not have to be accepted by Congress, as final and unchangeable.

The Constitution provides checks and balances on the various branches of government, including the courts.

The best known of these checks on the power of the courts, is the power of impeachment, which allows the House of Representatives to act as a Grand Jury and determine if there is sufficient reason to impeach an individual, such as a President or a Judge, for committing a High Crime or Misdemeanor. The Senate then tries the individual and determines if he/she is guilty and should be removed from office or subjected to some lessor penalty.

The other check on the Judiciary is the power to strip the Federal Courts of appellate jurisdiction. This power is provided by Article III., Section. 2., Clause 2 of the Constitution.

Article III. Section. 2.

The judicial Power shall extend to all Cases, in Law and Equity, arising under this Constitution, the Laws of the United States, and Treaties made, or which shall be made, under their Authority;--to all Cases affecting Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls;--to all Cases of admiralty and maritime Jurisdiction; to Controversies to which the United States shall be a Party; to Controversies between two or more States; between a State and Citizens of another State; between Citizens of different States; between Citizens of the same State claiming Lands under Grants of different States, and between a State, or the Citizens thereof, and foreign States, Citizens or Subjects.

In all Cases affecting Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, and those in which a State shall be Party, the supreme Court shall have original Jurisdiction. In all the other Cases before mentioned, the supreme Court shall have appellate Jurisdiction, both as to Law and Fact, with such Exceptions, and under such Regulations as the Congress shall make.

I have quoted the entire section so as not to be accused of taking anything out of context. The last sentence of this section allows Congress to make exceptions regarding areas where the courts have jurisdiction. The wording in this section provides, that exceptions where appellate jurisdiction is not allowed, are made by Congress. This means that any law stripping the Federal Courts of jurisdiction does not require a Presidential signature. In addition there is no requirement that anything, other than a simple majority vote of both houses of Congress, is required. Also there is no provision for any appeal of the decision. This action by Congress would be final.

You may ask yourself what is to stop the courts from simply striking down any such law passed by Congress. The answer is simple, if any Judge were to try to strike down such a law, that Judge would be committing a High Crime. Any action by a Judge against a law restricting appellate jurisdiction, would be an attempt to strike down a law which is specifically allowed by the constitution. Such an act would be the highest of high crimes because it would be an assault on the Constitution itself.

This is different than other areas where congress has the power to pass laws. Other laws are passed under Congresses general legislative power, and are subject to Judicial Review. The courts established their power to declare a law unconstitutional shortly after the founding of this republic. We are taught that the Bellwether case, for this power of the courts, was Marbury v. Madison. The ability of the courts to declare laws to be null and void when they are unconstitutional, is an example of a constitutional check on the abuse of power by the Congress. The Constitution gives Congress the same type of power to curb abuses of power by the Court. Congress can limit the ability of the Federal Courts to hear cases on any issue except cases where the Supreme Court has original jurisdiction.

The power of impeachment is the enforcement tool which is provided to insure congress has the ability to actually apply, the constitutionally provided limit on the power of the courts. Congress would literally be forced to impeach any judge who tried to undo any limitation imposed by congress under Article III. Section. 2. Clause 2.. The impeachment would be required because the Judge would be assaulting the very institution of the Congress, and the respective powers of the House of Representatives and the Senate as Co-Equal branches of government.

You may ask. Why do we need to limit the power of the courts? The obvious answer answer can be demonstrated by the well known case of Roe v. Wade. We have a case where an unconstitutional decision by a District Court Judge is ultimately upheld by the Supreme Court. This case then became the law of the land, because lower courts are bound by Supreme Court Decisions. This case was unconstitutional because it violated the 5^th amendment to the constitution. The 5^th amendment provides that no person shall be deprived of life, liberty or property with out due process. There is no due process when a abortion occurs. No one is representing the interests of the unborn in this country at present. Because the decisions of the Supreme Court become the law of the land, the rights of the unborn are given short shrift.

When we continue to complain about abuses by the court, without making our representatives in Washington exercise the power they have to curb the excesses of the courts. We are no different than the home maker who continually complains about the spider webs in her house, and continually cleans out the spider webs day after day. What this homemaker needs to do is kill the spider.

Demonstrating in front of abortion clinics, or appealing bad court decisions and waiting in a forlorn hope that the case will be overturned, is no different the homemaker trying to solve the cobweb problem by sweeping up the cobwebs every day. Congress has always had the power to stop the judicial abuse caused by activist judges. After decades of inaction by members of the Republican and Democratic party, the people of this country should realize that our current representatives do not intend to do anything, to protect the citizens, from abuse by activist judges.

We can pressure our representatives to impeach bad judges. This also, is no different that simply sweeping up the cobwebs. Impeachment would only get rid of one bad judge. There are dozens of activist judges who need to be impeached.

What we need to do is replace our current batch of elected representatives in Washington. We need to elect people who will honor their oath of office, to support and defend the Constitution. We need to elect people who will use the power in Article III. Section. 2. Clause 2., of the Constitution to curb abuses by activist Judges. Solve the problem, Kill the spider.

We need to elect members of the Constitution Party, to represent us in Congress. One definition of insanity is to do the same thing over and over again, while expecting a different outcome. As long as people continue to elect members of the Republican and Democratic Parties to Congress, the current mess in Washington will continue. The Constitution Party is the only party which is solidly against abortion, and which will enter a bill into the legislative process, to strip the courts of appellate jurisdiction, on the issues such as prayer in school, the display of the Ten Commandments, public afirmation of the Christian faith, abortion and pornography.

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Paid for with regulated funds by the committee to elect Les Townsend