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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 5th amendment
to the constitution. The 5th 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 abortion and same sex
marriage. The home page on this site includes a link to draft
legislation which I will enter into the legislative process if I
am elected to Congress.
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