Please write your Senators about the "Constitution Restoration Act"!

[leyton]

This is a bill that was sponsored by Richard Shelby (R-Al) and co-sponsored by Larry Craig (R-Id), Richard Burr (R-NC), Trent Lott (R-MS), Sam Brownback (R-Ok), and Conrad Burns (R-Mt).

It is currently in the judiciary committee, and I have phoned the judiciary office, where I was informed that it is very likely to reach the floor within the next two months. Please write your Senators about this - if you are not familiar with the bill, here is the operative paragraph:

Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, the Supreme Court shall not have jurisdiction to review, by appeal, writ of certiorari, or otherwise, any matter to the extent that relief is sought against an entity of Federal, State, or local government, or against an officer or agent of Federal, State, or local government (whether or not acting in official or personal capacity), concerning that entity's, officer's, or agent's acknowledgment of God as the sovereign source of law, liberty, or government.

While the actual content of the bill may seem like a mere recognition of an opinion, I fear that this gives Republicans cover to do anything they want, regardless of the rule of law, so long as they deem it God's will.

The man I spoke with on the phone said that this may not reach the floor for another couple months, but he was almost certain that it would eventually. I plan to write my Senators (Burr and Dole) and also a few moderate Republicans (Snowe, Chafee, Collins, and McCain). I urge you to do the same, and it would be especially nice if we could all target those four moderates.

Thanks,

Leyton

PS. Thanks to DebinTX for bringing this up at DU in this thread.

[CottonBear]

1. Can you say theocracy?

This, if true, is frightening, to say the least.

[Freedom_from_Chains]

2. Well clearly their objective

is to the roll the judiciary, along with the legislature, into the executive branch for one big happy government. The scope of the problem is more than one single bill. It is a certain group trying to completly change and take over the government.

[Dinger]

3. Kick (nt)

[sinkingfeeling]

4. When are they just going to burn the Constitution in front of the

Lincoln Memorial? They might as well as much attention or respect they give to it.

[leyton]

5. Well...

the guy from judiciary said he couldn't give me a time frame for that yet. :)

[Shredr]

6. They really are masters of deceit and manipulation, aren't they?

I mean, "Patriot Act," "the Death Tax," etc. and now "Constitution RESTORATION Act."

How manipulative are those names!

Why wouldn't I want the Constitution restored, in theory? It sounds good.

If I'm just a casual observer, I wouldn't think that sounded so bad.

They should be forced to name things honestly.

This is the "Theocracy Instilation And Freedom Crushing Act." Let's see how many votes that gets.




on edit: I'm a horrible speller.

[saltpoint]

7. Agree with your interpretation, Leyton, and will write to --

-- those four you named plus a few others. Voinovich, maybe, since once in a while a little light breaks through with him and he does the right thing. Not often enough, but still...

There are almost certainly some far-right Christian nutcases behind this, pulling levers and writing checks, etc.

The whole enterprise is yucky.

[cestpaspossible]

8. It's unconstitutional on its face.

The respective powers of the three branches of government are spelled out in the Constitution and can't be changed by legislative fiat.

[CatholicEdHead]

10. Hopefully this is the case

There is no support for a Constitutional Ammendment for this. There is no way they could get 2/3rds of Congress and 3/4 of the State Legislatures to go along.

[leyton]

9. Here is my letter, feel free to use the body of it as you please.

This is the letter I wrote to various moderate GOP Senators from other states (Chafee, L. Graham, McCain, Snowe, and Collins). Feel free to take from it what you will, though take care that you don't call Burr your home Senator if he ain't :)

The Honorable Lindsey Graham
United States Senate
Washington, DC 20510

Dear Senator Graham,

I was dismayed to find that Senator Richard Burr, of my home state, had co-sponsored a piece of legislation (S.520, the Constitution Restoration Act) aimed at restricting the jurisdiction of the Court over matters concerning any government official’s assertion that God is the source of law and justice. I hope that if this reaches the Senate floor, you will vote against it.

There are clearly First Amendment issues in the bill, but what alarms me more is the presence of legislation in the Senate that could easily be construed as to place the rule of codified law second to the rule of religion. I fear that this bill gives cover to government officials to act in the name of God and weakens the power of impartial jurists to check the majority when necessary.

Unfortunately, the mere presence of this bill indicates the power of a new force in the Republican Party – religious conservatives who want to wield state power for their own ends. I fear that many of your colleagues will vote for this bill in a heartbeat. But I believe you know the danger to a free society that is inherent in this erosion of the law, and I have faith that you will vote against this bill.

[splat@14]

11. Well put....

and I'll use it. Bear in mind I'm dealing with Kay Baily-Hutchinson and John Cornyn. I write a bunch to my senators and generally get replies from KBH, seldom from JC but they all have the decaying odor of formulary responses as they seldom address my actual inquiry.

I'm so Fuckin Disgusted!


SPLAT!!!!