#ncga: Turning it ALL over to the NINE ROBED ONES

In 1857, The US Supreme Court’s infamous Dred Scott decision determined that black folks were indeed property.

In 1896, the nation’s high court determined in Plessy v. Ferguson that “separate but equal” laws regarding transportation were okey-dokey.

In 1955, The US Supreme Court determined in Brown v. Board of Education that “separate but equal” was not OK when it came to public education.  (What a difference 59 years made.) 

Times changed.  Justices changed.  The court, at that time, used its power to examine current law, in context with the contemporary state of our Constitution, to rule on the appropriateness of laws.

Here we are a couple of decades into an era of spineless politicians ducking their lawmaking responsibilities and allowing black-robed unelected types to do the lawmaking AND law-interpreting.

Speaking of spineless, amoral politicians, here’s ONE now:

[…]Today House Speaker Tim Moore (R-Cleveland) issued a statement on House Bill 780, also known as the Uphold Historical Marriage Act.

“There are strong constitutional concerns with this legislation given that the U.S. Supreme Court has firmly ruled on the issue, therefore House Bill 780 will be referred to the House Rules Committee and will not be heard,” Moore said in the statement.

The bill introduced Tuesday claims that the US Supreme Court overstepped itself with its 2015 ruling that had the effect of voiding an amendment to North Carolina’s constitution forbidding same-sex marriage that voters approved three years earlier.

Republican Reps. Larry Pittman of Concord, Michael Speciale of New Bern and Carl Ford of China Grove say in their proposed legislation that the U.S. Constitution’s states-rights amendment allows North Carolina to decide for itself what its marriage laws should be.

The ACLU of North Carolina said gay marriage is the law and derided the legal reasoning of the three legislators as “half-baked” and “absurd.”

Imagine if our national leaders had said: “The Supreme Court says blacks are property.  THAT is the law of the land. Case closed.  Let’s move on.”  

Imagine if our national leaders had said: “Separate but equal.  The Supreme Court says that works. THAT is the law of the land.  Move on.”

We elected these people in our state and national legislatures to make tough decisions and to VOTE on those tough decisions.  Hiding behind guys and gals in black robes — who NOBODY out here voted for — is a travesty. It’s against the very spirit this country was founded upon.

Granted, some of the language in the bill could be cleaned up.  But why NOT allow a discussion on this?  If this was hog farms or solar panels, backed by a whole lot of sketchy cash, Lil’ Timmy would be falling all over himself to move this sucker through the House.

Church people don’t fork over a lot of cash.  They don’t riot, or make threats.  And they often come out on the losing end in political nonsense.