In response to local 9/12 Project

February 2, 2010

Anonymous The Laurel Leader-Call Tue Feb 02, 2010, 09:54 AM CST

To the editor:

I am a Laure native and I am concerned over the premise of the local 9/12 Project, something clearly constructed based on the instructions of Glen Beck. The constant accusations over violations of the Constitution seem to be clearly misguided, if not outright false. Specificity is definitely in order when leveling such serious accusations against the government. I am not saying that criticizing the policies of the federal government are unwarranted, but to constantly accuse our government of violations of the Constitution without a solid foundation on which to base those accusations is simply ignorant. Let's just look briefly at the concerns.

Organizers of the Jackson protest are concerned over the Second Amendment, which has long been interpreted to mean that citizens have an enumerated constitutional right to keep and bear arms. Without getting into the context of the time frame in which this was drafted, it is important to note that the Supreme Court ruled last year that the handgun ban in the District of Columbia was unconstitutional, a landmark decision that will not doubt lead to challenges across the country to similar laws.

The Ninth Amendment, another concern in the story and one of the least clear amendments, has been understood by most constitutional scholars to simply mean that the Bill of Rights are not the only enumerated rights afforded to citizens. The Founders actually were concerned that even putting a Bill of Rights in the Constitution would lead people to think that the rights mentioned were the only rights afforded. This is the purpose of the Ninth Amendment, which reads, "the enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people." Simply put, there are fundamental rights that we all are afforded that are not mentioned in the Bill of Rights. Think about the right to privacy, which I know we all love. It is not mentioned anywhere in the Constitution, yet the Supreme Court has ruled many times that it is a fundamental right, subject to strict scrutiny by the courts. I am not sure in what capacity the Ninth Amendment plays a role in the accusation that the Constitution is being violated, but I would say that we are lucky to have had Justices in the past that have interpreted that amendment to mean that we have other rights besides those enumerated by the Bill of Rights.

Thirdly, the 10th Amendment only states that powers not give to the federal government nor restricted to the states by laws are reserved to the states. But this does not mean that states are complete sovereign entities. It has been understood to mean that states have the right to regulate that which is not in the domain of the federal government as they see fit. It further means that state law does NOT trump federal law. No state law can constitutionally override federal law.

If there is a problem with who is in office right now, there is an election in November where that can be fixed. But one cannot claim constant violations of the Constitution simply because he or she is not happy with certain fiscal policies of one crop of politicians.

I am not defending any fiscal policy which has my tax money going down the toilet. But by God, I respect the Constitution of the United Stated of American far too much to use it as a crutch every time a politician does something I don't agree with. Protest all you want. That is your fundamental right. But understand that throwing out accusations that the government is usurping its power is not constructive, especially when context is thrown out the window.

– Benjamin Casey

Dallas, Texas

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