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In favor of constructionist judges
To the Editor:
Last week we were treated to another of those absurd liberal cartoons in the Sylva Herald. It suggested President Bush was hypocritical for criticizing Putin’s undemocratic actions while opposing filibusters against judicial candidates in this country.
These are the same liberals who thought filibusters were very undemocratic when used by Southern senators to prevent the majority from voting on civil rights legislation. Now a filibuster is more democratic than an up-and-down vote. I thought democracy was about voting, majority rule, and minority rights.
The liberals claim they need the filibuster to prevent “extreme conservative judges.” What are “extreme conservative judges?” Judges who believe they should strictly adhere to the Constitution and not make laws. They believe making laws should be left up to the people and their elected representatives.
Judges rule now, not the Congress. If Congress does what the judges want, Congress rules. If not, the courts rule. The only remaining power to correct this situation is to install judges who do not believe they (the judges) should make the laws.
President Bush made his position abundantly clear in the election that he wanted strict constructionist judges. He was elected with a clear majority of the vote, and his party was also given a majority in both houses of Congress.
Yet the liberals suggest we should not have the type judges the Republicans were elected promising to install. This strikes me as the undemocratic position.
Our founding fathers worried that the Constitution might ultimately give the judiciary too much power, and tried to strike a balance to prevent it. It appears now that what they feared may be coming to pass.
Herald Stockton
Sylva
Commendation for commissioners
To the Editor:
In the Jackson County Commissioners’ May 16 meeting there was an atmosphere of cautious optimism on the part of the Tilley Creek residents and supporters in the audience because the commissioners did the right thing.
By a 3-to-2 vote the commissioners passed a 90-day moratorium on the establishment of any new shooting ranges in Jackson County in order to give Linda Cable and the planning board sufficient time to craft a shooting range ordinance that protects both the Second Amendment rights of citizens and the property rights of residents in any proposed shooting range location.
Linda Cable and the other members of the planning board deserve our thanks for the amazing amount of effort they have put into this ordinance already. As we have said throughout this effort, the ordinance must be crafted in a way that allows for legitimate shooting ranges to be established in appropriate locations while protecting the property value and quality of life of all Jackson County communities, not just Caney Fork or Tilley Creek.
All of the commissioners have put tremendous effort into the consideration of this issue and I thank them for their intense attention to the many details involved. In particular I want to commend Commissioner Joe Cowan, who has vigorously represented the citizens of his district and deserves our deepest gratitude, Commissioner Conrad Burrell, for bringing a circumspect voice of reason to the proceedings, and Commissioner Eddie Madden, who perhaps of all the commissioners has made a personally torturous journey to support the moratorium and the drafting of the ordinance. Commissioner Brian McMahan made it abundantly clear that he has always felt that Tilley Creek was an inappropriate location while harboring deep concerns for the protection of everyone’s rights. Commissioner Roberta Crawford shares many those same concerns and is very conscious of the impositions of government on the citizens. They all deserve our thanks.
There was also a letter from Smoke Rise that was sent to Commissioner Madden’s attention and which he read into the record. The letter essentially said that Smoke Rise was looking for an alternate location, perhaps even out of state, and they were willing to immediately withdraw Tilley Creek from their consideration if the commissioners dropped consideration of the shooting range ordinance.
While the commissioners in general felt the letter was encouraging, they acknowledged that it had no legal standing. It also perplexed the commissioners that Smoke Rise would link their departure to dropping the ordinance. Did that mean that if the ordinance is not dropped they will continue to try to purchase the property on Tilley Creek not knowing what restrictions the ordinance would impose? The commissioners wisely gave the letter little weight in their voting.
The work is not finished and until it is we will continue to support the Jackson County Commissioners in continuing to do the right thing.
Louis Spagna
Cullowhee
‘It takes one to call one’
To the Editor:
In response to the letter from the young man whom should only loosely be called a “student” at Western Carolina University about the people who live in Forest Hills and as a former resident of the village, I must say it reminds me of something we used to say in the third grade but may be fitting here: “It takes one to call one.”
David Schulman
Scottsdale, Ariz. |
