Imagine that John and Jane are arrest for kissing out of wedlock and challenge the validity of their arrest in court. Trial Judge Idee Ohlog rejects their claim in a brief opinion stating, in pertinent part, "John and John cannot prevail lest we forget that '[u]nto the pure all things are pure; but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure...' Titus ch. I, v. 15." John and Jane appeals. The Circuit Court summarily rejects their appeal, writing "If the Supreme Court is barred from reviewing this claim, so too are we."
However silly my hypothetical and exceptional our trial judge, the Circuit Court's decision would be correct if the scripture trumped our Constitution as the supreme law of the land. At this point, you're probably thinking, "Great - another conspiracy theorist." What would you say, however, if I showed you corresponding bills in the House and Senate purporting to do just that...
Under the Constitution Restoration Act,
H.R. 3799 and
S. 520
[T]he 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 element of Federal, State, or local government, or against an officer of Federal, State, or local government (whether or not acting in official personal capacity), by reason of that element's or officer's acknowledgement of God as the sovereign source of law, liberty, or government.
So why should we care about one extreme Representative and Senator? Because the Representative's bill has 37 co-sponsors; the Senator has 2. In other words, the Constitution Restoration Act has 2 more co-sponsors than Rep. Sensenbrenner's Immigration Bill, which was passed in the House and is presently under consideration in the Senate. It's Senate Counterpart (introduced by Majority Leader Frist) has 0 co-sponsors.
While you will not find a single reference to the bill in the Washington Post (my newspaper of choice), I am by no means the first one to write about it. See, for example, Galiel's Post on DailyKos in September of 2004; Max Blumenthal's September 2005 Article in the Nation; Katherine Yurica's discussion of the Act in the Yurica Report; The People for the American Way's Article on SavetheCourt.org.
At a time when it is not unheard of for a bill to become law after Congress has retired for the night, one has to wonder: where are the reasonable minds in Washington and the national media?