"White House defends Obama evading Senate on Paris climate deal"

"White House senior adviser Brian Deese said the president has the legal authority to ratify the accord without the two-thirds Senate vote required for treaties. He said the pact negotiated by 195 countries in December is merely an “executive agreement.”"

“The president will use his authority that has been used in dozens of executive agreements in the past to join and formally deposit our instrument of acceptance, and therefore put our country as a party to the Paris Agreement,” Mr. Deese said at a White House press conference.

He noted that both presidents announced in March that they “would seek to formally join the Paris Agreement in 2016.”

“That’s a process that is quite well-established in our existing legal system and in the context of international agreements and international arrangements,” Mr. Deese said. “There is a category of them that are treaties that require advice and consent from the Senate, but there’s a broad category of executive agreements where the executive can enter into those agreements without that advice and consent.”

"Federal Judge: U.S. Constitution Is Outdated, Judges Should Stop Studying It"

According to 7th Circuit Judge Richard Posner in a post published to Slate, U.S. judges should stop studying the Constitution.

I see absolutely no value to a judge of spending decades, years, months, weeks, day, hours, minutes, or seconds studying the Constitution, the history of its enactment, its amendments, and its implementation,” Posner argued.

“Eighteenth-century guys, however smart, could not foresee the culture, technology, etc., of the 21st century,” he continued. “Which means that the original Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and the post–Civil War amendments (including the 14th), do not speak to today.”

The deliberations of the Constitutional Convention of 1787 were held in strict secrecy. Consequently, anxious citizens gathered outside Independence Hall when the proceedings ended in order to learn what had been produced behind closed doors. The answer was provided immediately. A Mrs. Powel of Philadelphia asked Benjamin Franklin, “Well, Doctor, what have we got, a republic or a monarchy?” With no hesitation whatsoever, Franklin responded, “A republic, if you can keep it.”

Federal Judge cites U.S. constitution and it's immediately slapped down

"Federal judge rules ObamaCare is being funded unconstitutionally."

A federal judge ruled for House Republicans on Thursday in their suit againstPresident Obama and declared his administration is unconstitutionally spending money to reimburse health insurers without obtaining an appropriation from Congress.

The judge's ruling, though a setback for the administration, was put on hold immediately and stands a good chance of being overturned on appeal...

The Constitution says "No Money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in Consequence of Appropriations made by Law," said Judge Rosemary Collyer, yet the administration has continued to pay billions to insurers for their extra cost of providing coverage for low-income Americans.

"Paying out Sec. 1402 reimbursements without an appropriation thus violates the Constitution," she wrote. "Congress is the only source for such an appropriation, and no public money can be spent without one."

Calling for Article V is not "blowing up" the U.S. Constitution

Instapundit guest blogger Elizabeth Price Foley effectively rebuffs Washington Post article: “Tea Partyers Love the Constitution So Much–They Want to Blow it Up.”

All I can do is shake my head and feel sorry for the ignorance this column displays.

Apparently, Ms. Rampell has forgotten her basic civics, and doesn’t realize that these calls for amendment by “right-wing Constitution thumper[s]” would employ Article V, which provides a lawful, supermajoritarian and republican process for amending the Constitution. Article V–which has been used 27 times to amend the Constitution–is evidence that the founding generation did not consider the original Constitution to be “perfect.” Indeed, the first ten amendments–the Bill of Rights–was ratified only two short years after ratification of the original Constitution.

Ms. Rampell fails to grasp that it the method of changing the Constitution–i.e., the process employed–matters to a “Constitution-thumper” because, well, the Constitution allow for amendments only via the processes set forth in Article V. To a liberal/progressive, by contrast, the method of constitutional change is irrelevant, so long as the Constitution changes in the “right way”; it’s only results, not process, that matters.

Thus. to a liberal/progressive like Ms. Rampell, it is perfectly fine for five liberal/progressive Supreme Court Justices to “amend” the Constitution with a stroke of their outcome-oriented pens. In Ms. Rampell’s eyes, using Article V’s legitimate, supermajoritarian, republican processes to effectuate constitutional change is so time-consuming and republican, it’s downright silly, and maybe even dangerous. Surely, it’s much better to just let elitist, liberal/progressive Supreme Court Justices alter the Constitution on the people’s “behalf” (unless of course they want to overrule decisions such as Roe v. Wade or roll back the Commerce Clause).

“Constitution-thumper[s]” believe in the Constitution–and this includes employing its only legal mechanism for alteration, Article V. Given the Supreme Court’s long history (since about 1937) of misconstruing the Constitution to serve liberal/progressive ends, calls to change the Constitution and restore its original vision is far from hypocrisy. It’s the height of principled constitutional conservatism. But I wouldn’t expect someone like Ms. Rampell to get that.

"Requiring religious education is clearly unconstitutional"

"Daisy Obi, 73, an ordained minister from Nigeria, was convicted of assault and battery for shoving Gihan Suliman, a Muslim who lived in her Somerville property, down a flight of stairs..."

In 2014, Obi was sentenced by Somerville District Court Judge Paul M. Yee Jr. to two years in the house of correction, six months to serve, with the balance suspended for two years.

Then Yee took an extra step...

“I want you to learn about the Muslim faith. I want you to enroll and attend an introductory course on Islam,” Yee said during sentencing. “You have to give some kind of written documentation to probation that you have in fact done that.”

Basically, Yee ruled that Obi has to either learn about the Muslim faith or possibly face more time behind bars.

When I first glanced this story on Instapundit, I thought it happened in Africa somewhere. Nope, it happened here in Massachusetts.

CNN Chris Cuomo Amends the US Constitution via Twitter

 

 

Nurse Hickox versus Maine

"Maine health commissioner Mary Mayhew said late Wednesday afternoon that, even as it continues talks with Hickox's representatives, the state is in the process of filing a court order to require the nurse to abide by a 21-day quarantine. Mayhew cited concerns about Hickox's hands-on role in dealing with Ebola patients, as well as "concerns about the lack of reliability and the lack of trustworthiness in the information that has been received."

"You need to be able to have trust and credibility in that information," the state health commissioner said. "That makes her a higher risk."

The health commissioner said she "did not understand" why Hickox is challenging what she calls a "common-sense approach" of staying home for three weeks.

"(This is) a reasonable request to ensure -- out of an abundance of caution -- that we are protecting the people of this state," Mayhew said.

Yet Hickox thinks the U.S. Constitution and science are on her side.

And, because of that, she has no intention of staying put.

"I am completely healthy and symptom-free," Hickox said Wednesday night from her front lawn, alongside her boyfriend. "I am frustrated by (the) intention ... to file legal action against me.

"And if this does occur, then I will challenge those legal actions."

LA Times: "Federal judge rules California death penalty is unconstitutional"

"A federal judge in Orange County ruled Wednesday that California’s death penalty violates the U.S. Constitution’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment."

U.S. District Judge Cormac J. Carney, ruled on a petition by death row inmate Ernest Dewayne Jones, who was sentenced to die nearly two decades ago.

[T]he dysfunctional administration of California’s death penalty system has resulted, and will continue to result, in an inordinate and unpredictable period of delay preceding their actual execution,” Carney wrote.

Carney, an appointee of former President George W. Bush...

The “random few” who will be executed “will have languished for so long on Death Row that their execution will serve no retributive or deterrent purpose and will be arbitrary,” Carney said.

“No rational person,” Carney wrote, “can question that the execution of an individual carries with it the solemn obligation of the government to ensure that the punishment is not arbitrarily imposed and that it furthers the interests of society.”

Supreme Court: Opening Prayers at Council Meetings Constitutional

"The Supreme Court has upheld the right of local officials to open town council meetings with prayer, ruling that this does not violate the Constitution even if the prayers routinely stress Christianity."

"The court said in a 5-4 decision Monday that the content of the prayers is not critical as long as officials make a good-faith effort at inclusion." (read more)

Dissenting, Justice Kagan wrote...

"I have no doubt that every member of this Court believes as firmly as I that our institutions of gov­ernment belong equally to all, regardless of faith. Rather, the error reflects two kinds of blindness," Kagan wrote. "First, the majority misapprehends the facts of this case, as distinct from those characterizing traditional legislative prayer. And second, the majority misjudges the essential meaning of the religious worship in Greece's town hall, along with its capacity to exclude and divide."

***

Wikipedia: "The English common name for the order is the mantises, or rarely (using a Latinized plural of Greek mantis), the mantes. The name mantid refers only to members of the family Mantidae. The other common name, often applied to any species in the order, is "praying mantis", because of the typical "prayer-like" posture with folded fore-limbs, although the folk etymology "preying mantis" is sometimes used in reference to their predatory habits."

"Senators Denounce Obama for Threatening 'Entire Constitutional System' By 'Nullifying' Immigration Laws"

"On Thursday, 22 Republican senators, including even Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), denounced President Barack Obama in a scathing letter for threatening America's "entire constitutional system" with his immigration "enforcement review" that threatens to "nullify" the nation's immigration laws."

"Your actions demonstrate an astonishing disregard for the Constitution, the rule of law, and the rights of American citizens and legal residents," the senators wrote in a letter to Obama. "Our entire constitutional system is threatened when the Executive Branch suspends the law at its whim and our nation’s sovereignty is imperiled when the commander-in-chief refuses to defend the integrity of its borders."...

"These policies have operated as an effective repeal of duly enacted federal immigration laws and exceed the bounds of the Executive Branch’s prosecutorial discretion," the senators wrote. "It is not the province of the Executive to nullify the laws that the people of the United States, through their elected representatives, have chosen to enact. Congress has not passed laws permitting people to illegally enter the country or to ignore their visa expiration dates, so long as they do not have a felony conviction or other severe offense on their record."

All the letters the congress could write to the president, complaining about him going around them, are not going to change the way President Obama is presiding, which is in effect, President Obama going around the Congress. The only constitutional remedy is removal from office. And that is not going to happen as long as the polls say so. Not to mention the racial component. So why do I put up this post?... It needs to be said. It needs to be said that no president should be allowed to pick and chose which laws he is going to enforce. Not even Obama, period.

So go ahead Congress, write more letters to the president, better yet, lets all go ahead and write the president and tell him he needs to faithfully adhere not just to the letter of laws but to the spirit of laws as well.

Rand Paul: "Do we no longer have a Fourth Amendment?"

 

 

"The constitution is not a negotiable piece of parchment to be ignored or abused at the presidents whim" - Senator Ran Paul.

Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

Via Washington Examiner

"Legislative Prayer Gets Supreme Court Review"

"The Supreme Court, which asks for God's protection before every public session, will settle a dispute over prayer in the halls of government."

The case being argued at the court Wednesday involves prayers said at the start of town council meetings in Greece, N.Y., a Rochester suburb. It is the court's first legislative prayer case since 1983, when the justices said that an opening prayer is part of the nation's fabric and not a violation of the First Amendment.

AP Mark Sherman (Althouse will very likely have more on this)