Cruz: Justice
Kennedy compares own ruling to Nazi Germany, Jurist tells Christians to resign from office like those who
opposed Third Reich, 10/31/15, WND
In a recent town hall
meeting where citizens had the opportunity to pose questions to Supreme Court
Justice Anthony Kennedy, he basically compared the judiciary in modern America
with that of Nazi Germany.
Kennedy, the swing vote
in the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in June to create “same-sex marriage,” was
asked about Kentucky county Clerk Kim Davis, who was jailed for nearly a week
by U.S. District Judge David Bunning after the Supreme Court’s marriage ruling
when she refused Bunning’s order to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couple
in violation of her faith.
At the meeting, a young
man took the microphone and asked the following of Kennedy: You claim new
insights into the nature of marriage require states to issue marriage licenses
in accord with this alternative version of marriage. And I can understand a
similar case, probably more attractive to those of us who think that rational
norms guide the exercise of sexual autonomy like they do economic autonomy,
that would be that new insights into the nature of human life require states to
take steps to stop abortions.
My question would be, in
either of these cases, would you say that there are any state or federal
officials with authority to act according to her own judgment of the
truth of new insights or of the soundness of the court’s constitutional
interpretation, or would it be illegal for any federal official or state
official to act according to the old understanding of life and the Constitution
that she still judges to be the truth of the matter?
If I could rephrase it in a fair way, what is the duty of a
public official if he or she cannot in good conscience, and consistent with
their own personal and religious beliefs, enforce a law they think is morally
corrupt?
How many judges do you
think resigned in the Third Reich? Three. Great respect, it seems to me, has to
be given to people who resign rather than do something they think is morally
wrong, in order to make a point.
However, the rule of law
is that, as a public official and performing your legal duties, you are bound
to enforce the law. It's difficult sometimes to see whether or not what you're
doing is transgressing your own personal philosophies – this requires
considerable introspection. It's a fair question that officials can and should
ask themselves. But certainly in an offhand comment, it would be difficult for
me to say that people are free to ignore a decision of the Supreme Court.
Lincoln went through this in the Dred Scott case. These are difficult moral
questions.
On his Facebook
page, Ted Cruz posted the
video and made the following observation: When a Supreme Court justice compares
his own lawless rulings to the draconian oppression of the Nazis – and says
that Christians should resign from public office if they will not surrender to
his imperious decrees – that really says it all. Those are his words, not mine.
Justice Kennedy is holding up the Nazis as exemplars for the current Supreme
Court. I, for one, would rather stand with heroes like Bonhoeffer, than the
tyrants who inflicted unspeakable evil. And the persecution of Christians – in
Iran, China, or America – is simply wrong.
As WND reported, Justice Kennedy would resign if he followed his own instructions
to others, according to Liberty Counsel, the national religious-rights law firm
representing Davis.
In a prepared statement,
Liberty Counsel said the message was clear: "Government officials who
disagree with him and his four other colleagues regarding their newly invented
and groundless marriage opinion ought to resign."
However, the real
question, the organization said, should be, "What is the law and what
happens when justices violate their oath to interpret the Constitution?" A
WND request for comment from Kennedy did not generate a response.
Mat Staver, the chairman
of Liberty Counsel, said unjust laws "should be resisted." "Religious
freedom and conscience should be protected. Justices or judges who disregard
the Constitution and impose their own will should resign," he said.
Comments
The Founders told us to
reject unconstitutional federal laws. And that would also mean we are to reject
unconstitutional Supreme Court opinions.
Norb Leahy, Dunwoody GA
Tea Party Leader
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