Category Archives: Courts and the Constitution

Courts Usurp Power Prologue

“And Moses built an altar and called the name of it, The LORD Is My Banner,”               Exodus 17:15

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech . . .”  The First Amendment to the United States Constitution.

“there is a price, one that we all have to pay somewhere in our civic life.”

What is the price exacted by the highest court in the 47th State in the Union?

RELIGIOUS LIBERTY

FREEDOM OF SPEECH

OTHER INHERENT RIGHTS
[See Sec. 4, below.*]

The New Mexico Supreme Court has upheld a State Appeals Court decision with the above declaration by one of its justices, in unconscionable violation of their own State Constitution, and willful misrepresentation of The First Amendment.

As I continue to work on my series on the Courts and the Constitution, this new outrage has occurred with the ruling by the New Mexico Supreme Court, in Elane Photography, LLC v. Vanessa Willock.  A judicial act so egregious that I am publishing this Post as a Prologue to the series while I strive to complete the last part thereof.

This decision and the opinions expressed by the New Mexico justices are brazen, blatant declarations of the end of religious liberty, liberty of speech, and other inherent God-given Rights, in the New Mexico.

The case will surely be taken to the United States Supreme Court, and if the High Court justices uphold the decisions of the New Mexico Appeals and Supreme Courts, Freedom-loving Americans will know that “Our Liberty, Under God” is in its death throes.  We MUST awaken as a nation to revive and restore our Constitution!

In America, one person’s rights are not subjected to another’s demands just because the latter desires to force the former to serve him.  But, Liberty only prevails by the Eternal Vigilance of a nation’s citizenry and with God’s Blessing, and America seems critically short of Vigilance – Eternal or otherwise.

Now, the entire nation and the world are witnessing the cowardly capitulation of Republican Party Leadership and  the States impotence to resist – up to this point – while Barack Hussein Obama and his Fellow-Travellers methodically and deliberately dismantle this Greatest Nation ever to rise on the earth!!!  See “WHO IS Obama, Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4.

Collectivist/Progressive Statists across the country see Mr. Obama and the Executive Branch running rough-shod over the Constitution, along with the Senate and the Supreme Court, as they effect nefarious and treasonous actions.  Common criminals are emboldened by the obvious failure to check and hold-to-account the federal government, and the judiciary is abandoning pretense of adherence to the state and U.S. Constitutions; showing their true collectivist colors.

~

In Elane Photography, LLC v. Vanessa Willock, American Liberty took a deadly blow from the New Mexico Supreme Court, as its justices violated their own State Bill of Rights and the U.S. Constitution.

New Mexico State Constitution, Article II, Bill of Rights:

*Sec. 4.
[Inherent rights.]
All persons are born equally free, and have certain natural, inherent and inalienable rights, among which are the rights of enjoying and defending life and liberty, of acquiring, possessing and protecting property, and of seeking and obtaining safety and happiness.

Sec. 5.
[Rights under Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo preserved.]
The rights, privileges and immunities, civil, political and religious guaranteed to the people of New Mexico by the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo shall be preserved inviolate.
[[“. . . be admitted . . . to the enjoyment of all the rights of citizens of the United States, according to the principles of the Constitution; and in the mean time, shall be maintained and protected in the free enjoyment of their liberty and property, and secured in the free exercise of their religion without; restriction.”  Article IX, Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, 1848.]]

Sec. 11.
[Freedom of religion.]
Every man shall be free to worship God according to the dictates of his own conscience, and no person shall ever be molested or denied any civil or political right or privilege on account of his religious opinion or mode of religious worship. No person shall be required to attend any place of worship or support any religious sect or denomination; nor shall any preference be given by law to any religious denomination or mode of worship.

Sec. 17.
[Freedom of speech and press, libel.]
Every person may freely speak, write and publish his sentiments on all subjects, being responsible for the abuse of that right; and no law shall be passed to restrain or abridge the liberty of speech or of the press. . . .

~

What is the controversy in the case?

Violating their own State Constitution, and ignoring precedent set in Wooley v. Maynard, the New Mexico courts denied the Right of a New Mexico couple to decline to sell to potential customers services that would violate their religious beliefs, the liberty to freely choose the nature of artistic expression, and other inherent rights as stated in Sec. 4, above, and the U.S. Constitution.  See Amicus Brief, and Wooley v. Maynard, 430 U.S. 705 (1977) referenced there.  Also,

“There are some commercial professions—like a videographer, a speechwriter, a website designer—where there’s no standard product. The product is inherently expressive. Then when you add to that a ceremony that’s expressing ideas, going to a wedding photographer and saying I want you to use your photojournalistic skills to tell the story of my event in the best way possible, you have this huge freedom of speech issue.”  http://www.alliancealert.org/tag/zz-elane-photography-llc-v-willock/  This site also provides a many links to other articles on the injustice of the decision.

The outrageous legislative action by the courts imposes involuntary servitude upon the business owners, and intends to do so to all others who assert their right to choose not to perform services that are repugnant to their belief in moral absolutes that have stood as religious, societal, and philosophical standards throughout recorded history.

Enslaving American business owners by forcing them at the point of the governmental gun, to act against conscience and free expression absolutely violates the religious liberty, freedom of speech and other inherent God-given Rights guaranteed to Americans in the Bill of Rights, and in the New Mexico Constitution’s Bill of Rights.

Activist judges resort to social engineering by legislating from the bench; in this case on matters that properly fall under the auspices of our inherent God-given Rights as declared in the Declaration of Independence, invoked in the Bill of Rights, and here, in the New Mexico Bill of Rights.  They even go so far as to declare the government-forced loss of liberty is the price of citizenship!!!  This is NOT the United States of America established under the Constitution!

If any American has doubted the truth about the path “Our Nation, Under God” is steamrolling down, and the final destination sought by the Collectivist/Progressive Statists, as they deliberately engineer the fundamental transformation of America, this ruling and the justices’ mindset should shine a bright light on that path’s true nature!  See “WHO IS Obama,” especially Part 3 & Part 4.

That destination is Absolute Tyranny over the hearts, minds and souls of every American; to set up a Godless, Orwellian, Big Brother-dominated state shackling and enslaving the people.  They call their tyrannical state, “heaven on Earth!

~

Following is an excerpt from an excellent article written by Dr. R. Albert Mohler Jr., and published August 26, 2013.  He is president of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.  Please see the entire article at: http://www.albertmohler.com/2013/08/26/it-is-the-price-of-citizenship-an-elegy-for-religious-liberty-in-america/

“It is the Price of Citizenship”?–An Elegy for Religious Liberty in America

. . . .The court’s decision was unanimous, upholding a 2012 decision by an appeals court. The court’s decision declared that the Huguenins had acted unlawfully in refusing to photograph the same-sex commitment, even when Elaine Huguenin had argued that to force her to photograph the celebration of a same-sex ceremony was to force her to function as a celebrant and thereby to violate her own conscience. That last part of the
Huguenin’s argument has to do with the fact that photography is “expressive” as an art form. There is no way that photographing a same-sex ceremony would not require the professional photographer to arrange and construct photographs in order to artistically celebrate the same-sex union.

The court concluded: “When Elane Photography refused to photograph a same-sex commitment ceremony, it violated the NMHRA [New Mexico Human Rights Act] in the same way as if it had refused to photograph a wedding between people of different races.” The court then further concluded: “Even if the services it offers are creative or expressive, Elane Photography must offer its services to customers without regard for the customers’ race, sex, sexual orientation, or other protected classification.”

Jonathan and Elaine Huguenin are Christians who believe that marriage is exclusively the union of a man and a woman. They further believe that they are responsible and faithful only if they avoid any explicit or implied endorsement of same-sex marriage. They insisted that they do not discriminate on the basis of the sexual orientation of the potential client, but only on the basis of the ceremony they are asked to photograph.

The New Mexico Supreme Court dismissed all of the arguments presented on behalf of the Huguenins—arguments that have a very clear precedent in decisions by other courts, including the Supreme Court of the United States. The decision in this case by this court is both stark and strident, rejecting the reality that its holding forces a wedding photographer to make an artistic statement against a religious sentiment by supporting certain celebrations that the photographer in fact does not support. . . .

~

Please watch for the series on the Courts and the Constitution that will follow this Prologue (still having technical problems with one of the parts), as we familiarize ourselves with the Answer – touched-upon below – to the predicament in which we find ourselves as:

FREE INDIVIDUALS

AND AS,

OUR
“One Nation under God,
with Liberty and Justice for ALL!

~

We are in dire straits, America!!!

But, I believe God has given us a way-out of the waves crashing against the rocks as Tyrants sail our Liberty Ship-of-State with reckless abandon to the Edge of the Abyss.  He will help us regain the helm and guide her to the Safety of Liberty’s Shores, if We turn to Him seeking the guidance He gave to our Founders.

LIBERTY AND JUSTICE FOR ALL,

means NO American can be forced to “compromise” with tyranny by paying the price-too-high: forfeiture of religious liberty, liberty of speech, and our other inherent God-given Rights, including the Right to Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness [the Right to pursue, earn, and hold Property].  And,

I believe God has moved Mark R. Levin to show us the way to,

SAVE AMERICA
and
THE CONSTITUTION
!!!

We must pursue the Means written in the Constitution for the States to regain control of our servant, the federal government.  And, in the process, regain control of our other servants, the state governments.

Mark R. Levin has well-articulated that Means in his new book, “The Liberty Amendments: Restoring the American Republic.”  The U.S. Constitution, Article V.: The second amendment process – State Conventions for Proposing Amendments – along with increased citizen activism, is the key to stopping America’s headlong plunge into the abyss.  [This is not a “Constitutional Convention!”]

I will have more to say on this in future posts.  For now, I highly recommend Mr. Levin’s book to all Americans who fervently seek to know,

“What can I do?

I also recommend his radio show, website and social media sites for further explanation, and answers to the arguments being leveled against him and the Amendments Convention he and other constitutional scholars know is the answer!  See: http://www.marklevinshow.com/ 

When the enemy attacks your plans and methods by demonization, ridicule, and personal attacks, it is a sure sign he fears you!!!

“I undertook this project not because I believe the Constitution, as originally structured, is outdated and outmoded, thereby requiring modernization through amendments, but because of the opposite—that is, the necessity and urgency of restoring constitutional republicanism and preserving the civil society from the growing authoritarianism of a federal Leviathan.  This is not doomsaying or fearmongering but an acknowledgment of fact.”  Levin, Mark R., “The Liberty Amendments: Restoring the American Republic,” 2013, p.1.

~

“What then shall we say to these things?  If God is for us, who can be against us?”      Romans 8:38-39, The Holy Bible: The New Testament.

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