Friday, July 16, 2010

GOP Seek To Strip Power From Federal Courts

I thought this story was very interesting and very disturbing at the same time.

Scott Wong wrote for Politico that the Republican party is attempting to craft legislation that would block federal funds from being used to challenge the controversial immigration law passed in Arizona earlier this year.  While proponents of the law claim that it only parallels federal law and that critics are politicizing the matter and wasting government money challenging the law, the actions they are taking seem incredibly wrong.  They are actively trying to circumvent one of the three branches of the government to protect their political agenda.
“It’s political opportunism,” Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-Ariz.) said of Republicans. His district runs along the U.S.-Mexico border and he has called for economic boycotts of the state until the law is overturned. “It’s a very divisive issue not only in Arizona but obviously in other parts of the country. Showing support for [Arizon’s law] is supposed to show hardness on immigration, but it’s appropriate that they wait and see whether this law passes constitutional muster.”

Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.), another outspoken foe of the Arizona law, shared that view, saying GOP legislative and legal tactics have trampled on democracy and the separation of powers. He urged Republicans to let the Justice Department lawsuit, one of seven challenging the constitutionality of the law, to play out in the courts.

“The founding fathers set up three equal branches of government. Why does one branch want to shut down the other? I don’t get it,” Gutierrez told POLITICO Thursday. “Clearly [it’s a trampling] of democracy, of freedom of speech, of our day in court, of that simple notion that you will always have your day in court."
If the GOP is willing to try and tie the court's hands over state immigration policy, just imagine what else they are willing to do to undercut the federal government and the constitution- abortion, gay rights, 1st Ammendment speech, etc.

I understand disagreeing with the administration over this law, and I can even understand arguments in favor of it, but to go and try to write a bill restricting another branch of the government is just wrong.  The federal government has the authority to enforce it's laws over the states, and people like Senators DeMint and Vitter are subverting the powers granted to the federal government by the Constitution because they favor a confederate style of rule.

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