Legal Clarification In Coulter Column
Her column on the activist trend of court decisions is another outstanding editorial by Ann Coulter ["These Court Opinions Are Not Private Enough"], but I hope to have clarification by either her or another legal scholar.
Much of the blame in the article seems directed at Roe v. Wade but the absence of Constitutional direction and limits, I think occurred before this decision. Most of the Supreme Court decisions, ever since Marbury v. Madison, have been building a power base for the judiciary that has nothing whatever to do with the Constitution as intended.
It is my belief that in Griswold v. Connecticut, the most liberal of courts decided the abortion issue well before Roe v. Wade.
Further, Justice William O. Douglas, delivering the opinion of the court in Griswold, laid the foundation for great mischief in the future with his "penumbras."
"Douglas said that "The foregoing cases (other unconstitutional "findings") suggest (to him alone) that specific guarantees in the Bill of Rights have penumbras, formed by emanations from those guarantees that help give them life and substance."
Thus, with the other screwballs on that court, the first eight amendments were gathered up into the illegal 14th Amendment. With this "power base" forget the Constitution as written and intended.
Ewing, N.J.
Federal Court Rulings Disregard Constitution
Recent rulings by federal courts show just how little regard some judges have for the Constitution.
With the Supreme Court's 5-to-4 ruling not to overturn the McCain/Feingold campaign finance reform act ["What's Next for Big Brother?"], which bans political adds 60 days before elections, the court disregards the 1st Amendment right to free speech itself.
Equally disturbing is the decision of the 9th Circuit Court (the most liberal and most overturned) that gives the detainees at Guantanamo Bay the same rights of appeal as American citizens charged in federal courts. The judiciary exists to interpret law, not create it.
Savvy politicians and special interest groups know how to exploit this.
Can't win at the ballot box? Don't want to be bothered with the legislature? Just find a judge sympathetic to your cause and with the stroke of a pen, a new law is created.
The recent filibuster over the President's judicial nominees captured the nation's interest for all of about five seconds. People had better wake up to the unlawful actions of federal courts.
We Americans face many threats from outside our borders. Sadly, we also face threats to our liberties from the people we trust to protect them.
Bayside N.Y.
Takes Issue With Liberal Deck of Cards
It is difficult for me to understand why you continue to market the "52 Most Dangerous Liberals" deck of cards.
This product is clearly a take off on the infamous deck of cards with Iraqi Baathists emblazoned on them to assist the U.S. military in rounding up enemies of the United States. The American people know this deck of cards quite well and what it is used for.
In developing and distributing your deck of cards, are you purposefully trying to equate people who you identify as liberals with enemies of this country and someone like Saddam Hussein?
May I remind you that President Bush has suggested that Saddam receive the "ultimate" penalty. Should liberals appearing on your cards be subjected to the same? Your cards seem to suggest as much.
There is indeed a culture war ongoing in the United States, but this is a despicable act well beyond the outer line of common decency. You should be ashamed of yourselves.
This is the kind of thing I would expect to see in Serbia, where I am currently, or some other post-socialist and corrupt society where politics is a zero sum game and all about maintaining a grip on power and influence.
Would you please discontinue marketing these cards, or somehow make it clear that liberals are not enemies of this country and that this is all in fun?
Washington, D.C.
[Editor's Note: Anyone reading the card deck would realize that it is all in fun. There is absolutely no hint of a "suggestion," as you charge that liberals should pay the "ultimate penalty."]
Appreciates Scholar's Expos??©s On Pornography and Kinsey
I am truly grateful for your boldness in exposing the truth about the pornography industry ["Exposing Pornography's Addictive, Destructive Effects"] and how it relates to our nation's moral attitudes. This is a generational disease that is handed down from father to son until our children can no longer walk to school without a mother to protect them.
I thank God for Dr. Judith Reisman and her research into the truth about Alfred Kinsey and the Playboy connection.
It's time for our parents and grandparents to wake up to what the media are doing to their children.
I would like to call for all parents to boycott Carl's Jr. [hamburger franchise]. That will hit their bottom line. Then I hope HUMAN EVENTS will expose Carl's Jr. losses.
Costa Mesa, Calif.
