Scoop has an Ethical Paywall
Licence needed for work use Learn More
Top Scoops

Book Reviews | Gordon Campbell | Scoop News | Wellington Scoop | Community Scoop | Search

 

Dominionist Bill Limits Supreme Cts Jurisdictiion

New Dominionist Bill Limits the Supreme Court's Jurisdiction


The Constitution Restoration Act of 2004
By Katherine Yurica
The Yurica Report - http://www.yuricareport.com/
February 19, 2004

We wrote about it before it happened, we called them by their own name, Dominionists, and we told you that Dominionists in Congress were about to fire their first guns for reformation of the American government.

On January 6, 2004, the Yurica Report published “America Stands on the Edge of a Grave Constitutional Crisis Linked to Pat Robertson.” In that article we reported that televangelist Pat Robertson devised a number of ways of limiting the power of the U.S. Supreme Court and the federal courts of America. To quote from the article, Robertson said as early as March 24, 1986, “Congress could say, ‘There’s a whole class of cases you can’t hear’ and there’s nobody can do anything about it!”

On February 11, 2004, we published “The Despoiling of America” by Katherine Yurica. To quote Robertson from this article, “God’s plan is for His people, ladies and gentlemen to take dominion…to reign and rule…There’ll be a reformation….We are not going to stand for those coercive utopians in the Supreme Court and in Washington ruling over us any more. We’re not gonna stand for it. We are going to say, ‘We want freedom in this country, and we want power…’”

Advertisement - scroll to continue reading

Both these articles reported a crisis in our government and revealed the plan of the far right Dominionists who control Congress to reconstruct our constitution and “restore” it to subservience to a theocratic religion under God and under biblical law. It is the first step in a series of steps to take over and control the government of the United States of America as outlined in “The Despoiling of America.”

Today the Yurica Report learned that on February 11 , 2004 Dominionist leaders in congress made their move; they introduced a bill in both houses called The Constitution Restoration Act of 2004. Among the sponsors of the bill are Rep. Robert Aderholt (Alabama), Rep. Michael Pence (Indiana), Sen. Richard Shelby of Alabama, Sen. Zell Miller (Georgia), Sen. Sam Brownback (Kansas), and Sen. Lindsey Graham (South Carolina).

The House version is H.R. 3799 and the Senate version is S. 2082. The bill limits the U.S. Supreme Court and federal courts to hear cases involving “expressions of religious faith by elected or appointed officials.”

Although the claim by its sponsors appears to be that the intention is to prevent the courts from hearing cases involving the Ten Commandments or a Nativity Scene in a public setting from being reviewed, the law is drawn broadly and expressly includes the acknowledgment of God as the sovereign source of law by an official in his capacity of executing his office. John Giles, Alabama President of Christian Coalition said, "The greatest unbridled abuse by the federal judiciary for over forty years has been in the area of redefining the acknowledgement of God as the sovereign source of law...We define this as judicial activism, making law from the bench. These unconstitutional rulings have gone unchecked by other branches of government."

The following proposed law will be added to Sec. 1260 of Title 28, Chapter 81 of the U.S. Code:

“Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, the Supreme Court shall not have jurisdiction to review, by appeal, writ of certiorari, or otherwise, any matter to the extent that relief is sought against an element of Federal, State, or local government, or against an officer of Federal, State, or local government (whether or not acting in official personal capacity), by reason of that element’s or officer’s acknowledgment of God as the sovereign source of law, liberty, or government.”

Because the judiciary is “an element” of the federal, state and local governments, this wording, if it becomes law, may allow any judge to institute biblical punishments without being subject to review by the Supreme Court or the federal court system.

In addition the proposed bill punishes sitting judges by requiring impeachment and removal, if they rely on decisions from another state or jurisdiction, such as another state’s constitution, law, administrative rule or judicial decision. The proposed Section 201, “Interpretation of the Constitution” reads:

“In interpreting and applying the Constitution of the United States, a court of the United States may not rely upon any constitution, law, administrative rule, Executive order, directive, policy, judicial decision, or any other action of any foreign state or international organization or agency, other than the constitutional law and English common law.”

Because the term “foreign” is a term of art in the law and can refer to another jurisdiction within the United States, like another state or another county, the proposed law is troubling. One news talk show host in favor of the bill claims that the section is aimed directly at Supreme Court Justices Sandra Day O’Conner and Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

So important is the passage of this bill to Dominionists one of their activists said, “The passage of this bill should be regarded as the most important item on the conservative agenda this year! It is…more important than who wins the White House this November.”

In light of the reports we have published, every Senator and Congressman and all Americans should be informed of the pending Dominionist reformation of our judiciary and through it, our entire American democracy.

***********

Katherine Yurica was educated at East Los Angeles College, U.S.C. and the USC school of law. She worked as a consultant for Los Angeles County and as a news correspondent for Christianity Today plus as a freelance investigative reporter. She is the author of three books. She is also the publisher of the Yurica Report.


© Scoop Media

Advertisement - scroll to continue reading
 
 
 
Top Scoops Headlines

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Join Our Free Newsletter

Subscribe to Scoop’s 'The Catch Up' our free weekly newsletter sent to your inbox every Monday with stories from across our network.