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Sean Faircloth:
Attack of the Theocrats!
The title of this article threw me off. Shouldn't that be "Tennessee Goes 'Apeshit' Again"?
These laws are against precedent. The Ten Commandments displayed in front of the Alabama Supreme Court was removed under federal law, not state law. The same is true about the Dixie County Courthouse controversy just a few years ago. No matter what bias these Tennessee judges hold, the first place they're supposed to look for an answer on this ruling is precedent to see how other courts have interpreted the same laws they're interpreting. It should also be noted that the origin of these monuments is pretty silly.
It has also been noted here that the Dover trial set the precedent for creationism. Again, this makes the ruling unjust.
We're supposed to be living in a system of "check and balances", and unfortunately the only check or balance on the judicial system is impeachment. How often does that happen? According to Wikipedia, it has happened 11 times in 100 years... and 2 of them were later acquitted. Surely judges act against their duty more often than that, but it would appear that we don't hold them accountable for it.
Permalink Wed, 04 Apr 2012 01:56:31 UTC | #932233