Jul 13, 2022·edited Jul 13, 2022Liked by Justin O'Donnell
"It is complete, succinct, complete, and brutally raw."
And when, in 2012, NH Judge Lyon ruled, on those words, used in defense of peaceful protests, that the only judge of whether the system wasn't working (and thus the time for revolution) was himself and other judges inside the system, I knew that any attempt to solve the problem that way (using the Constitution) was useless.
Time has only proved me correct. When Chris Sununu and every politician who supported mandates and lockdowns, when they are tarred and feathered and run out of NH, maybe those words will mean something beyond pretty words nobody honors.
The first clause of article 8 of the same NH constitution seems to disagree with the judge "All power residing originally in, and being derived from, the people, all the magistrates and officers of government are their substitutes and agents, and at all times accountable to them."
[Art.] 8. [Accountability of Magistrates and Officers; Public’s Right to Know.] All power residing originally in, and being derived from, the people, all the magistrates and officers of government are their substitutes and agents, and at all times accountable to them. Government, therefore, should be open, accessible, accountable and responsive. To that end, the public’s right of access to governmental proceedings and records shall not be unreasonably restricted. The public also has a right to an orderly, lawful, and accountable government. Therefore, any individual taxpayer eligible to vote in the State, shall have standing to petition the Superior Court to declare whether the State or political subdivision in which the taxpayer resides has spent, or has approved spending, public funds in violation of a law, ordinance, or constitutional provision. In such a case, the taxpayer shall not have to demonstrate that his or her personal rights were impaired or prejudiced beyond his or her status as a taxpayer. However, this right shall not apply when the challenged governmental action is the subject of a judicial or administrative decision from which there is a right of appeal by statute or otherwise by the parties to that proceeding.
Actually the second half of that was added this decade, when the Court refused to accept the right of taxpayers existed after removing it themselves in 1980s (I think), and decided the legislature passing laws saying taxpayers did wasn't enough so they forced a Constitutional Amendment to get passed to add that second half with strange bedfellows of R and D both for vastly different reasons.
Oh I remember, it was 2018, I campaigned for adding it, and was happy to vote for it, the same year I first ran for congress in NH. But the first clause is still the most relevant here for these arguments.
Oh yes, my point is even the very clause you point to has a history of Judicial Highhandedness behind it. The only reason that amendment was needed was the Court itself was filled with Judges who decided they "knew better"
"It is complete, succinct, complete, and brutally raw."
And when, in 2012, NH Judge Lyon ruled, on those words, used in defense of peaceful protests, that the only judge of whether the system wasn't working (and thus the time for revolution) was himself and other judges inside the system, I knew that any attempt to solve the problem that way (using the Constitution) was useless.
Time has only proved me correct. When Chris Sununu and every politician who supported mandates and lockdowns, when they are tarred and feathered and run out of NH, maybe those words will mean something beyond pretty words nobody honors.
The first clause of article 8 of the same NH constitution seems to disagree with the judge "All power residing originally in, and being derived from, the people, all the magistrates and officers of government are their substitutes and agents, and at all times accountable to them."
However, SCOTUS paved the way in 1803 for the Coup of the Judiciary https://justinodonnell.substack.com/p/the-constitution-of-unintended-consequences
[Art.] 8. [Accountability of Magistrates and Officers; Public’s Right to Know.] All power residing originally in, and being derived from, the people, all the magistrates and officers of government are their substitutes and agents, and at all times accountable to them. Government, therefore, should be open, accessible, accountable and responsive. To that end, the public’s right of access to governmental proceedings and records shall not be unreasonably restricted. The public also has a right to an orderly, lawful, and accountable government. Therefore, any individual taxpayer eligible to vote in the State, shall have standing to petition the Superior Court to declare whether the State or political subdivision in which the taxpayer resides has spent, or has approved spending, public funds in violation of a law, ordinance, or constitutional provision. In such a case, the taxpayer shall not have to demonstrate that his or her personal rights were impaired or prejudiced beyond his or her status as a taxpayer. However, this right shall not apply when the challenged governmental action is the subject of a judicial or administrative decision from which there is a right of appeal by statute or otherwise by the parties to that proceeding.
Actually the second half of that was added this decade, when the Court refused to accept the right of taxpayers existed after removing it themselves in 1980s (I think), and decided the legislature passing laws saying taxpayers did wasn't enough so they forced a Constitutional Amendment to get passed to add that second half with strange bedfellows of R and D both for vastly different reasons.
The sausage never ends.
Oh I remember, it was 2018, I campaigned for adding it, and was happy to vote for it, the same year I first ran for congress in NH. But the first clause is still the most relevant here for these arguments.
Oh yes, my point is even the very clause you point to has a history of Judicial Highhandedness behind it. The only reason that amendment was needed was the Court itself was filled with Judges who decided they "knew better"
It's unfixable. Burn it all down.