Archive for the ‘Big Brother’ Category

My father, Olen Riggsby, wrote his take on the erosion of rights in this country.

In the declaration of independence Thomas Jefferson wrote , “All men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.—That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.”

“Deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.”

It seems to me that the people we have in charge of our government today have largely ignored this concept. They seem to believe that they can institute any rules or laws that they see fit to further their own agenda. Even the Supreme Court has aided in this undermining of our Constitution by overreaching the powers they have been granted by this historical and precious Document. The Fourth amendment states, “The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath and affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons to be seized.” The Court has repeatedly ignored this Amendment by permitting the use of “John Doe” warrants, and allowing Law Enforcement to search, seize and use as evidence from “anything that can be seen from a car window on a traffic stop”, to “ anything found while serving and implementing a warrant for something else entirely”. This is blatantly unconstitutional.

By using the “Interstate Commerce Clause”, they have been able to effectively legislate from the Bench their own ideas of what they believe this Country should be like, and in doing so, they have given the Federal Government powers and controls that the Constitution did not prescribe.

The Tenth Amendment states, “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people”.

Nowhere in the Constitution is the Federal Government given any power over Education, Energy, or a number of other things they now control. In no way do I mean to infer that I am against education or energy, or the Federal regulation thereof. What I am against is this being done without “the consent of the people”.

The framers of the Constitution realized that the world would change, and that the Constitution would have to change with it. The thing they wanted to prohibit was it being changed by the people in charge of the Government. To insure this they mandated that all changes be done as an amendment, passed by Congress and ratified by the States.

I do not contend that the Government’s involvement in these matters should be stopped, or that amendments should be ratified to make them Constitutional, (except in the case of search and seizure,) but I do think the people should demand that the Courts insist on all new Laws and Regulations be Constitutional, and if not then let Congress put an amendment before the People.

A court ordered that a 10 year-old girl must attend public school instead of being home schooled. Let’s open up the facts of the case first. This suit was brought by the girls father who is the non-custodial parent. That’s fair. He’s concerned for his daughter and wanted her to develop the social skills that one acquires in public school. Sounds ok. Her mother offered a compromise in having her attend a supplemental classes in public schools and participate in extracurricular activities. The court records show that she is performing well academically, so what is the reasoning behind ordering her to attend public school?

The court papers read, [E]ducation is by its nature an exploration and examination of new things,” and “[A] child requires academic, social, cultural, and physical interaction with a variety of experiences, people, concepts, and surroundings in order to grow to an adult who can make intelligent decisions about how to achieve a productive and satisfying life.”
Apparently these are no longer decisions that a custodial parent can make, but decisions based on the beliefs of the judge.

But wait! That’s not all! For just $19.95, yes $19.95 we’ll throw in religious bashing!

Here we go folks. The true heart of the matter, the guardian ad litem appointed by the court concluded the girl “appeared to reflect her mother’s rigidity on questions of faith” and that the girl’s interests “would be best served by exposure to a public school setting” and “different points of view at a time when she must begin to critically evaluate multiple systems of belief … in order to select, as a young adult, which of those systems will best suit her own needs.”

So now, a judge in New Hampshire has decided that it is the court’s place to decide how children should be exposed to religion? Are you kidding me?

This has to stop now! Government’s natural tendency is to encroach on our rights. They will continue to do so until we get off the couch and tell them to stop. It’s time to get off the couch.