The Seattle Times, a bastion of Liberalism, has seen a great injustice wrought upon the citizens of Washington. An injustice brought upon us by the friends and allies of the Times, yet the Times is willing to call them out...and call them out they did!!!!
In failing to police the Legislature's promiscuous declarations of emergency, the Washington Supreme Court has failed to protect the rights of the people.
[...]
The state constitution gives voters the right of referendum on any new law except for "such laws as may be necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health or safety, support of the state government and its existing public institutions."
[...]
The purpose of the referendum power is to limit the power of legislators to pass unpopular laws. The emergency clause should allow for a handful of exceptions only. When the Legislature declares emergencies dozens of times in every session — 98 times this past spring — it is limiting the people's right to challenge its decisions.
What the state needed from the court was a statement of its own responsibility and a standard for sorting the fake emergencies from the real ones. What we got was a statement that pretty much anything can be an emergency if the Legislature says it is.
Perhaps the people need a constitutional amendment to clarify what is an emergency or require that all declarations of emergency have a two-thirds vote.
This last paragraph is just amazing coming from the likes of the Seattle Times!!
(tip: Orbusmax)
No comments:
Post a Comment