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New GOP representative to state judges: what's your 'personal relationship' with a 'Supreme Being'?
Daily Kos
(Ignorant of Constitution} New GOP representative to state judges: what's your 'personal relationship' with a 'Supreme Being'?
by Walter Einenkel
Freshman Representative Jonathon Hill, of South Carolina, is learning that being crazy may get you elected but doesn't protect you from being crazy.
A Republican S.C. House member wants to know about the “personal relationship” that would-be state judges have with the “Supreme Being,” whether they would perform a gay marriage and how they would rule if a woman sued for equal pay.
“Those things … would give an indication of how ... they see the world, and how you see the world is going to have everything to do with how you see law, and how a judge should treat law,” said state Rep. Jonathon Hill, who issued the 30-question survey.
South Carolina allows the legislature to choose their judicial candidates—which is already problematic. Jonathon Hill's poor staffers tried to quickly stop the survey because, well, there are so many reasons:
1) It's unconstitutional to create something that amounts to a religious test.
2) Judges aren't allowed to answer most of the questions because it's a potential statement of decision on cases they have yet to oversee.
3) Here are some of the questions on the questionnaire:
• Do you believe in the “Supreme Being” (S.C. Constitution, Article VI, Section 2)? What is the nature of this being? What is your personal relationship to this being? What relevance does this being have on the position of judge? Please be specific.
• In a case where someone was assaulted because he was gay, would you consider it a “hate crime” and increase the penalty?
• Do you believe unborn children have rights? If so, how would those factor in to your decisions as a judge?
• How would you handle a murder case in which the victim had actually requested help committing suicide?
• Do you agree or disagree with the argument that homosexual marriage is a “right” protected under the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which would render S.C.’s 2006 marriage amendment unconstitutional? Please explain why.
• Would you perform a homosexual marriage, either voluntarily or involuntarily?
• Does the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution apply only to the militia and military, or to the people at large?
• Given a case where a local gun restriction ordinance was being challenged, would you uphold the ordinance or strike it down? What factors would play into that decision?
• If a woman sued her employer because she was paid a lower rate than her male coworkers, would you rule in her favor or not? Please explain why.
... South Carolina does not, as of right now, have "hate crime" laws—so, I'm guessing Rep. Hill is preemptively asking something of some sort? It is beyond confusing.
Staffers also sent an email to the candidates letting them know that Hill had been told they were unable to answer most of the questions.
“You live and learn,” said Hill, a 29-year-old Anderson businessman and freshman legislator. “Maybe next year I’ll be in a better position to — if I put out a questionnaire — to craft it in a way that would work a little bit better.”
Maybe next year he'll be in a better position to ask or force unconstitutional practices? Is that his takeaway from all of this?
(emphasis in original)
Article w/ more links:
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/02/03/1362013/-New-GOP-representative-to-state-judges-what-s-your-personal-relationship-with-a-Supreme-Being?detail=email
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/02/03/1362013/-New-GOP-representative-to-state-judges-what-s-your-personal-relationship-with-a-Supreme-Being?detail=email
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