Monday, January 23, 2012
Legislature Sen. Mae Beavers Strikes Again
Posted by Jeff Woods on Mon, Jan 23, 2012 at 11:08 AM
"When a law student sent me an email with the statutory language, I had to ask if this was a joke," says Chattanooga attorney Lee Davis.
It's a joke, all right. The chairwoman of the state Senate Judiciary Committee apparently is unaware that the judiciary is a co-equal branch of government, not some pathetic state agency subject to her commands. She might benefit by reading Marbury v. Madison. That's an old Supreme Court case, senator. We guess you missed the day your 8th grade social studies teacher talked about that one.
So if the Supreme Court strikes down Obamacare, will Beavers complain about judicial activism? Hah!
Update: Only Mae Beavers could make Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey sound reasonable. Asked about Beavers' latest bright idea, even Ramsey scoffed.
"That is crossing the line on separation of powers between the legislative and judicial branches. Because we make the law and they interpret the law. If you don't like what they're coming down with, then you do everything you can to change the court."
Update II: Beavers withdraws her bill. We think Ramsey made her do it, proving Tennessee Republicans are capable of embarrassment.
Comments (21)
Showing 1-21 of 21
I propose that a law be enacted that women should not have the right to run for public office in TN. Of course, if passed, no court can declare it unconstitutional, per Mae Beavers.
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I think this basically makes Mae Beavers ineligible for office. Cripes, if you don't know the basics of how our state government works, you shouldn't be collecting a paycheck from taxpayers.
Can we recall this idiot?
http://wapp.capitol.tn.gov/apps/BillInfo/D…
*SB 2348 by *Beavers
Courts, Jurisdiction - As introduced, provides that the supreme court, circuit, criminal and chancery courts have no jurisdiction to determine the constitutionality of a statute properly enacted by the general assembly. - Amends TCA Title 4, Chapter 5 and Title 16.
Isn't TNGA Senator Mae Beavers violating state law (attempting to practice law within the State of Tennessee) with the mere filing of her SB2348 legislation?
corrected:
http://wapp.capitol.tn.gov/apps/BillInfo/D…
*SB 2348 by *Beavers
Courts, Jurisdiction - As introduced, provides that the supreme court, circuit, criminal and chancery courts have no jurisdiction to determine the constitutionality of a statute properly enacted by the general assembly. - Amends TCA Title 4, Chapter 5 and Title 16.
Isn't TNGA Senator Mae Beavers violating state law (attempting to practice law without a license within the State of Tennessee) with the mere filing of her SB2348 legislation?
How a bill requiring that all members of the TN House and Senate take and pass a high school civics course before they begin their terms of office, with continuing education required every 3 years?
The Chattanoogan
http://www.chattanoogan.com/articles/artic…
Mae Beavers Knows What She's Talking About
Thank you Tonygottlieb! That editorial in the Chattanooga paper closes the case! The rest of you activist judge loving libtards can just shut-up!
This woman is an ambarrassment to our state. Unfortunately, she is only one of many mediocre-at-best, more likely stupid and incompent, members of the General Assembly.
Even you can understand it Perry, you might want to read over the Tennessee State Constitution.
Common sense would dictate that courts beyond trial level should be restricted to yes or no as far as the constitutionality of an action or situation and not able to mandate legislation.
Everybody should read the link from tonygottlieb.
Yes indeed, gast. That way, we would have had legal school segregation in the South for an extra 20 years or so.
@packrat: I'm not going to research everything available to make my argument because it's very simple: Striking down the laws that enabled segregation should have been the court's limit. Telling legislators what laws they must enact should have been beyond their purview. If you favor activist judges just remember that activist conservative justices could take the Contitution all the way back to its original meaning and wouldn't liberals be in a snit then?
"If you favor activist judges just remember that activist conservative justices could take the Contitution all the way back to its original meaning and wouldn't liberals be in a snit then?"
Considering "conservatives" disagree amongst themselves on the the original meaning of the Constitution, not likely to happen. And "tossing out state laws" is perfectly Constitutional, if said state laws are in violation of the Constitution. That is why the courts, as an equal branch, were created in the first place. In fact, Mae Beaver's little ploy is as far away from conservative as you can get, at least by how conservative used to be defined.
Even if Senator Beaver's is correct {and that is debatable}, the issue that needs to be asked is whether this is a desirable idea to follow. While every side dislikes some decisions of the Court, we have operated under this view of the role of the Courts since Marbury and such legislation as she plans would be a huge and dangerous change in our political traditions.
And one can only wonder if Senator Beavers has considered what would happen if the Legislature decided to remove guns from the purview of the Courts. This is the sort of change that results in greater problems than it solves.
I find Mrs. Beavers proposal on about the same plane as many so called
opinions handed down by politically selected Judges in this state!
Prosecuting the Unauthorized Practice of Law (UPL)
http://www.tn.gov/attorneygeneral/upl/upl.…
"The Attorney General's Office can file civil lawsuits against individuals and companies engaged in the unauthorized practice of law.
Some of these cases involve people who are not licensed attorneys but who provide legal advice for a fee and/or attempt to represent clients in court. Other cases involve individuals and companies that prepare legal forms or documents to be used and signed by people representing themselves in legal matters.
If you know of an individual or business that may be practicing law without a license, please file a complaint with the Attorney General's Office. A complaint form may be found at the link below.
To find out whether a person is licensed to practice law in Tennessee, search the Board of Professional Responsibility of the Supreme Court of Tennessee’s website. The Administrative Office of the Court’s Self-Help Center provides additional information about the court system."
Complaint form
http://www.tn.gov/attorneygeneral/upl/uplc…
Tennessee Lt. Governor Ron Ramsey should force TNGA Senator Mae Beavers to resign the Senate Judiciary Committee Chair.
"If you favor activist judges just remember that activist conservative justices could take the Contitution all the way back to its original meaning and wouldn't liberals be in a snit then?"
Doubtful. Activist conservative judges are just as likely to abrogate "original intent" than anyone. PLs see Scalia'set al, assaults on individual rights vs. state security, secret prisons, corporate personhood, holding or even killing American citizens without due process, etc., etc. Again, gast, you're not a true conservative in the Goldwater mold, you're an Authoritarian.
@Packrat: I took that political placement test mentioned in another blog and came down smack in the middle, right on the crosshair. I'm a Centrist not an Authoritarian. You and my other detractors are extremist maniacs compared to me. What you fail to see is that I seldom advocate anything except that others abandon their fallacies. Or I point out small points that others have neglected in order to make their argument. You get all upset with me because I bring logic and reality to the debate.
