Dateline Missoula March 3, 2010.
A street kid, Jacob Wilson, Age 20, currently attending the University of Montana for Sociology was out and about the bars on Higgins Street Monday evening, and came upon 3 big University sports players surrounding and harassing a smaller weaker guy. Being the good samaritan type, he immediately interposed himself in the intense situation and proceeded to talk to them for 45 minutes until 5 police arrived.
One of the policemen took him aside and badgered him with threatening body and voice behaviors. The kid was really scared. The policeman wanted to find out if this kid knew the identities of the participants of the situation, but the kid didn't. Then, the policeman switched tactics and because they were outside a bar, demanded that the kid take a "breathalyzer test." When the kid "no", because he hadn't had antyhing to drink, the policeman said that it was to bad "the city hadn't given him the power to write the kid a $300 ticket for refusing." But, he brightened, I can give you a ticket for Minor in Possession (M.I.P.), instead. So he gave the kid the ticket. The kid had nothing in his possession and was taken before a City Judge, where he pleaded "not guilty with Jury Trial." The judge released him on his own recognizance.
I talked to the kid yesterday and he was very upset and didn't know what he was going to do. The criminal M.I.P. offense carries a fine but no jail time, so he is S.O.L. getting a state public defender. I suggested he go to legal aid and ask for their help. I will try to keep you informed as his "case" progresses.
Dateline March 22, 2010...
The City of Missoula will take up legislation on this date to Consider an ordinance amending Missoula Municipal Code Title 10, entitled
"Vehicles and Traffic," by adding Chapter 56 entitled "Refusal to submit to alcohol
and/or drug tests" and enacting sections 10.56.010 through 10.56.030.
Passing this ordinance will allow City police to give a $300 ticket to "anyone" refusing alcohol and/or drug tests demanded by the police. This ordinance will violate Our Right to Privacy (Art. ll - Section Sec. 10, MT Const.); Our Individual Dignity (Art. ll - Section Sec. 4, MT Const.); Our Individual Dignity (Art. ll - Section Sec. 4, MT Const.); as well as other Rights Unemnumerated (Art. ll - Section Sec. 34, MT Const.).
So why is the Missoula City Council doing this instead of exploring programs to help their constituents with alcohol dependency? Alcohol is a Drug — the most commonly used and widely abused psychoactive drug in the world. It is completely legal and easily and readily available and alcohol is a disease — a chronic, progressive, fatal disease if not treated. And, Every year, more money is spent promoting the use of alcohol than any other product. So why isn't Our City Council doing more to combat the effects of alcoholism?
One answer is to look at ALL the revenue that various levels of government receive from the sale and promotion of alcohol and related products. Now, go ahead and ask yourself and ask your City Councilors, what will this new $300 ticket do to combat alcoholism? If the City Council is so concerned, why don't they just ban the sale and/or consumption of alcohol in the City? It is a Dangerous Drug after all.
As always, Think about it and I’d like to encourage your comments about this important topic. Please feel free to ask your City Councilor, County Commissioner for their stand on this important issue.
Rick Gold
Missoula, MT
Showing posts with label Individual Dignity. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Individual Dignity. Show all posts
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
The U.S., Montana and Equal Protection under the Law
The U.S. Constitution guarantees in the 14th Amendment, Section 1 that, All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.
And;
In Montana, our Constitution guarantees in Article ll – Section 4. Individual dignity. The dignity of the human being is inviolable. No person shall be denied the equal protection of the laws. Neither the state nor any person, firm, corporation, or institution shall discriminate against any person in the exercise of his civil or political rights on account of race, color, sex, culture, social origin or condition, or political or religious ideas.
So,
What exactly, does equal protection of the laws mean in and for Montana? The Montana Supreme Court has held that:
"The principal purpose of the Equal Protection Clause, Article II, Section 4, of the Montana Constitution, is to ensure that persons who are citizens are not subject to arbitrary and discriminatory state action." Davis v. Union Pacific Ry. Co., 282 Mont. 233, 240, 937 P.2d 27, 31 (1997) "[A] party claiming violation of the right to equal protection must first demonstrate that the law at issue discriminates by impermissibly classifying individuals and treating them differently based on that classification. Once the classification has been identified and it has been established that members of the different classes are similarly situated, we determine the appropriate level of scrutiny to apply." State v. Ellis, 2007 MT 210, ¶ 20, 339 Mont. 14, ¶ 20, 167 P.3d 896, ¶ 20. We apply strict scrutiny to laws which affect "fundamental rights, intermediate scrutiny for laws conferred by the Montana Constitution but not found in the Declaration of Rights, or rational basis if neither strict scrutiny nor intermediate scrutiny applies." Ellis, ¶ 11.
Yet, in their three narrow applications of equal rights thus far classified, the Supreme Court of Montana, has yet to "unambiguously erase their desires" (see Judge Neill below) concerning the self-executing, self-administering and self-fulfilling Rights of the inviolability of human dignity as well as our Fundamental Rights, our Enumerated Inalienable Rights and our UnEnumerated Rights.
Montana District Judge Kenneth R. Neill was on the right track in a ruling April 15, 2009, when stated in his opinion, “assistance of counsel is a fundamental right guaranteed by the U.S. and Montana constitutions.” And that a change in (Montana) state law, effective in 2006, “unambiguously erased the judge’s desires in the matter of appointing a public defender.” Read the Great Falls Tribune story here … http://www.greatfallstribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2009904220314
So, Judge Neill who has sworn the same oath of office as our Supreme Court Justices are required to swear before entering into office in Montana: "I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support, protect and defend the constitution of the United States, and the constitution of the state of Montana, and that I will discharge the duties of my office with fidelity (so help me God)." Article III - Section 3, Montana Constitution
In protecting and defending, Judge Neill applied the broadest application for a fundamental right guaranteed by the U.S. and Montana constitutions by removing himself and his desires in favor of insuring a fundamental right guaranteed by the U.S. and Montana constitutions.
And so, this is the fourth (and easiest) application of an equal protection under the Law, one of a Justice sworn to support, protect and defend the constitution removing oneself and ones desires in favor of insuring a fundamental right guaranteed by the U.S. and Montana constitutions.
Think about it ….As always, please let me have your comments on this important topic, thanks!
And;
In Montana, our Constitution guarantees in Article ll – Section 4. Individual dignity. The dignity of the human being is inviolable. No person shall be denied the equal protection of the laws. Neither the state nor any person, firm, corporation, or institution shall discriminate against any person in the exercise of his civil or political rights on account of race, color, sex, culture, social origin or condition, or political or religious ideas.
So,
What exactly, does equal protection of the laws mean in and for Montana? The Montana Supreme Court has held that:
"The principal purpose of the Equal Protection Clause, Article II, Section 4, of the Montana Constitution, is to ensure that persons who are citizens are not subject to arbitrary and discriminatory state action." Davis v. Union Pacific Ry. Co., 282 Mont. 233, 240, 937 P.2d 27, 31 (1997) "[A] party claiming violation of the right to equal protection must first demonstrate that the law at issue discriminates by impermissibly classifying individuals and treating them differently based on that classification. Once the classification has been identified and it has been established that members of the different classes are similarly situated, we determine the appropriate level of scrutiny to apply." State v. Ellis, 2007 MT 210, ¶ 20, 339 Mont. 14, ¶ 20, 167 P.3d 896, ¶ 20. We apply strict scrutiny to laws which affect "fundamental rights, intermediate scrutiny for laws conferred by the Montana Constitution but not found in the Declaration of Rights, or rational basis if neither strict scrutiny nor intermediate scrutiny applies." Ellis, ¶ 11.
Yet, in their three narrow applications of equal rights thus far classified, the Supreme Court of Montana, has yet to "unambiguously erase their desires" (see Judge Neill below) concerning the self-executing, self-administering and self-fulfilling Rights of the inviolability of human dignity as well as our Fundamental Rights, our Enumerated Inalienable Rights and our UnEnumerated Rights.
Montana District Judge Kenneth R. Neill was on the right track in a ruling April 15, 2009, when stated in his opinion, “assistance of counsel is a fundamental right guaranteed by the U.S. and Montana constitutions.” And that a change in (Montana) state law, effective in 2006, “unambiguously erased the judge’s desires in the matter of appointing a public defender.” Read the Great Falls Tribune story here … http://www.greatfallstribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2009904220314
So, Judge Neill who has sworn the same oath of office as our Supreme Court Justices are required to swear before entering into office in Montana: "I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support, protect and defend the constitution of the United States, and the constitution of the state of Montana, and that I will discharge the duties of my office with fidelity (so help me God)." Article III - Section 3, Montana Constitution
In protecting and defending, Judge Neill applied the broadest application for a fundamental right guaranteed by the U.S. and Montana constitutions by removing himself and his desires in favor of insuring a fundamental right guaranteed by the U.S. and Montana constitutions.
And so, this is the fourth (and easiest) application of an equal protection under the Law, one of a Justice sworn to support, protect and defend the constitution removing oneself and ones desires in favor of insuring a fundamental right guaranteed by the U.S. and Montana constitutions.
Think about it ….As always, please let me have your comments on this important topic, thanks!
Friday, May 22, 2009
Unbiased, Unprejudiced Individual Dignity
The Montana Constitution's Section 4. Individual Dignity. "The dignity of the human being is inviolable. No person shall be denied the equal protection of the laws. Neither the state nor any person, firm, corporation, or institution shall discriminate against any person in the exercise of his civil or political rights on account of race, color, sex, culture, social origin or condition, or political or religious ideas."
Thus, in framing this section representatives to Montana's 1972 Constitutional Convention recognized that these prohibitions would and should be self-executing . So what exactly was this "Individual Dignity" that our representatives were envisioning for Montana's future? Why is it so important for Montanan's to create and maintain an Unbiased, Unprejudiced Individual Dignity for all of US?
From the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of the United Nations - " Whereas: recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world ... Therefore: All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood...All are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to equal protection of the law. All are entitled to equal protection against any discrimination in violation of this Declaration and against any incitement to such discrimination."
"Dignity does not come in possessing honors, but in deserving them." Aristotle (384-322 BC) Greek philosopher
"A society that does not recognize that each individual has values of his own which he is entitled to follow can have no respect for the dignity of the individual and cannot really know freedom." Fredrich August von Hayek (1899-1992), Nobel Laureate of Economic Sciences 1974
"No government is respectable which is not just. Without unspotted purity of public faith, without sacred public principle, fidelity, and honor, no machinery of laws, can give dignity to political society."Daniel Webster (1782-1852), US Senator
"The constitutional right of free expression… is designed and intended to remove governmental restraints from the arena of public discussion, putting the decision as to what views shall be voiced in the hands of each of us, in the hope that the use of such freedom will ultimately produce a more capable citizenry and more perfect polity and in the belief that no other approach would comport with the premise of individual dignity and choice upon which our political systems rests." John Marshall Harlan (1899-1971) U. S. Supreme Court Justice
"A society that does not recognize that each individual has values of his own which he is entitled to follow can have no respect for the dignity of the individual and cannot really know freedom." Fredrich August von Hayek (1899-1992), Nobel Laureate of Economic Sciences 1974
As always, please let me have your comments on this important topic, thanks ...
Thus, in framing this section representatives to Montana's 1972 Constitutional Convention recognized that these prohibitions would and should be self-executing . So what exactly was this "Individual Dignity" that our representatives were envisioning for Montana's future? Why is it so important for Montanan's to create and maintain an Unbiased, Unprejudiced Individual Dignity for all of US?
From the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of the United Nations - " Whereas: recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world ... Therefore: All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood...All are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to equal protection of the law. All are entitled to equal protection against any discrimination in violation of this Declaration and against any incitement to such discrimination."
"Dignity does not come in possessing honors, but in deserving them." Aristotle (384-322 BC) Greek philosopher
"A society that does not recognize that each individual has values of his own which he is entitled to follow can have no respect for the dignity of the individual and cannot really know freedom." Fredrich August von Hayek (1899-1992), Nobel Laureate of Economic Sciences 1974
"No government is respectable which is not just. Without unspotted purity of public faith, without sacred public principle, fidelity, and honor, no machinery of laws, can give dignity to political society."Daniel Webster (1782-1852), US Senator
"The constitutional right of free expression… is designed and intended to remove governmental restraints from the arena of public discussion, putting the decision as to what views shall be voiced in the hands of each of us, in the hope that the use of such freedom will ultimately produce a more capable citizenry and more perfect polity and in the belief that no other approach would comport with the premise of individual dignity and choice upon which our political systems rests." John Marshall Harlan (1899-1971) U. S. Supreme Court Justice
"A society that does not recognize that each individual has values of his own which he is entitled to follow can have no respect for the dignity of the individual and cannot really know freedom." Fredrich August von Hayek (1899-1992), Nobel Laureate of Economic Sciences 1974
As always, please let me have your comments on this important topic, thanks ...
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