Alan Korwin proposed a new law:
The U.S. Constitution, for all its strengths, revered and imitated worldwide, has a fatal flaw. A weakness of Greek-tragedy proportions. The Constitution lacks punishment for those who would violate its terms. Yes, there are avenues of recourse, but these have been neutered and rendered feckless in so many ways.
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What America needs, what our Republic and Constitution need, is strict adherence to a policy of, “No infringement shall be tolerated.” Small encroachments—like licenses to carry arms or speech codes—must subject people proposing such violations to penalties. Gross infringements like, “We’re going to take away your favorite rifle—and of course we’ll keep ours,” require prison terms. Stiff penalties.
I’m not sure why 18 USC 242 doesn’t cover what his has in mind. Regardless, if there were a means of reliable prosecution I believe the concept is sound.
Any legislator who votes for three or more laws that are found unconstitutional shall immediately be suspended from the legislature and must be reconfirmed by special election after serving a 180 day suspension. His seat will remain vacant during the suspension. Sort of a legislative penalty box.
Any lower court judge whose decisions are overturned by a higher court more than 10 percent of the time will be removed from the bench.
The problem with 18 USC 242, and other laws of that kind, is that there is no provision for a citizen to bring a case under that law. It’s possible in theory for a US Attorney to bring charges under that law, but that isn’t going to happen.
Professional courtesy. The same reason sharks don’t eat lawyers.
18 USC 241 & 242 are “foxes guarding the henhouse” laws. They look nice in black ink on a white page, but their application is controlled by the very people they are designed to affect.
As for DM’s comment, sorry DM, you’re being way too kind and generous; the Constitution is available to study, as is a great deal of scholarly information on why is was written the way it was, and why its provisions exist.
Meaning it’s “one and done” for violators of the Constitutional trust. If a legislator, or a bureaucrat, proposes a law or regulation that is in violation of the Constitution’s precepts or, worse yet, expends effort in an attempt to enact such a law, they have demonstrated a propensity to violate the trust emplaced in them and as such, can no longer be trusted to comply with their oath of office. Immediately gone from office upon conviction in federal court with complete loss of all benefits and a lifetime ban of serving in public office, or any governmental body, by election or appointment, in the United States is appropriate.
Reserve the mandatory federal no-parole jail term for those who enact such laws, and if that means incarcerating the majority of a particular legislative body, and the signing authority, so be it.
So long as these laws are unenforced by those we delegate the agency powers to, the laws might as well not exist. The Army doctrine on obstacles, primarily minefields, but wire as well, is that if it is not covered by fire it is not an obstacle.
Of all the elements of a constitutional republic these usurpers are ignorant of, it may be that statute.
And we should not believe that they are ignorant of the law and merely need to study. They know what they aren’t supposed to do. That is why they lie about what the constitution and the law actually say.
The problem with 242 is that it is enforced by the Civil Rights Division of the DOJ. If you think the DOJ in general is stocked with leftists, the CRD is an order of magnitude worse.
The people tasked with punishing those who abuse our Rights are the same people who are ABUSING OUR RIGHTS. Expecting them to ever actually enforce any punishments for their own crimes is ludicrous. Want to punish someone in power for abusing your rights? Do it yourself…because otherwise it’s NOT HAPPENING. That…..is reality.