Letters on Kentucky clerk, separation of powers
Davis was elected to serve the law
Kim Davis, a county clerk in Kentucky, doesn’t want to do her job and live up to her sworn duty because she has a personal bias or prejudice, which she says is a matter of faith. Of course, she was not elected to fulfill a faith function; she was elected to follow the law.
The immediate bee in Davis’ bonnet is gay marriage. What if she didn’t want to issue a license to Jews, Muslims or Roman Catholics? What if she had a deeply held political belief or social belief? What if you have to wear shoes, not sandals, to be served by Davis, because her sense of proper decorum demands it?
Why should one’s religion be the only phony objection? And, yes, religion is a phony objection in this instance, because the law is about every citizen’s civil rights and equal treatment under law.
When our society makes accommodations, we make it as universal as possible. We don’t make wheelchair ramps only for people of faith. We went through the “whites only” process until we learned that equality is a garment that cloaks all of us, not the few of us.
No one has deprived Davis of her beliefs. We have merely pointed out she was not elected to serve her brand of faith but to serve the law.
JOHN R. MAXWELL
Wichita
Grabbed powers
Whatever happened to the separation of powers as laid down in the Constitution?
Recently, unelected judges in the courts, both federal and state, have ignored the Constitution and grabbed powers reserved only to the legislatures. They are now making laws instead of interpreting them.
The members of legislatures are elected by the citizens to represent the wishes of the people. Unelected judges have taken it upon themselves to overturn laws voted on by the people and their elected representatives. And we are letting them get away with it.
Our founders wisely set up three equal branches of government to protect us from the tyranny experienced when these powers become unbalanced. The founders came to America at great personal sacrifices, because they had experienced the oppression resulting from other forms of government. They established a government designed to be “of the people, by the people and for the people.”
When nine unelected black-robed judges (none of whom comes from the Midwest) can by one vote (usually 5-4) overturn laws voted on by the people, we have lost our representative form of government and our freedoms. The courts cannot make a law constitutional. But, sadly, they can make it legal.
GRAYCE ABEL
Winfield
Will you be denied?
If a county clerk’s religion is against guns, can she deny me a gun permit? If a clerk’s religion is against alcohol, can he deny me a liquor license? Someday, if there is something you want to do and if it is against a county clerk’s religion, will you be denied?
DANIEL T. CARRASCO
Wichita
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This story was originally published September 9, 2015 at 7:04 PM with the headline "Letters on Kentucky clerk, separation of powers."