Posted on 08/22/2007 4:49:57 PM PDT by Utah Girl
As odd is it might seem, the next to last day of 2003 may someday be seen as a fateful moment for the traditional family. That is the when the United States Drug Enforcement Agency busted a pair of methamphetamine dealers in Philadelphia.
In a remarkable example of the corrosive force liberalism exerts on our society, the arrest of these drug dealers led to an opinion issued July 31 by U.S. District Judge Marvin Katz that -- if sustained by the Supreme Court -- could erase the special status marriage and the traditional family enjoy in American law.
(snip) The rules for enforcing Standard Condition No. 9, it turns out, include a blanket exception that allows a convicted felon on probation to associate with another convicted felon if they are spouses or blood relatives. Mangini and Roberts claimed this unfairly discriminated against them, violating their rights to "due process" and equal protection of the law under the Fifth Amendment.
(snip) "They considered, and still consider, themselves to be spouses," Judge Katz explained in his July 31 opinion. "Defendants were in every way a family."
The judge pointed out that the two men took in Roberts' niece as a foster child; and at one point in his opinion, he called them the niece's "two fathers."
Initially ruling on the case in January, Katz opined that the men's constitutional claim "may have merit," but that he could not rule on it because he lacked jurisdiction. Then in early July, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit ruled that Katz did have jurisdiction and sent the case back to him.
Katz now swung for the fences. Citing Lawrence v. Texas, the 2003 Supreme Court decision which absurdly held that the Constitution prohibits states from banning same-sex sodomy, he declared:
(Excerpt) Read more at townhall.com ...
Because of this, he argued, probation rules must treat two unmarried men who claim an “intimate association” just as if they were a married couple or a brother and a sister. “The Probation Office has violated defendants’ Fifth Amendment right to equal protection by refusing to grant defendants permission to associate with each other, while maintaining a policy of granting such permission to similarly situated individuals in other kinds of family relationships (i.e., siblings, parent and child, and spouses),” he said.
Many Americans have been worried that a federal judge will declare same-sex marriage a right. In fact, Judge Katz’s decision goes beyond that. It suggests that government must treat all claimed “intimate associations” equally.
If that becomes the law of the land, three drug dealers living together in the same apartment, or even a commune full of 1960s hippies, will become the legal equivalent of mom and dad.
Make it stop...I don’t want to have to move out of the country. Imagine, my values are being chased out of the USA while illegal immigrants are welcomed with open arms.
And where are you going to move to?
Folks better get used to the idea of a fight for this Republic. There are people that are activly taking it away from us as we speak.
And if you don't feel up to the fight, plan support for those that do.
How long until the stupidity in this country reaches critical mass?
Apples and oranges. High probability it will be overturned on appeal. A “catch-22” as it were.
“...The rules for enforcing Standard Condition No. 9, it turns out, include a blanket exception that allows a convicted felon on probation to associate with another convicted felon if they are spouses or blood relatives...”
Not “intimate”, but married. Ergo, since these two are not married, they cannot associate as felons, any more than a guy and his girlfriend convicted of felonies, can associate.
And even though Massachusetts recognizes homosexual marriage, it is not *federally* recognized. And the feds do not recognize “civil unions” or cohabitation “common law marriage”, as being equivalent to marriage as far as this law goes.
Dang right. It is the only USA we have.
Folks say if your gonna be a bear, be a grizzly.
Well, if your gonna fight for a country, may as well be the USA.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.