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The EPA vs. the Constitution (Supreme Court prepares to hear a major 5th Amendment case.)
Reason.com ^ | December 15, 2011 | Damon W. Root

Posted on 12/16/2011 7:24:45 PM PST by bamahead

The Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution declares that no person shall be “deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law.” ... It’s one of the cornerstones of our entire legal system, with roots dating back at least as far as the Magna Carta, which declared, “No free man...shall be stripped of his rights or possessions...except by the lawful judgment of his equals or by the law of the land.”

Unfortunately, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) prefers a less venerable form of justice, as the Supreme Court will hear next month during oral arguments in the case of Sackett v. Environmental Protection Agency. At issue is the EPA’s enforcement of the Clean Water Act through so-called administrative compliance orders, which are government commands that allow the agency to control the use of private property without the annoyance of having to subject its actions to judicial review.

The case started four years ago when a married couple named Mike and Chantell Sackett received an EPA compliance order instructing them to stop construction on what was supposed to be their dream home near Priest Lake, Idaho. The government claimed their .63-acre lot was a federally-protected wetland, but that was news to the Sacketts, who had procured all the necessary local permits. Their lot ... was in fact zoned for residential use ...

--SNIP--

According to the terms of the Clean Water Act, they may not challenge the order until the EPA first seeks judicial enforcement of it, a process that could take years. In the meantime, the Sacketts risk $32,500 in fines per day if they fail to comply. And complying doesn’t just mean they have to stop building; they must also return the lot to its original condition at their own expense.

(Excerpt) Read more at reason.com ...


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Front Page News; Government; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: bloodoftyrants; communism; deadepawalking; donttreadonme; dueprocess; envirofascsim; epa; epaisajoke; govtabuse; govtjackboots; liberalfascism; lping; nobama2012; nodemocrats2012; obama; policestate; rapeofliberty; sackett; scotus; scotusepa; socialism; socialistdemocrats; tyranny
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To: denydenydeny
I realize that judicial culture fetishizes the concept of precedent but eventually the Supreme Court is going to have to rein in the EPA if the Constitution is to have any meaning.

They need to overturn Wickard v Filburn. It was an atrocity, and the EPA it's spawn.

21 posted on 12/17/2011 5:24:42 AM PST by tacticalogic (e)
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To: txhurl
Demolish the EPA - Rick Perry.

Only if he can remember to...

22 posted on 12/17/2011 5:33:51 AM PST by raybbr (People who still support Obama are either a Marxist or a moron.)
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To: GladesGuru

“Think of a perverted Feminazi in spike heels and net stockings, dressed in the hyde of a nauga, and cracking a whip.”
//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Uh, uh, don’t wanta, not now, not ever, ‘speshly that there hyde ov a Nauga. Folks ortn’t tuh go ‘roun skinnin’ them Naugas.


23 posted on 12/17/2011 6:08:13 AM PST by RipSawyer (This does not end well!)
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To: bamahead

The government oppresses the American people and legally steals from them. The states need to stop this evil federal government agency from recklessly stealing money from citizens and destoying their lives. I pray the Lord Jesus Christ protect these souls from the evil federal government should the states fail to take their Constitutional powers to themselves and protect thier citizens from the dictators of DC who are renegade devils at this present time.


24 posted on 12/17/2011 7:21:57 AM PST by kindred (wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ ...)
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To: bamahead

Hmm, back in the days of a sane America, the idea that a government agency could even think of doing such a thing would’ve been preposterous. Shows how low we’ve gone when a person’s right to their property doesn’t just have to be defended, by actually recognized first.


25 posted on 12/17/2011 9:06:20 AM PST by RWB Patriot ("My ability is a value that must be purchased and I don't recognize anyone's need as a claim on me.")
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To: jimfree

exactly what it is


26 posted on 12/17/2011 11:48:12 AM PST by GeronL (The Right to Life came before the Right to Pursue Happiness)
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To: bamahead

After Kelo, you would be foolish to think that the Black Robed Tyrants will protect anyone, except of course the Statists and those that empower them.


27 posted on 12/17/2011 1:54:13 PM PST by itsahoot (Throw them all out! Especially the Frugal Socialists who call themselves Republicans.)
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To: bamahead

Executive legislation is prevented by the Constitution. That it is tolerated is absurd. It violates, clearly, the Separation of Powers enshrined in the Constitution.

There were/are two arguments in favor of agency made law:

1. Emergencies - this is how they were instituted, but once the crisis is passed the tyranny remains.

2. Convenience - this argument has two parts, each of which attempts to stand on its own.

A. It’s part of the Necessary and Proper Clause

“The Congress shall have Power - To make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers, and all other Powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of the United States, or in any Department or Officer there of.”

Why have a Congress if they just delegate lawmaking authority to the Executive? This one is absurd on its face.

B. The second one avoids any Constitutional veneer and simply says, “In a modern nation you simply cannot have government managed by the votes of Congress. There must be a professional class monitoring, administrating and managing the ‘business’ of government.” This argument appeals to the weaker minds on both the Left and Right.

For this you must understand the only and fundamental purpose of the American experiment in governance - the preservation of individual liberty. The Founders weren’t fools and clearly absolute individual liberty is a formula for anarchy first and despotism second. We must be united and strong enough to dissuade would be tyrants, both internal and external.

That said, the purpose of government isn’t to manage the economy, American lives, or to even work to keep us safe. Fraud is always against the law. It breaks the 9th Commandment and Natural Law. The current size and scope of the Federal Government is outside its Constitutional bounds. National problems can be managed through temporary state created institutions focusing on a limited problem.


28 posted on 12/17/2011 3:24:53 PM PST by 1010RD (First, Do No Harm)
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To: bamahead
The EPA and Obama are hell bent on destroying the oil business in Texas. Starting with a friggin lizard they say is endangered to hydraulic fracking.

Listen up all you EPA goons. Word is, these oil companies will begin placing armed guards at the gates of these rigs to protect it's employees AND their possesions.

Just keep it up fellas, it's all fun and games until someone loses their life.

29 posted on 12/18/2011 8:03:13 AM PST by unixfox (Abolish Slavery, Repeal The 16th Amendment!)
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To: Future Useless Eater

At last count the EPA had 4,200 new regulations ready to impose on the public: 845 will affect small businesses, and 100 will cost $100 million each or more. Obummer’s agenda for 2011 includes 219 regulations that cost $100 million each, seven costing $1 billion each, and the tempoary delayed ozone regulation cost is more than $90 billion.

The environmental extremists’ actions to create more onerous regulations are a greater threat to our economy and way of life than higher taxes, Wall Street Banks, illegal aliens and/or home grown or foreign terroists combined!


30 posted on 12/18/2011 4:15:51 PM PST by hapnHal (hapnHal)
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To: bamahead

>In the meantime, the Sacketts risk $32,500 in fines per day if they fail to comply.

What about the Eighth?


31 posted on 12/20/2011 2:58:27 PM PST by OneWingedShark (Q: Why am I here? A: To do Justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with my God.)
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