Posted on 12/29/2015 10:43:05 AM PST by Timber Rattler
Melissa Klein was checking her bank accounts just a few weeks before Christmas when her face turned ashen. The money was gone - every single penny.
Oregon's Bureau of Labor and Industries had confiscated all the cash in Mrs. Klein's checking account and savings account as well as a special account set aside for their church tithe.
(snip)
"It was like my breath was taken away," Mrs. Klein told me in a telephone conversation. "I panicked. Everything was gone."
And, as I said before, Commissioner Avakian even seized money set aside for You Know Who.
"We had three accounts," she told me. "I have one account that's labeled, 'Godâs money' - our tithing. They just took it."
Attorney Tyler Smith, who represents the Kleins, tells me his clients still plan on fighting the state's decision - even if it means going to the Supreme Court.
"The least expensive option to stay in compliance with the law was to pay the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries funds that will be kept in a separate account until they prevail in their court appeal," Smith told me in a prepared statement.
He said the couple had asked the state to hold off on collection attempts - but that request was denied.
(snip)
Avakian has publicly stated his intentions to target Christian business owners who do not comply with the state's way of thinking. Here's what he told The Oregonian about Sweet Cakes By Melissa in 2013:
"The goal is never to shut down a business. The goal is to rehabilitate."
I've never met Brad Avakian but he sounds like a pretty ruthless individual - a person who is using his office to bully and intimidate Christians.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
14th Amendment, Section 1: 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 [emphasis added]; 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.
In the case of the Klines, misguided Oregon state activist officials are wrongly using a state right that is not reasonably based on any constitutionally enumerated right to trump a constitutionally enumerated right, 1st Amendment protected religious expression in this case.
Why didn’t they get the help they needed?
Not Nancy’s Beard...
Its Fascism, pure and simple
If that Republican President is Marco Rubio or Chris Christie, NO.
If he is named Ted Cruz or Donald Trump, more than likely YES.
Doesn’t by one use the statute for violation of civil rights under color of law anymore?! Sue this jerk commissioner personally. Sovereign and administrative immunities do NOT apply!
[[Avakian has publicly stated his intentions to target Christian business owners who do not comply with the state’s way of thinking. ]]
This ruthless Christian hater is a descendant of the Armeneans that fled to this country as the Turks started the their genocide. It’s too bad the Turks didn’t lop off his head.
There are liberal activists in high places in that state. They had no option. The left wants tolerance for perversity but not for religion.
There is at least some comfort in knowing that should we ever cross paths, I'm not going to do anything to him he wouldn't have done to me first given the opportunity.
The non-violent and proper way is an economic strike:
1. no vacationing in Oregon
2. stay in Vancouver, WA if on out-of-town business in Portland
3. threaten to/move your business out of Oregon
4. do not expand or start a new business in Oregon
until
the fines and all other charges have been reversed/reimbursed by the State of Oregon and an apology given
The planning was excellent.
They can sue the state and all responsible individuals for seizing the tithing money and almost certainly will.
Trying to keep the cases straight. Is this the same case where it was recently reported the couple paid their fine? So now we are learning it was seized from them?
5. ID the evil doers and post all of their personal information online. All of it, to include pattern of life.
“I would have at least pulled the cash out of those accounts before Avakian could get his grubby hands on it.”
Exactly. Did it before back in college and knew friends who faced garnishments before. Even when the first warning letter comes in, WITHDRAW. But keep it open with some money.
[[They do not have legislative powers.]]
So you are saying they can’t enforce gay marriage In the states? The supreme court doesn’t have legislative powers either- it can only rule on legislation already on the books- but they legislated that gay marriage is now a protected ‘right’ under the constitution and the president has declared it a national law now
Exactly. This is basic self-defense from BIG Brother 101. Why didn’t they shelter their assets from this petty tyrant?
Then it would have thrown this into federal court. Something is not right here...they seem to be getting very bad legal advice.
Not the smartest folks in town, are they? If you have a judgment against you, you don’t leave your cash lying around in easy to find bank accounts.
Yes. The state first seized $7,000 from three of their private accounts, and then their lawyer dropped a check off for $129,000 and change, drawn from their crowd sourcing site, to pay off the rest of the “debt.” Apparently all the money has been dropped into escrow until the appeal is settled at some point in the future.
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.