Posted on 01/17/2011 12:22:40 PM PST by BuckeyeTexan
On Jan. 8, 2011, Federal District Judge John Roll was gunned down by a maniacal coward lunatic. Since this unspeakable and unimaginable tragedy, much has been said about who caused this tragedy or who may have prompted its occurrence. Some of this rhetoric bordered on the absurd.
I would much rather talk about the good people who had their lives snuffed out before their time and to pay tribute to who they were and what they stood for. Certainly, a beautiful little 9-year-old angel, named Christina Green, deserves to have her life displayed as an example to others to learn from and enjoy.
So, I will do that regarding a man who changed my life and helped alter American history, Judge John M. Roll. He was an honest man and a principled judge. He stood for what he believed was right despite the possible consequences. I met Judge Roll back in 1994; in fact, it was in his courtroom. He was the judge who first heard my lawsuit against the Clinton Administration. Judge Roll had the courage to take a strong stand against the very entity that controlled his salary and career. He actually had the audacity to tell Congress and President Clinton that they exceeded their authority when they made the Brady Bill a law.
I was extremely nervous when I walked into Judge Roll's courtroom. There was a big crowd of supporters and numerous reporters and cameras outside the courthouse. Although I had been to court many times before, this was the first time it was in front of such a crowd of onlookers and the press and in federal court.
I remember looking at Judge Roll and relaxing somewhat; he was nice looking and rather young, about my age. He had already defended me with at least two pretrial motions that he ruled on, both in my favor. The first one was the federal government's attempt to remove me from the case entirely by claiming I had no standing to sue it in the first place. They argued that only the county's Board of Supervisors could represent the county in such legal actions.
Judge Roll said this was wrong because it was the sheriff being commandeered by the federal government, both officially and personally. Next, my lawyer asked for an injunction against the government from being able to arrest me for “failure to comply.” (There was an actual provision in the Brady Bill that threatened to arrest the sheriffs if we failed to comply with this unfunded mandate from Congress.)
Judge Roll seemed legitimately concerned about this threat throughout the entire lawsuit. Janet Reno herself wrote a memo to the judge and assured him that the feds had no intention of arresting me and that the threat of arrest within the language of the Brady bill was only intended for the gun shop owners, not the sheriffs. Judge Roll, as he announced his decision regarding the injunction, said that Janet Reno was not allowed to change the law “by fiat” nor interpret the law for Congress. “Mack's injunction is hereby granted,” the Judge said calmly and sternly.
Then as the hearing proceeded, I was called to the stand. The butterflies returned big time. As the Justice Department's lawyer cross- examined me, she did something unusual; she actually began to address the judge while I was still sitting on the stand. She said, “Why your honor, already in just the first four months of the implementation of the Brady background checks, we have denied over 250,000 felons from gaining access to handguns in this country.”
I was thinking to myself what a crock her numbers were and wondering why we had so many felons on the streets all trying to buy handguns in government-checked gun shops. Suddenly, Judge Roll interrupted the attorney and rebuked her with, “Counselor, do not pretend in this courtroom that your statistical analysis somehow equates to constitutionality.” I have to say that Roll's understanding of principles amazed me. He was so professional and knowledgeable. He took his job and the Constitution so seriously. He was truly an exemplary justice.
When Judge Roll issued his ruling on the Mack v. U.S. case on June 28, 1994, he said two things that absolutely floored me. The first one was the order of the court that summarized his findings:
“The Court finds that in enacting (the Brady Bill) Congress exceeded its authority under Article 1, section 8 of the United States Constitution, thereby impermissively encroaching upon the powers retained by the states pursuant to the 10th Amendment. The court further finds that the provision, in conjunction with the criminal sanctions its violation would engender, is unconstitutionally vague under the Fifth Amendment of the United States Constitution.”
Judge Roll, of all the dozens of judges who had heard this case from me and the other six sheriff defendants, was the only one who ruled that the Brady Bill violated the Fifth Amendment as well as the 10th. It was pursuant to Judge Roll's insight and sensitivity to the threat this “law” posed to us, the sheriffs, that this case made it all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.
When I read the other Judge Roll principle, it truly brought me to understand how astonishing this man really was. He said:
“Mack is thus forced to choose between keeping his oath or obeying the act, subjecting himself to possible sanctions.”
To have a federal judge actually grasp the full extent of my personal motivation for filing this case was absolutely remarkable. He touched my soul with this comment, and it is recorded in my books and memory forever. He was truly before his time. Now, his work is a part of American history. His legacy should be one of honesty, courage and living up to his oath as a true defender of our nation's rule of law. He changed my life and showed us all that the Constitution is still the supreme law of the land.
Richard Mack, former Graham County sheriff Safford
Ping to an editorial about the late Federal Judge John Roll upholding the 10th Amendment in a ruling on the Brady Bill.
Wow! Great memorial to a good Judge.
Pretty ironic that the judge who ruled that gun control is unconstitutional, was killed by a gunman....He died for what he believed in.
It is a two-part question I ask to a lot of people who are passionate about their freedom...
What are you prepared to do about it??? And, what are you prepared to sacrifice for it???”
The Judge did something about it, and he unwittingly sacrificed his life for it...
There is a real life lesson in this to be learned...
Roll also certified a lawsuit that allowed illegals to sue an American rancher.
Ping to butter!!!
He will be greatly missed. Now Obama will appoint some liberal whackjob. That is how he will honor Judge Roll’s memory. How civil is that?
Y’all ought to read Sheriff Mack’s book. It’s not thick, but it is poignant.
The Obama people would definitely want this judge gone and an Obama appointee to replace him - as the country grapples with the federal government’s total desecration of the Tenth Amendment and as this very shooting brings up the big cry for gun control again.
Please ~ping~ me to articles relating to the 10th Amendment/States Rights so I can engage the pinger.
If you want on or off the ping list just say the word.
Tenth Amendment Chronicles Thread
Tenth Amendment Center
Firearms Freedom Act
Health Care Nullification
| CLICK HERE TO FIND YOUR STATE REPRESENTATIVES |
I have read something to that affect also...didn’t the illegals end up getting the ranch?
I’m not sure of the outcome. I read about the case on FR and I think Drudge had a blurb on it.
“...and as this very shooting brings up the big cry for gun control again....”
It was never gone; it was just sitting a drawer, waiting for another “Bloody Shirt” moment so the Dems could wave it in the face of the tragedy.
They’ll dance in innocent blood to accomplish their Utopia.
How’s that for “civil discourse”??
Did you read the article about the White House coordinating media efforts at pinning Loughner to the Tea Party?
The native tongue of everyone in this administration - and the media - is lies. Disgusting.
True commie pigs, they are...for sure.
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