No one here has ever claimed it was. The BOR's is not a 'cultural norm'. Inalienable rights apply to all citizens of the USA.The Fourteenth Amendment has been interpreted to mean that the "Congress shall make no law.." provisions of the Bill of Rights cannot be violated by state legislatures either. For that reason alone it deserves re-affirmation, and if Ohio never ratified it, we should. If nothing else it may end some of the whining.
-Eric
In what respect do you believe the Ohio Bill of Rights fails to protect Ohioans from the Legislature, to the same extent that the Federal Bill of Rights protects us from the actions of Congress?
What the 14th Amendment, however, has wrought in Ohio has been a veritable disaster for our rights to self-Government. These are only some of the "benefits":
1. It was interpreted to take away the Ohio Constitutional provision that every County have at least one Representative in the State Legislature. As a result, some of our rural Counties are only represented by representatives from outside the County--and their votes may be so diluted, that as a practical matter, their county may never have a realistic voice in Columbus.
2. School busing and school district lines contrived for social experiments, have been ordered by Federal Courts.
3. Abortion on demand has been instituted, after the invalidation of our anti-abortion laws.
4. The Criminal Justice system has been made vastly more expensive, as local Police procedures, Court convictions, etc., have all come under added layers of Federal scrutiny, appeals, etc.. If you want to protect the rights of the accused--as do I, who represent people accused of violating the law, as a regular part of my practice--the logical remedy is in our own Legislature, in the selection of our own Judges, etc.. We do not need the present confusion of remedial jurisdiction, nor the demeaning Federal involvement.
5. The fact that residence for voting has been reduced to almost no duration is another reflection of the impact of the 14th Amendment. Don't you think it might be reasonable for a State--and the communities within a State--to require some time to become familiar with the issues and personalities in a community, before having a say in their future?
6. It is also the 14th Amendment, which the ACLU has used to get prayer banned from schools; to have the Ten Commandments taken down from public places, etc.. (Incidentally, while most people realize that the Commandments had a religious origin, the last six deal with secular, not theological issues, and are the underpinning for centuries of development in our civil and criminal laws.) Don't you think that an Ohio town ought to have the right to determine for themselves whether to display or not to display such cultural materials? But note, whether you think they should or not, isn't the issue one which Ohio ought to be able to determine, without Federal intervention?
William Flax Return Of The Gods Web Site