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The Dismantling of Civility
Lewis
Goldberg
06/30/2003
In
a recent Washington Post
story entitled 'Supreme
Court Strikes Down Gay Sex Ban, it is reported that the sovereign
states of the Union may no longer enforce laws related to 'deviant' sexual
acts. This decision has been heralded as a step forward by gay advocacy
groups as well as several other special interest lobbies that have
supported the repeal of the allegedly outdated sodomy laws. Two major steps
backward have actually occurred due to the 6-3 ruling - in which Justices
Rehnquist, Scalia, and Thomas dissented - as well as one grand opportunity
for the several states' affected by the decision.
The
most obvious negative arises from the inability for states to use sodomy
laws to prosecute certain violent crimes. The frequent use of sodomy laws
to prosecute practicing homosexuals is long out of practice, the recent
Texas case that led to the late decision being a rare exception.
Prosecutors in the nine states with the strictest sodomy laws [AL, FL, ID,
LA, MS, NC, SC, UT, and VA,] have been able to use these laws against
rapist who also sodomize their victims, and then try to claim that it was
'all consensual.' [In those nine states, even consensual sodomy is
prohibited.] This ensured that the sodomizing rapist was guaranteed to get
some prison time, even if he was able to weasel out of the other charges.
This tool will no longer be available, and will have a negative impact on
the rape prosecution rate in the aforementioned states.
The
other negative arises from the simple fact that the Supreme Court has once
again - as it did in Roe v Wade [another Texas case] - overstep their
constitutional bounds in telling a state what kind of laws it can make
regarding the behaviour of its citizens. Just as there is no constitutional
right to murder one's baby, there is also no right to, shall we say, go in
through the out-door. And while the American consumer has to endure warning
labels on everything from ladders ["Do not stand above this
step"] to paint ["Do Not Drink" - like, duh!], they have
also just been informed that a behaviour, which is not only prohibited by
God in the Bible [Lev. 20:13,] but is also highly likely to deliver the
AIDS virus, is just fine for public engagement - and the states have been
rendered powerless to do anything about it.
The
one grand opportunity in all this is for the State of Texas - as well as
the other 12 states that used to have some level of anti-sodomy law - is
the opportunity to stand up to this affront to States' Rights. Texas was
born as a free and independent nation, and has a perfect window to capture
that independent spirit once again and effectively tell the Supreme Court,
"No. You've gone too far this time."
Such
a reaction could be manifest in anything ranging from nullification of the
decision to outright secession - the former, of course, being the most
tenable. But in the world of dreams, can we imagine even the Federal
Government being able to push Texas around? The Texas of Myth is the land
where everything is big and powerful. Ironically, the myth is based on
reality. Of all the states in the Union, Texas is the very one that most
likely could pull off a nullification or a secession. In this age of
gelding-states and sissified governors, we will not hold our breath.
Your comments and questions are encouraged. [editor@patriotist.com]
Patriotist
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