And you thought it couldn’t get any crazier. A group of legislators in North Carolina, disgruntled over a federal court ruling prohibiting expressly Christian prayer to open meetings of public bodies, have introduced legislation that would…oh, here it is; read it for yourself from House Bill 494:
“The Constitution of the United States does not grant the federal government and does not grant the federal courts the power to determine what is or is not constitutional; therefore, by virtue of the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, the power to determine constitutionality and the proper interpretation and proper application of the Constitution is reserved to the states and to the people,” the bill states. “Each state in the union is sovereign and may independently determine how that state may make laws respecting an establishment of religion.”
The bill goes on to say:
SECTION 1. The North Carolina General Assembly asserts that the Constitution of the United States of America does not prohibit states or their subsidiaries from making laws respecting an establishment of religion.
SECTION 2. The North Carolina General Assembly does not recognize federal court rulings which prohibit and otherwise regulate the State of North Carolina, its public schools or any political subdivisions of the State from making laws respecting an establishment of religion.
The bill has eleven co-sponsors including the Majority Leader Edgar Starnes (R-Caldwell) and the Budget Committee Chair Justin Burr (R-Stanly).
As far as I can tell, this was reported yesterday and is not an April Fool’s joke or a piece from The Onion, but I could be wrong. Read more at WRAL’s website .
Contributor, aka tidbits. Retired attorney in complex litigation, death penalty defense and constitutional law. Former Nat’l Board Chair: Alzheimer’s Association. Served on multiple political campaigns, including two for U.S. Senator Mark O. Hatfield (R-OR). Contributing author to three legal books and multiple legal publications.