Dori: State Supreme Court ruled by ideology in gay wedding case
Jun 7, 2019, 4:55 PM
Washington State Supreme Court. (Harvey Barrison, Flickr)
(Harvey Barrison, Flickr)
Freedom is under attack here in Washington. The Washington State Supreme Court, as I’ve told you for a long time, does not rule by the state constitution; it rules by political and social ideology. And I cannot think of anything more dangerous.
Our attorney general is a pit bull attack dog against anything right of center or Libertarian or even in the center. But he will let his party, the Democrats, practically get away with murder. For instance, the City of Seattle is back in court trying to pass an income tax that is clearly in violation of the constitution. Bob Ferguson could have put a stop to this long ago, but because of his thirst to be governor, he allows the city to keep wasting millions of taxpayer dollars on this case. He will not do anything to upset the left, for whom an income tax is the Holy Grail.
Ferguson’s predecessor Rob McKenna, pre-empted the need for all of these expensive court cases by showing that an income tax is clearly not allowed under our state constitution.
Bob Ferguson also won’t go after Sound Transit for illegally calculating your car’s value. He twists the wording of the 405 toll lane regulations, which are operating illegally — they did not meet the standards that WSDOT promised to the voters. He is about the most dangerous political hack I have observed in my 24 years on the air.
Our state Supreme Court is cut from the same cloth because they do not rule by the law or by the state constitution. You see, laws have to be constitutional.
SCOTUS ruling could help Arlene’s Flowers case
The case with Arlene’s Flowers in the Tri-Cities is the perfect example. Florist Barronelle Stutzman owns Arlene’s Flowers and had a frequent customer with whom she became friends. This man happened to be gay, and when he asked her if she would do the flowers for his wedding ceremony, she politely told him that, unfortunately, she could not participate in a ceremony that violates her Christian view that marriage is between a man and a woman.
Under our state constitution, I think it is pretty unequivocal that she is within her rights to not participate in a ceremony that violates her religious beliefs. This is Article 1, Section 11:
Absolute freedom of conscience in all matters of religious sentiment, belief and worship, shall be guaranteed to every individual, and no one shall be molested or disturbed in person or property on account of religion.
Her business is her property. And they are disturbing her property because of her religion. I’m not a lawyer, but anyone can interpret this. The state constitution is very clear on this.
There were dozens of other florists who would happily have done the flowers, and Barronelle recommended some to her friend and customer. But Bob Ferguson wanted to make an example of her because she is Christian. The radical left despises people of faith. And so he has gone after her for years.
The state Supreme Court on Thursday ruled in favor of Bob Ferguson’s witch hunt against this woman’s Christian faith. Barronelle plans to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, and I will bet money that the U.S. Supreme Court will overturn the decision made by the radical Washington State Supreme Court. Ferguson is citing a rule that says you have to sell your product to anyone who comes in. But that cannot override our constitution, the basis of our state, our foundational underpinning.
I get so frustrated because our educational system is so lacking. Most adults I’m sure cannot correctly say what kind of governmental system we live in. They would say it’s a democracy. It is not; it is a democratic republic. The tyranny of the majority cannot tear apart the constitution and what it protects. While we have made amendments to our federal constitution to give equal rights to people of color and women, our state constitution also gives protection to people of faith, to not be disturbed in their home or business because of their faith.
We truly are living in a state where tyranny is accepted. Bob Ferguson will go after anyone who does not agree with him, but he will give political protection like a mobster to the far left. The state Supreme Court will do anything for the teachers union that got them elected. The unions give the justices money for their campaigns, and then the justices are there to do their bidding. They don’t rule by our constitution. And because we have a bunch of leftist ideologues on our state Supreme Court, they would never rule in favor of a person’s faith under that provision of our state constitution.
