On the ballot for the November 2, 2010 general election in North Carolina, there is Constitutional Amendment. At first glance this sounds like a good idea.
It is NOT a good Idea as proposed and as written.
First, I want you folks to read and thoroughly understand what this is really saying. Here’s a link to the actual proposal:
http://www.ncga.state.nc.us/Sessions/2009/Bills/House/PDF/H1307v7.pdf
Second, Our NC Constitution ALREADY states that a felon can NOT run for, nor be elected to ANY Office!
Let us review our NC Constitution.
http://www.ncga.state.nc.us/Legislation/constitution/article6.html
Please read Article VI, Section 8 closely:
Sec. 8. Disqualifications for office.
The following persons shall be disqualified for office:
First, any person who shall deny the being of Almighty God.
Second, with respect to any office that is filled by election by the people, any person who is not qualified to vote in an election for that office.
Third, any person who has been adjudged guilty of treason or any other felony against this State or the United States, or any person who has been adjudged guilty of a felony in another state that also would be a felony if it had been committed in this State, or any person who has been adjudged guilty of corruption or malpractice in any office, or any person who has been removed by impeachment from any office, and who has not been restored to the rights of citizenship in the manner prescribed by law.
Now, understand that it there are SO MANY insane laws that have been put on the books over the last 80 plus years it is near about IMPOSSIBLE for any honest citizen to avoid doing SOMETHING wrong in their lifetime. Let us focus on the new wording. Please read it closely:
From Article VII of the NC Constitution:
“Sec. 2. Sheriffs.
In each county a Sheriff shall be elected by the qualified voters thereof at the same time and places as members of the General Assembly are elected and shall hold his office for a period of four years, subject to removal for cause as provided by law. No person is eligible to serve as Sheriff if that person has been convicted of a felony against this State, the United States, or another state, whether or not that person has been restored to the rights of citizenship in the manner prescribed by law. Convicted of a felony includes the entry of a plea of guilty; a verdict or finding of guilt by a jury, judge, magistrate, or other adjudicating body, tribunal, or official, either civilian or military; or a plea of no contest, nolo contendere, or the equivalent.”
The underlined portion is the NEW addition to the constitution. I have made Bold the wording that disturbs me.
Walter Dalton(Senate leader) and Joe Hackney(House leader), BOTH DEMOCRATS, are creating a NIGHTMARE here. If this passes, via the voters of NC, The NC Constitution will contradict itself via Article VI-Section 8 and Article VII-Section 2. Obviously these 2 officials, and all the other current house members, have NOT thought this through.
Here is another article written by Sybil Stafford and posted on NC Freedoms website. She does a much better job than I, in explaining its problems.
http://triad.ncfreedom.us/2010/09/29/be-aware-constitutional-amendment-on-nov-2-ballot/
Respectfully submitted by SilenceDogood2010 this Fifteenth Day of October in the Year of our Lord, Two Thousand Ten.
I concur – there is too much specificity for a constitutional amendment, which makes it highly suspicious. Why a sheriff, but not a governor or legislator! And there are two many positions listed who would declare “guilt” outside of the justice system, and even before a trial (a plea of guilty is not the same as evidence of guilt). What happened to “innocent until PROVEN guilty”? Dangerous!
You need to ask yourself a few questions. First, in general, do intelligent people kill? In other words, would an intelligent person drive from point A to point B, get out of the car, and shoot and kill a stranger? The obvious answer is, ‘NO’. So why would an intelligent person want to run for the office of sheriff? There are 2 kinds of psychotic killers, the ones that live in front of the BAR and the ones that live behind the BAR. It doesn’t matter how you shrink wrap a killer, a killer is always a killer. It would be cheaper to dress up a monkey in a clown costume, give it a gun, bullet proof vest, and the ‘badge of immunity’. You still have the same level of intelligence killing people. So shouldn’t there be a constitutional amendment that states that no one can run for an elected office with an IQ of less than 120.