Hawaii Judges Say ‘Hell with the Constitution’

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Posted on 12/15/2024 4:23:19 AM PST by MtnClimber

When I served as a judicial officer, I leaned into the originalist philosophy championed by Justice Antonin Scalia. His wisdom — that judges must adhere to the Constitution and the law as written, not as they wish it to be — served as a lodestar. As Scalia famously remarked, “The Constitution is not a living document — it is a legal document.” This sharp declaration underscores a vital truth: the Constitution is not a chameleon, changing with the political winds or cultural trends. It is a fixed, enduring framework meant to safeguard liberty and ensure the rule of law. Judges are bound by its text and original meaning, not free to reinterpret it to suit their preferences or the moment’s fashionable ideologies. To treat it otherwise is to abandon constitutional governance altogether.

This principle could not be more relevant in the wake of the Hawaii Supreme Court’s defiance of U.S. Supreme Court precedent in State v. Wilson. The procedural posture of the case is important: Christopher Wilson, a Hawaii resident, was charged in 2017 with carrying a pistol without a license while hiking. Wilson argued that his actions were protected by the Second Amendment, particularly after the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark decision in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association Inc. v. Bruen (2022), which affirmed the right to carry a firearm in public for self-defense.

The Hawaii Supreme Court, however, reinstated charges against Wilson, effectively ignoring Bruen. In a particularly audacious move, the court criticized the U.S. Supreme Court for “cherry-pick[ing]” historical evidence and engaging in “fuzzy” reasoning, dismissing the Bruen decision as backward-looking. The Hawaii court even invoked the state’s so-called “spirit of aloha” as justification for rejecting the plain guarantees of the Second Amendment.

(Excerpt) Read more at americanthinker.com ...

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1 posted on 12/15/2024 4:23:19 AM PST by MtnClimber

To: MtnClimber

2 posted on 12/15/2024 4:23:30 AM PST by MtnClimber (For photos of scenery, wildlife and climbing, click on my screen name for my FR home page.)

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