Jinxed Universe

A few years ago I was in a politics class at Weber. It was so fun to be in and have an opportunity to debate different issues. Anyways, one of my topics I had to write about in that class was about the our Judiciary System, mainly the Supreme Court. So, in writing the paper I began to study the current Judges and some of the past ones. I then began a study of what they do and how they do it. As I got more and more into it and began to see some of the ridiculous stuff that they have done, the more I knew there was a problem.

So, to start this off I want to explain how a federal judge gets into his position, because this is different on the state level. Basically, he is appointed by the President. He will make a nomination and then the Senate will approve the nomination. Then once that judge is in place, they are in that position until they die, retire or are impeached.

Now that we know how they are put in, we need to know what their role is in the government. The job of a judge is to interpret the laws that are passed and make sure they adhere to the constitution.

I wouldn't think this job would be that difficult to do, but as I have looked into some very important cases, I have seen that there are some on the Supreme Court that have issues. Let me start this off with a story.

In early September 1993, Simmons then 17, discussed with his friends, Charlie Benjamin(age 15) and John Tessmer(age 16), the possibility of committing a burglary and murdering someone. On several occasions, Simmons described the manner in which he planned to commit the crime: he would find someone to burglarize, tie the victim up, and ultimately push the victim off a bridge. Simmons assured his friends that their status as juveniles would allow them to "get away with it." Simmons apparently believed that a "voodoo man" who lived in a nearby trailer park would be the best victim. Rumor had it that the voodoo man owned hotels and motels and had lots of money despite his residence in a mobile home park.

On September 8, 1993, Simmons arranged to meet Benjamin and Tessmer at around 2:00 a.m. the following morning for the purpose of carrying out the plan. The boys met at the home of Brian Moomey, a 29-year old convicted felon who allowed neighbor teens to "hang out" at his home. Tessmer met Simmons and Benjamin, but refused to go with them and returned to his own home. Simmons and Benjamin left Moomey’s and went to Shirley Crook’s house to commit a burglary.

The two found a back window cracked open at the rear of Crook’s home. They opened the window, reached through, unlocked the back door, and entered the house. Moving through the house, Simmons turned on a hallway light. The light awakened Mrs. Crook, who was home alone. She sat up in bed and asked, "Who’s there?" Simmons entered her bedroom and recognized Mrs. Crook as a woman with whom he had previously had an automobile accident. Mrs. Crook apparently recognized him as well.

Simmons ordered Mrs. Crook out of her bed and on to the floor with Benjamin’s help. While Benjamin guarded Mrs. Crook in the bedroom, Simmons found a roll of duct tape, returned to the bedroom and bound her hands behind her back. They also taped her eyes and mouth shut. They walked Mrs. Crook from her home and placed her in the back of her mini-van. Simmons drove the van from Mrs. Crook’s home in Jefferson County to Castlewood State Park in St. Louis County.

At the park, Simmons drove the van to a railroad trestle that spanned the Meramec River. Simmons parked the van near the railroad trestle. He and Benjamin began to unload Mrs. Crook from the van and discovered that she had freed her hands and had removed some of the duct tape from her face. Using her purse strap, the belt from her bathrobe, a towel from the back of the van, and some electrical wire found on the trestle, Simmons and Benjamin found Mrs. Crook, restraining her hands and feet and covering her head with the towel. Simmons and Benjamin walked Mrs. Crook to the railroad trestle. There, Simmons bound her hands and feet together, hog-tie fashion, with the electrical cable and covered Mrs. Crook’s face completely with duct tape. Simmons then pushed her off the railroad trestle into the river below. At the time she fell, Mrs. Crook was alive and conscious. Simmons and Benjamin then Mrs. Crook’s purse in to the woods and drove the van back to the mobile home park across from the subdivision in which she lived.

Her body was found later that afternoon by two fishermen. Simmons was arrested the next day, September 10, at his high school.

We see from this story that Chris had planned out in his mind to murder someone, he even planned where he was going to do it. When given the chance, he followed through on his horrid plan.

So, what happened to Chris you say? Well, he was sentenced to death by the State of Missouri. But, then here comes the juicy stuff.

The case was then appealed to the Supreme Court, because he was a minor and you know "he didn't know what he was doing." In 2005 the case was presented and the Supreme Court decided that the death penalty for minors was unconstitutional.

Now when the justices come out to make a ruling, what they do is they put out their decision in writing with the majority's reasoning for their decision and then the "dissent", meaning those who did not agree with the majority and why. This is significant, because if you read why they decided to do away with the Juvenile Death Penalty. Here is the exact quote.

"The Court also looked specifically at the abolition of the juvenile death penalty in the United Kingdom, finding it of particular importance owing to the origins of the Eighth Amendment and the historical ties between the two countries."

Um, hello, hello!! Have you ever heard of the Revolutionary War!!!! I think that was when we broke any law binding ties between us and England.

There were four justices that didn't agree with this, but just one short of a happy meal for Chris.

So, to recap here. The duty of the judges are to interpret the laws and make sure they stick with the Constitution.

Hmmm, whose Constitution? Ours?

Well, it looks like to me that the five clowns that ruled on this haven't spent enough time reading our own Constitution and too much of everyone else's.

Now, this is just the tip of the iceberg. I can't tell you how many times our Congress has passed a law against abortion, pornography and the like and the Supreme Court has overruled these laws stating they are unconstitutional.

Ah, excuse me isn't that Congress' job to make laws and then you are to back them up even if you don't agree with them? Once Congress has passed the law, it becomes your job to protect it, not fight it.

I can't tell you how important it is to pay attention to what our government is doing. This isn't a Showtime Rotisserie, where you can "Set it and Forget it." These guys will do anything they want unless we stand up to them.