HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.C.R. NO.

17

TWENTY-SECOND LEGISLATURE, 2004

 

STATE OF HAWAII

 
   


HOUSE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

 

REQUESTING THE u.s. hOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TO IMPEACH AND THE u.s. SENATE TO CONVICT 9TH CIRCUIT COURT OF APPEALS SENIOR JUDGE ALFRED T. GOODWIN AND JUDGE STEPHEN REINHARDT.

 

 

WHEREAS, 9th Circuit Court opinions have traditionally been reviewed and overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court at a higher rate than any other appellate court; and

WHEREAS, in the recent October 2002 term, the U.S. Supreme Court decided 24 cases from the 9th Circuit Court, 6 times as much as the next circuit, and reversed or vacated in whole or in part 18 of the 24 reviewed cases; and

WHEREAS, the second paragraph of the Declaration of Independence begins, "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness" and further states "That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed"; and

WHEREAS, the Pledge of Allegiance was originally authored by a Baptist Minister named Francis Bellamy in 1892 as an intensive communing with salient points of our national history, including the Declaration of Independence and the meaning of our Civil War; and

WHEREAS, a three justice panel of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals recently decided the case of Nednow v. U.S. Congress, where the majority of the three judge panel ruled that the Pledge of Allegiance was unconstitutional because of the phrase "under God"; and

WHEREAS, in a dissenting opinion to a decision not to bring the case before the full court, six circuit judges point out that the majority panel ignores and clearly misinterprets nearly four decades of U.S. Supreme Court precedent dealing with the constitutionality of the Pledge of Allegiance; and

WHEREAS, various nationwide polls show overwhelming opposition to the decision reached by the 9th Circuit in the Newdow v. U.S. Congress case and support for the phrase "under God" remaining in our Pledge of Allegiance; and

WHEREAS, in an ABC News/Washington Post poll conducted the week after the ruling, 84% of those polled opposed the court ruling in Newdow v. U.S. Congress; and

WHEREAS, in that same poll, 89% of those polled felt the phrase "under God" should remain in the Pledge of Allegiance; and

WHEREAS, in a Newsweek/Princeton Survey Research Associates poll run concurrent to the ABC News/Washington Post poll, 87% of those polled felt that the phrase "under God" should be a part of the Pledge of Allegiance; and

WHEREAS, blatant disregard for binding precedent on the part of federal appellate judges represent a dereliction of the duty they were originally appointed and sworn to; and

WHEREAS, because lifetime appointment basically insulates a federal judge from reprimand, the only means to address the problem of destroying the basis for the judicial system is to remove those judges; and

WHEREAS, the process for the removal of federal judges is the process of impeachment, which is set forth in the U.S. Constitution; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-second Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2004, the Senate concurring, that the Legislature request that the U.S. House of Representatives vote to impeach 9th Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Stephen Reinhardt and 9th Circuit Court of Appeals Senior Judge Alfred T. Goodwin; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Legislature request that the U.S. Senate vote to convict Judge Stephen Reinhardt and Senior Judge Alfred T. Goodwin; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Congressional delegation of the State of Hawaii, the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, the President Pro Tempore of the U.S. Senate, the Majority and Minority Leaders of the U.S. House of Representatives, the Majority and Minority Leaders of the U.S. Senate, and the Governor.

 

 

 

OFFERED BY:

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Report Title:

9th Circuit Court; impeachment