COM 0193.085 2006-2008 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home

Which laws should be obeyed? Well, you might say, all of them. Obeying all laws is what makes us law-abiding citizens. But what about when laws conflict with each other? Can that happen? Certainly it can. It happens all the time. City ordinances violate state edicts, state laws differ from each other, local and federal regulations clash. With over 250,000 pages of federal laws, and similaz numbers in each of the 50 states, and new laws written every day, there are at least 12,750,000 pages of laws. And each of the legislative bodies in each of the states is busy making new laws every day. So naturally some of these conflict with each other. The term unconstitutional was invented to describe the category of laws that violate the supreme law of the land, the Constitution of the United States. Any lawyer will tell you that many unconstitutional laws are on the books and will remain there until someone has a reason as well as the tenacity and monetary resources to challenge them. Each year there aze so many challenges to existing state and federal laws on the basis of unconstitutionality that the Supreme Court has to pick and choose which cases they will heaz. This leaves the remainder, some or all of which may be unconstitutional, still on the books. So it is possible to violate one law while complying with another. At the last council meeting, several council members said, "Marijuana is illegal." What exactly does this mean? Certainly there aze some laws forbidding the cultivation and possession of this plant, but for whom, and by whose authority? Medical patients who use cannabis aze not violating Hawaii state law, but aze still partaking of a substance that is federally prohibited. The patients, including Elvy Mussika, who receive marijuana that is grown and distributed by the Federal Government, aze adhering to federal law, but may not be in compliance with various state laws, including Hawaii's. The amount of marijuana that these patients aze supplied by the federal government regulazly exceeds the "adequate supply" in Hawaii's law. So the conflicting laws here cause a confusing situation. The easy answer, "Marijuana is illegal," is not enough. Not all legislation is equal in validity, either. The Ohio assembly once nearly passed a law that made Pi equal to three. Would its passage have changed the laws of the universe? Of course not. God's laws cannot be changed by any legislative body. Some of us are convinced that God's law permits, encourages and even mandates the spiritual and medicinal use of the Cannabis plant. Nothing any human government can do will ever change this mandate. Nor, when given the choice between violating a human rule or breaking God's law, would any reasonable person choose to comply with a human regulation at the expense of breaking God's law. So we would find ourselves in the difficult position of having to choose which law to break, except for two things: The First Amendment to the Constitution, and the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. The religious Freedom Restoration Act, which reinforces the First Amendment, states: SEC. 3. FREE EXERCISE OF RELIGION PROTECTED. (a) In General: Government shall not substantially burden a person's exercise of religion even if the burden results from a rule of general applicability, except as provided in subsection (b). (b) Exception: Government may substantially burden a person's exercise of religion only if it demonstrates that application of the burden to the person-- (1) is in furtherance of a compelling governmental interest; and (2) is the least restrictive means of furthering that compelling governmental interest. Council Members, I urge and beseech you to obey this law. cotnn+• ~q4. S Reverend Nancy Harris a»a~ l Sacred Truth Mission Ref. Toy a 2007 808-938-0278 punarasta@yahoo.comRef. Date~_~--