Amazing! There are some individuals in government who
will take a stand from time to time. It
takes a tremendous amount of courage to stand in the face the status quo and
choose to say, “I will not enforce unconstitutional law against otherwise law
abiding citizens.” This is what State’sAttorneys (SA) Ron Dozier from McLean County, and Mike Valentine,Edwards, County, Illinois, have chosen to do (Press Release).
Dozier clearly stated that,
"Every
SA is expected to prosecute persons who violate the criminal laws of the State
of Illinois within his or her jurisdiction. However, there are literally
thousands of criminal laws on the books, ranging in seriousness from extremely
minor to extremely serious. Because of both budgetary and time limits, every SA
must set priorities on which cases to prosecute and which to not prosecute. The
pursuit of a just result and the wise use of taxpayer dollars are major factors
in setting those priorities."
He also quoted:
“The duty
of a public prosecutor is to seek justice, not merely to convict.” [Illinois
Rules of Professional Conduct, Rule 3.8. See also Berger v. U.S., 295 U.S. 78,
55 S.C. 629, U.S. Supreme Court, 1935]
and,
“The SA is
not merely a ministerial officer but is vested with a large measure of
discretion. In the exercise of that discretion, he has the responsibility of
determining what offense should be charged.” [Marcisz v. Marcisz, 65 Ill.2d
206, Illinois Supreme Court, 1976]
The Chicago Machine continues to
stick its finger in the face of the Supreme Court and continues to rule
Illinois with an Iron Fist against the wishes and rights of most Illinoisans. The elected State officials have the choice as
to whether they are going to enforce these blatantly unconstitutional laws. Mr. Dozier's comment was, "So far, the City
of Chicago and the State have done everything possible to defy, obfuscate and
ignore the Court’s substantive rulings."
As I have quoted many times,
"... the right of the People to Keep and Bear arms SHALL NOT BE
INFRINGED." Need any more be said
than that? It is time to confront
present office holders and those running for office and ask them, “what part of
SHALL NOT BE INFRINGED do you not understand? Are you going to support these words on their
face as intended by the Founders, and as made clear by the highest court in the
land?”
Mr. Dozier also implied that cases
will always require specific review on a case by case basis, but that otherwise
law abiding citizens will not be prosecuted. Another statement that is particularly
poignant, "We are the only State to have a draconian FOID law that makes
criminals out of ordinary citizens who have done nothing wrong except exercise
their constitutional right to own a gun."
Dozier goes on to make it clear
that, "Our message is this: we will no longer use the power and
authority of our office to criminalize and punish decent, otherwise law-abiding
citizens who choose to exercise the rights granted to them by the Second
Amendment of the United States’ Constitution to keep and bear arms in defense
of themselves and their families." [Emphasis in original]
He encourages other SAs to join with
him in returning our state to founding principles. I personally applaud his effort. It is time that We the People remove ‘offending’
(nice term) SAs across this state from their offices and replace them with
people who realize their oath of office is to first and foremost, to uphold the
constitutions of the United States and Illinois and to provide a frame work for
justice, not just convictions.
These men and women and can help to
bring justice to Illinois by neutering the Chicago Machine as they try to rule
from their high rise ivory towers. One article
stated that Chicago, even with its draconian gun laws, now has the dubious
distinction of being the “Murder Capital” of the world. The Huffington Post had a recent article
claiming that Chicago homicides outnumber troop killings in Afghanistan. All these numerous gun laws have done is
cause the law abiding citizen to be helpless sheep with the wolves preying on
the flock. The nice thing about it, if
you are a ruler you can take training and carry. The rulers definitely have it figured out!
So my solution is to ask the not so
hard questions;
- Will you join with other SAs and not prosecute otherwise law abiding citizens for gun laws which defy the constitution, such as FOID and carrying in public?
- Will you go on record with your answers?
That shouldn’t take too much
courage, after all someone else is already leading the way, all the other SAs have
to do is get on board the train and win by sheer numbers. That does not stop them from evaluating on a
case by case basis, but at least it shows you will take a stand and that your
heart is in the right place.
If you would like to correspond with me on this contact me
at: editorial@pike912.org or leave a
message at 217-285-2134, or follow my blog at: pike912.blogspot.com.
