Letters: Constitutional county advocates either stupid or are anarchists

Constitutional county advocates either stupid or are anarchists

The nine Ottawa County commissioners who supported the resolution to make Ottawa a “constitutional county” have demonstrated they are either stupid or anarchists.

According to the Ottawa Impact website, this resolution means Ottawa has joined 50 other Michigan counties that “have already passed similar resolutions to affirm and uphold the U.S. and Michigan constitutions.” The trouble with this is the resolution encourages local officials not to obey laws passed by the Legislature if these officials deem these laws to be unconstitutional, but neither the Michigan nor U.S. constitution gives local government authority to declare a law unconstitutional.

At the federal and state levels, judicial history going back to the early 19th century gives this authority to the courts. So-called constitutional counties are claiming, contrary to this, that enforcement of the law is optional at the discretion of those who are charged with that enforcement. Those who support this movement are either ignorant of the well-established way to challenge the constitutionality of a law — go the court — or they reject the notion that we are a nation of laws and believe obedience to and enforcement of the law is optional.

Proper enforcement of the law is seen as so important that in Michigan, “The governor may remove any and all county officers named in section 200 of this chapter when he shall be satisfied from sufficient evidence submitted to him, as hereinafter provided, that such officer has been guilty of official misconduct, or of willful neglect of duty …” (section 168.207, Michigan Election Law, Act 116 of 1954). The right to ignore a law simply because one disagrees with it does not exist. It is anarchy, not freedom.

Frank Barefield

Holland

Regarding constitutional control in Ottawa County

Well, if Madison was right in "The Federalist Papers: No. 49" and the many U.S. Supreme Court rulings, then Ottawa County is in step with the organic law of this nation.

To protect the inalienable rights of the colonists, the Constitution severely restricted the actions of government to only those things so privileged. What is not allowed, is absolutely denied.

Remember, too, greater liberty interests control over any law enacted to secure the rights of the people, which is what all the laws are enacted for.

So Ottawa County, you are on the right side of the Constitution in your actions.

Don Schwarz

Stoughton, Massachusetts

Baseless fears about transgender people

Mr. Buursma’s recent opinion piece, “Transgender rights are limited,” attempts to make the case that transgender people should should "know their place" — that their access to public accommodations and sports teams cannot come at the expense of others’ discomfort and fears. He makes the implication that transgender people pose —by their supposed nature — a harm and threat to others, though he provided no supporting facts. This won’t do.

We’ve seen all this before: ill-defined claims of some imaginary harm, the same diktats about lines not being crossed, the same prejudices rationalized as "natural and reasonable" used against culturally disfavored minorities, even today.

The facts tells us testimonies from police departments and women’s shelters indicate trans women do not pose an innate threat. For well over a decade, states and school districts have already been allowing trans girls to participate under the guidance of equitable policies. In a similar vein, trans athletes have been allowed to compete in the Olympics since 2004 and they have yet to win medals.

We are not a "new" minority: We’ve always lived amongst you, and have community ties just like you. Where do you think we’ve been going all these decades? Why wasn’t it a problem then, but a "problem" now? And how would you manage cisgender-looking trans men in women’s bathrooms, or the complaints from cisgender women who are harassed because they are perceived to be trans?

Considering the harm and disparate impact such exclusionary thinking represents to the trans community, shouldn’t we work with the world as it actually is, and not by because we fear the unknown?

Madeleine Townsend

Laketown Township

Bill Huizenga values party over children

In early April, I wrote to U.S. Congressman Bill Huizenga’s office to ask if he receives money from the National Rifle Association. I never got an answer. Weeks later, I called his office with the same question. I never got an answer. In May I wrote to his office and then later, called his office with the same question. I never got an answer.

Instead, I got a form letter from him. He doesn’t support an assault weapons ban because he doesn’t think a ban is effective or constitutional. I don’t understand his logic. How would banning these weapons not help? What about a parent’s right to have their child kept safe in school? Assault weapons obliterate the human body. One of the shooters at a recent school shooting killed kids with an automatic weapon. A first responder said on the news that a child victim “did not have a face.” The parents of the many children who have been killed by automatic weapons in schools have to live with the knowledge of how their child died.

Congressman, how can you live with yourself as an enabler of this? As a professing Christian, I don’t see how you can justify your stance on automatic weapons.

Carol Tanis

Jenison

Why are academic high-achievers ignored?

Every issue of The Sentinel devotes most of the pages of the Sports section to detailed stories about various sports, local and national. There, we read stories of local high school athletes, quoting them, photographing them, and sometimes featuring their signing a letter of intent to enroll at a particular university or college or receiving a sports scholarship.

During this year’s graduation season, I hoped to see the names and photographs of those who worked for four years to achieve honors as valedictorians and salutatorians. Coverage in the printed Sentinel was minimal, encouraging readers to view the online photos. In the online Sentinel, we saw many photographs of groups of unnamed students and others present at the graduations: 52 photos for Holland High, 42 for Holland Christian, 35 for West Ottawa, and fewer or none for other local high schools. Text for the articles was minimal; each caption repeated the school name, graduation date, graduation location, and name of the photographer. The message conveyed about our local academic achievers is that their efforts are not recognized.

And this form of disrespect is not a new phenomenon. A Sept. 22 Sentinel article named four students from four local high schools who were National Merit Scholarship semifinalists, but the accompanying photograph showed the backs of eight students entering Holland High School. No photographs of the semifinalists. No quotations. Nothing about their reactions to news of their semifinalist status.

Unfortunately, these examples from the Sentinel reflect not only our local values but also those of America’s sports-idolizing culture. Winning against opponents in a sport that lasts a season or a game that lasts several hours is prized more than four years of diligent study. Instead of honoring our top scholars, the Sentinel publishes a slew of graduation photos online.

Judy Parr

Holland

This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: Letters: Constitutional county advocates either stupid or are anarchists