stephanie
03-08-2007, 02:27 PM
This is pretty scary..
New Jersey judges who legislate from the bench are giving Massachusetts judges (and German jack boots) a run for their money. In a troubling divorce case last week, a Newark family court judge ordered penal charges against a mom merely because she homeschools her children, with no evidence of neglect or even of poor performance, and even though New Jersey law explicitly protects the right to homeschool free from government interference.
The court’s opinion is a judicial temper tantrum. The judge wails that New Jersey law doesn’t fit his idea of what the law should be. Not only does New Jersey not require government monitoring and testing of homeschoolers, the state gives public schools no legal authorization to do so (despite attempts to change the law).
But to an activist judge, clear law is no obstacle. The court is "shocked" (shocked!) that state law prohibits government meddling in homeschooling. "In today’s threatening world, where we seek to protect children from abuse, not just physical, but also educational abuse, how can we not monitor the educational welfare of all our children?" Note the collective "we" (or, if you prefer, the royal "we"). No matter that "We the People" have spoken through their elected representatives in Trenton. No matter that the values imposed by the court just happen to be those held by elitists in nearby Manhattan. "We" could not conceivably tolerate a system that disagrees with this judge. The court’s opinion seethes with contempt for parental primacy in education, for large religious families, and for the democratic process itself. Instead of legal reasoning, the court disgustingly showcases the prospect of children "found unfed and locked in a putrid bedroom."
The rest and some comments at..
http://www.constitutionallycorrect.com/archive/2007/03/06/340.aspx
New Jersey judges who legislate from the bench are giving Massachusetts judges (and German jack boots) a run for their money. In a troubling divorce case last week, a Newark family court judge ordered penal charges against a mom merely because she homeschools her children, with no evidence of neglect or even of poor performance, and even though New Jersey law explicitly protects the right to homeschool free from government interference.
The court’s opinion is a judicial temper tantrum. The judge wails that New Jersey law doesn’t fit his idea of what the law should be. Not only does New Jersey not require government monitoring and testing of homeschoolers, the state gives public schools no legal authorization to do so (despite attempts to change the law).
But to an activist judge, clear law is no obstacle. The court is "shocked" (shocked!) that state law prohibits government meddling in homeschooling. "In today’s threatening world, where we seek to protect children from abuse, not just physical, but also educational abuse, how can we not monitor the educational welfare of all our children?" Note the collective "we" (or, if you prefer, the royal "we"). No matter that "We the People" have spoken through their elected representatives in Trenton. No matter that the values imposed by the court just happen to be those held by elitists in nearby Manhattan. "We" could not conceivably tolerate a system that disagrees with this judge. The court’s opinion seethes with contempt for parental primacy in education, for large religious families, and for the democratic process itself. Instead of legal reasoning, the court disgustingly showcases the prospect of children "found unfed and locked in a putrid bedroom."
The rest and some comments at..
http://www.constitutionallycorrect.com/archive/2007/03/06/340.aspx