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- Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Archives Revels Classifieds Real Estate Menu Guide Wedding Weather Subscribe Contact Us October 11, 2005 ‘The powers not delegated to the United States...’ In 2001, among the first orders of business for former Secretary of State John Ashcroft was to challenge Oregon’s lawfully approved and twice-victorious assisted suicide law. Ashcroft has since left the halls of power, but his handiwork lives on today in a landmark case currently being argued before the United States Supreme Court. While many things are at stake, what percolates to the top is the dire need for the protection of states’ rights in the face of a federal government that shows little regard for precedence on this topic. First approved in 1994, assisted suicide has been the law in Oregon since 1997. Residents twice voted in favor of the law. The state supreme court upheld it. The careful practice of this has been used consistently for nearly a decade. Yet, despite all of this, the supreme court could soon overturn this, trumping the established practice. Doing so would seemingly fly in the face of legal precedence. On Wednesday, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg pointed out that the court had unanimously upheld Washington’s state ban on assisted suicide. This ruling suggests, according to Ginsburg, “physician assisted suicide was a matter for the states.” Changing course will reveal a conservative agenda on the court that perhaps is more steeped in politics than law. Oregon’s law is Oregon’s. Only on issues of great national impact should the federal government allow itself to step in. If Ashcroft had a better understanding and appreciation for the inherent value of states’ rights, the court wouldn’t now be trying to undo seven years of established law rightfully approved and upheld. If the federal government continues to cast a heavy shadow over states for its own political purposes, government as a whole will become more powerful, less local and, in the end, quite possibly something more fearful. The federal government is like crabgrass, relentlessly creeping into areas where it wasn’t invited, isn’t helpful and has no real purpose. These insidious weeds need to be plucked out, roots and all. DailyTidings.com Home Page Archives | Revels | Classifieds | Real Estate Guide | Weather | Subscribe | Contact Us Copyright 2005 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers All Rights Reserved Deep Muscle Stimulator Ceramic Piggy Banks FREE Entertainment Guide Women's & Men's Slippers Accelerate Weightloss Products Backpacks Online Pharmacy Vegas Travel Guide Search Engine Optimization Student Loans Hotel & Airline Reservations Hammocks Water Filter Helzberg Diamonds Online Casinos Community Bonus Casino Mortgage Calculator Security Systems Mailing Lists Click Here Advertisement .:Advertisements:. Site Search: RESOURCES - Mail Tribune News - ODOT Road Cams