Appellate judge speaks to local GOP

DAVE MOSIER/independent editor

Earlier this month, members of the U.S. House of Representatives read the Constitution. On Friday, Ohio Third District Court of Appeals Judge John Willamowski gave fellow Republicans some sense of what the first section of the Constitution is all about.

Judge Willamowski, one of four judges that hear appeals for the Lima-based state appellate court, read the first section of the U.S. Constitution, including the Preamble and the first seven articles that provide the framework for how the federal government is run.

Those articles include information on how the three main branches of government – the legislative, executive and judicial – are to be set up and Article II even includes the oath of office given to the President of the United States. Also included are what rights the separate states have and some things the federal government can – and cannot – do.

Willamowski also noted that the Constitution and treaties entered into by the U.S. government are “the supreme law of the land” and take precedence over any laws passed by state legislatures.

But Willamowski also talked about some of the things Americans think are in the Constitution that aren’t. That includes how many U.S. Supreme Court justices there should be, although it does state there should be a chief justice, the idea of separation of church and state, the Electoral College and just how far freedom of speech goes (not far, in the private workplace, for instance).

He also talked about Congressional districts, which are also not mentioned in the Constitution, while it also does not state how federal judges should be qualified.

The appellate judge, who served as a state legislator for 9½ years, also noted his displeasure with those of his former colleagues that knowingly pass laws they know to be unconstitutional, which he called “inexcusable.”

He closed his talk with a little story about what life could be like in the future if Americans allow the federal government to delve into areas it was never given power over in the Constitution.