Bingo, Professor.

I hear Union County is pretty pro-life.

I think the Oregon Constitution also guarantees property rights.

Where are the Washington County Commissioners' opinions on the constitutionality of statewide land use planning?

Without process, there is no rule of law, and without rule of law, there is chaos.

What's the next law Multnomah County will decide it doesn't need to follow? Where does it end?

What if this does happen? They arrest an abortion provider, and the next day the courts order them to let the abortion provider go. That would be a bad thing, of course, but it would be no different from any other false arrest.

I don't believe any of the pro-gay-marriage folks are advocating that anyone disobey a court order, if one is issued, ordering that the issuing of same-sex marriage licenses halt.

I could make up unrealistic horror stories going in the other direction, too. What if, on the morning of the election, the state congress passed a law forbidding Jews from voting? (Sure, courts will overturn the decision, but by that time the election will be over). Would you then insist that voting commissioners and local officials ignore the Constitution and block Jews from voting, and revile any official who decided to go with the Constitution instead?

But these sort of horror stories, while tempting for debators on both sides of the issue, don't cast much light on the real-world issues. Realistically, it's very unlikely that Diane Linn or anyone else is going to start arresting Planned Parenthood workers or blocking Jews from the polls. And if they did, the courts would step on them very quickly.

What makes the same-sex-marriage claim different from the "let's arrest everyone!" claims is that it doesn't do any immediate harm (at least, none that was discernable to a judge), and the local officials are not making outragious or ridiculous claims about what is Constitutional - several respected folks who have examined the matter have suggested that Linn et al are probably correct about what the Constitution requires. (Of course, the Court may ultimately rule against SSM - but the claim itself is not ridiculous).

Do you really believe that there's a realistic danger that some local official is going to begin arresting all Planned Parenthood clerks for murder, and the courts will decline to issue an injunction preventing this?

What makes the same-sex-marriage claim different from the "let's arrest everyone!" claims is that it doesn't do any immediate harm (at least, none that was discernable to a judge), and the local officials are not making outragious or ridiculous claims about what is Constitutional - several respected folks who have examined the matter have suggested that Linn et al are probably correct about what the Constitution requires.

No harm? Not everyone would agree.

"Outrageous and ridiculous" and "several respected folks" are not standards on which I'm willing to base separation of powers and the proper relationship of state and county governments.

No harm? Not everyone would agree.

No immediate harm that a judge could be convinced of, anyway. Are you saying that there's something wrong with respecting a judge's ruling in this case?

In the real world, there's an enourmous difference between what Linn did and the ridiculous examples you're touting in this thread. That - not "separation of powers" - was what my post was about. I'll repeat my question: Do you really believe that there's a realistic danger that some local official is going to begin arresting all Planned Parenthood clerks for murder, and the courts will decline to issue an injunction preventing this?

No, you're right. There's no chance of a local official in Oregon ever misinterpreting the state constitution and violating people's rights as a result.

Therefore, county commissioners should now be regular arbiters of the constitution. They should act on their own, with no public input, and do what they think the constitution commands. So long as "several respected folks" tell them it's o.k., they should disregard any state statute of their choosing.

The criteria of "respected" will be determined by the shrillest bloggers.

Ampersand,

The point is not that PP will be put out of business (especially since they only operate in very friendly Multnomah County), but rather whether Union County officials will follow statewide land use planning goals. I'm sure you'll be less sanguine once the 200 year old stand of doug firs comes down within hours of the issuance of a building permit.