LaVoy Finicum was gunned down by the FBI for his part in the Oregon wildlife refuge protest on January 26. On February 5, Mr. Finicum was laid to rest surrounded by friends, family, and supporters of his anti-government overreach cause.
Shawna Cox–a fellow protester and a friend to the Finicum family–was a last minute addition to those gathered to say goodbye. The courts had ruled earlier in the week to bar her from attending the funeral. After mounting public pressure, a Federal judge overturned the ruling on the morning of the funeral. It still remains to be seen whether the courts did so out of honest respect for Shawna Cox’s religious freedom, or as a last ditch effort to quell the popular uprisings in the West.
Ultimately the reasons for the overturned ruling are not as important as the reasons for the original ruling. Why had the court system tried to ban Shawna Cox from attending the funeral of a fellow congregation member and a family friend? In order to understand Shawna Cox’s predicament we first need to examine the overall trend of Liberal courts unduly punishing Conservative citizens.
The Oregon standoff all began when a Liberal court handed down unreasonable sentences to two Burns, Oregon ranchers. Dwight Hammond Jr., 73, and his son Steve Hammond, 46, were pillars of their community. They gave generously to local charities and organizations. Then one day a burn to clear their lands got out of hand and scorched neighboring Federal lands.
They were charged and convicted of arson. The courts then handed down their sentences: 5 years in Federal prison for the eldest Hammond and 4 years in Federal prison for the younger Hammond. Local Burns residents protested and militiamen from around the West joined the protest. The militiamen then took over a local wildlife refuge and the Burns Oregon Standoff was created.
Liberal courts don’t only go after Conservative citizens when they exercise their private property rights. Another popular target for Liberal courts is the expression of religious freedom by Conservatives. No one can forget what the Liberal courts tried to do to Kim Davis.
The Kentucky clerk was arrested and jailed for 5 days just because she refused to put her name on gay marriage licenses. She argued that putting her name on the documents was a tacit approval of gay marriage and thus was against her religion. The Liberal courts wouldn’t hear her argument.
In fact, the judge went to extraordinary measures to ensure that Kim Davis was punished for her deeply held religious beliefs. He refused to set bail. His reasoning? Kim Davis wouldn’t be punished because her supporters would pay the bail for her.
Perhaps given these examples Shawna Cox shouldn’t have been surprised when she was first banned from expressing her religious freedom at a family friend’s funeral. However, Liberal courts often provide reprieves for funeral attendance to less savory characters. Take for instance the case of Demarcus Linwood.
Linwood was a violent convicted sexual offender. He was arrested again for refusing to register to the sexual offenders registry. However, Linwood’s request to attend a funeral was granted by the Liberal courts. He didn’t have to beg. The Liberal courts just shrugged and allowed this man who preyed on young girls to walk the streets. Linwood quickly fled. It wasn’t until a concerned citizen put him under arrest that this public menace was locked away again.
In comparison, Shawna Cox is not a convicted criminal. Also, when given the chance to flee, Shawna Cox chose to remain in custody. The inept Liberal courts forgot to put a GPS tracking device on Shawna Cox. As soon as she knew about this mix up, she didn’t head to Mexico. She turned herself into the U.S. Marshall’s office and asked them to put the tracker on her.
Here is a woman that is innocent until proven guilty and goes out of her way to follow court orders, and yet she is treated as a greater risk than serial rapist Demarcus Linwood. The simple truth is to the morally-bankrupt Liberal courts a Conservative with a cause is more threatening than a thousand Demarcus Linwoods.
Until the Liberal courts are brought to heel, you can expect more cases like Shawna Cox, Kim Davis, and the Hammonds, Because anytime there is a Conservative American willing to step over the government-mandated line, then you can be sure there will be a Liberal court waiting to punish them.
