Patricia Tarner
SaddleBrooke Republican Club members were treated to two very informative speakers at their June meeting; Amanda Stanford, County Clerk of Superior Court and Dennis Reiber spoke about the Article V Convention of States.
Amanda Stanford shared the goals she has implemented in her position as County Clerk of Superior Court during the first part of the program. Her primary goal has been to make understanding the justice procedures more available to the public. Satellite offices have been established in locations such as Oracle, Maricopa and San Tan Valley to help meet this objective. These offices have been placed in existing buildings minimizing the cost. The jury assembly room has been updated to provide a more comfortable environment for prospective jurors. Kiosks have been set up in the jury assembly room to facilitate the ability to scan the jury code. E-access enables the public to go online and pull up any court document. Public Education of the Court System is available on YouTube as part of the desire to provide the public with information about the Arizona justice system. Ms. Stanford encouraged members to access the website for further information.
Dennis Reiber educated the audience about the growing wave of public opinion supporting the concept espoused in the Article V Convention of States. Its mission is to return our country to the original vision of a limited federal government that is of, by and for the people. Forty-eight states are involved in various stages of engagement in this process. Only 18 powers have been given to Congress by the Constitution; however, the Federal Government continues to attack the sovereignty allocated to the states. This movement adheres to Article V of the Constitution which says two-thirds of the states are needed to call a convention for proposing amendments to the Constitution. Some of the compelling issues for possible topics for amendments to the Constitution mentioned are fiscal restraints on the runaway spending by the Federal government which has created a debt crisis; limit on power and jurisdiction of the Federal government and term limits for Congress. The June meeting opened up new avenues of information to the appreciative audience.