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Oregonians could vote to bring back duels for public officials
[Independent] People in Oregon might be surprised what they are being asked to vote for or against at the next state election.Republicans have proposed to scrap the 172-year-old ban on duels for public officials in an attempt to highlight how many arcane laws are still upheld by the state constitution. "They decided that it would not be very civil if two members of the legislature disagreed and then shot each other on the front steps of the provisional capitol," Republican Senator Brian Boquist said at the first committee hearing. If his proposal, known as Senate Joint Resolution 44, passes both houses in the state Senate, the people of Oregon will have the final say, rather than the Governor. Under the current constitution, Article II, Section 9 states that anyone who offers, accepts, or knowingly participates in a "challenge to fight a duel ... or who shall agree to go out of the State to fight a duel, shall be ineligible to any office of trust, or profit." The rule came into effect in 1845, more than four decades after US Vice President Aaron Burr shot dead the first Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton after a bitter rivalry. Posted by: Besoeker 2017-04-12 |
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