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Kolette Kramer, Towner
The last lynching in ND was near Watford City on January 29, 1931. A mob of angry citizens broke into the jail at Schafer, North Dakota and took Charles Bannon and hung him from a nearby bridge.
Some North Dakotans feel the last lynching in North Dakota happened last week in Bismarck at the State Capitol and it was done by our elected officials who are voted in to make the laws.
On March 4th the North Dakota House of Representatives brought accusations and publicly held a "trial." By the end of the session they had voted to expel District 36 Representative Luke Simons because he was "creepy", and made woman feel uncomfortable.
Some would consider that mob rule. Did Representative Simons get a chance to defend himself? Not really. He did get to bring his comments to the House floor, as does any representative who would like to speak during discussion. There was no cross examining, no rebuttal, and no attorneys present.
This was done by members of his own party who according to the NDGOP platform are responsible for protecting our rights as North Dakota citizens such as our individual right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. No where does it mention, "unless you're creepy'. Were Rep. Simons rights protected? There are a lot of North Dakota citizens who feel they weren't.
In order to oust Representative Simons, the House needed a 2/3 majority vote. That's a pretty big mob. And in the case of the last lynching in North Dakota in Watford City, the names of those who lynched the young man who confessed and brutally murdered a family were never identified. In the case of Luke Simons, the Representatives who voted to expel him are public record and are supposedly representing the people of the districts they serve. There were a handful of representatives who tried to get the session to follow their own rules that day but they were voted down by the mob.
"Federal, state, and local governments should be transparent and limited to their respective roles, in accordance with the Tenth Amendment." Does the North Dakota House of Representatives have this role to take a man's right to a fair trial or even an investigation and throw them out the window? Apparently, because that is what they did, and with great speed. There have been some instances where representatives have been expelled but not in North Dakota. In the cases from other states, criminal investigations or committee investigations were held. Some lasting up to 9 months. Representative Luke Simons received none.
In the case of the 1931 lynching, the governor at that time, Governor George Shafer, ordered an immediate investigation and called the lynching "shameful." Will anyone in authority call for an investigation of the Representative Luke Simons case of today? There is doubt that our current governor, Governor Doug Burgum, would be willing to stand for freedom and what is right considering the amount of time and energy he has spent getting conservatives voted out of state office in the last few elections. He even went as far as to take one district to court to decide who should get to appoint the representative from that district.
"Civil justice should be preserved without excess burdens to civil liberty" is also included in the NDGOP platform. Was justice served? Does being creepy or weird create a burden to North Dakota citizens? Who gets to decide who in today's day is creepy? Do accusations just get to be submitted and the mob will take them down? If someone "offends me" should they lose their elected position? Did the voters of District 36 know Representative Simons and vote him in twice already?
We can't start trying people, finding them guilty without a fair trial, and using mob rule to oust them from the world because of character flaws. There will be no one left to serve. No one worthy. No one not offensive to someone. Not one. God help us.
If you don't know how your district rep voted, you can go to www.legis.nd.gov and look on the voting record from that day.