Opinion ID: 1095462
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 9

Heading: the relief

Text: Finally, as to the relief granted by the majority, I fear that I must again dissent. I am not persuaded by the reasoning of the majority that it is in the best interest of the government or the people of this State that this declaratory judgment shall be of no force and effect until January 1, 1988. I have a conceptual difficulty with the Supreme Court of this State declaring certain conduct to clearly violate the Constitution of this State but allow such conduct to continue until some future date as a matter of public convenience. If the conduct is indeed unconstitutional, it is unconstitutional right now and in the future. As members of the judiciary we have sworn an oath to discharge and perform all the duties incumbent upon us according to the best of our ability and understanding agreeable to the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution and Laws of the State of Mississippi. [3] Those defendants who are members of the legislature have also sworn that they will faithfully support the Constitution of the State of Mississippi and furthermore, that they will as soon as practical after taking their oath carefully read or have read to them the Constitution of the State of Mississippi and will endeavor to note and to execute all of the requirements imposed by that Constitution on the legislature. [4] All other public officials in Mississippi also solemnly swear that they will support the constitution of the State of Mississippi and obey the law. [5] Therefore the presumption arises that all of the parties of this litigation were aware of the contents of Article IV, Section 109. It is equally obvious that they could have and should have known that they were engaged in conduct that violated the plain language of Article IV, Section 109. Therefore, I view it as the duty of this Court to declare that these statutes are unconstitutional and to declare that the acts complained of were unconstitutional at the time they were done, and are unconstitutional right now. I am not persuaded that it is in the best interest of the State of Mississippi, the people of Mississippi or these litigants for us to hold that it is simply inconvenient for us to say that the unconstitutional activity must cease at once, but may continue until such time as the Constitution of the State of Mississippi might more conveniently be enforced. Therefore, I again voice my dissent to this portion of the majority's opinion.