Friday, June 19, 2015

Ex Post Facto Laws

I have this History professor that I have taken twice.  I passed the class the first time around but I made a C because of my absences.  I took him again because I wanted an A.  An A is what I got the second time around.  I always learn stuff from him.  This second time around is where ex post facto laws came into my thinking.  States are prohibited by the Constitution from making these laws.

What are Ex Post Facto Laws?  It is defined as follows:
An Ex Post Facto law is a retroactive law that ultimately changes the legal status or consequences of actions committed or relationships that may have existed prior to the formal enactment of the law.
Prior to the 1930s, birth certificates were public records.  Everyone had access to them.  These records were sealed to protect the adoptive family, not the biological family.  According to Elizabeth Samuels, many of the original members did not want this privacy.  It was forced upon them by the adoption industry and societal mores.  It often came with the threat of arrest and incarceration. 

Many of the sealed adoption record laws are Ex Post Facto laws which are prohibited by Congress and the states.  Neither are allowed to create them.  It is now a violation of our constitutional rights.  We can talk about privacy rights all we want but we are reacting to what they, being the axis of evil, throw at us.  No one has the right to total anonymity.  Absolutely NO ONE.  The right to privacy extends only to prevent governmental interference into the family.  Since sexuality isn't an issue with original birth certificates, the state governments have no right to interfere with the lives of ADULT adoptees and access to their personal papers. 

Still Here

Sorry Folks.  I have been busy with school and kiddos.  I just graduated from Houston Community College with an Associates in Liberal Arts.  I have intentions of attending Prairie View A & M in the pursuit of my Bachelors and further on.

I have led an active life since I divorced my ex-husband.  I moved to Houston, Texas.  I also went back to school because I would never be taken seriously by any state legislature without initials after my last name.  My oldest daughter just graduated from high school in the Katy ISD.  My youngest will be in high school next year.  I met my husband Mark while I was working for Time Warner in Wichita Falls.  We married two years ago and bought our home.  It has been wonderful having a brand new home.

The hardship is of course the Veterans Affairs bull crap.  I have had seven surgeries.  Two were repeats or do overs.  My skin disorder is not going to back down.  I am now worried that other areas of my skin are changing.  Now I have full blown Fibromyalgia.   I am dealing.  Life is good.

A couple of years ago I finally did the DNA testing thing. During the last few years, I stepped away from the adoptee rights movement.  I have been on the sidelines watching.  Two of my heros, Pam Kroskie and Connie Gray, have been stepping up in both Indiana and Texas.  I am proud of their efforts.  Both of these states have a ridiculously high amount of right to lifers.  There is still a mythical belief that adoptee access to their own original birth certificates means higher abortions as well as adoption being the cure for abortion.  In states that have opened access, abortion has declined and adoptions have increased.