Parnell Nominates Guy to Judicial Council Who Wants Bristol Palin in Prison - Updated

Those whacky Alaska Republicans are at it again. One day, Rep. Carl Gatto submits a bill banning Islamic Sharia law from Alaska, and the next, Gov. Parnell nominates someone to the Alaska Judicial Council who wants to submit Alaska to a Christianist version of Sharia law:

Paskvan: "What about premarital affairs -- should that be a crime?" Haase: "I think that would be up to the voters certainly. If it came before (the state) as a vote, I probably would vote for it ... I can see where it would be a matter for the state to be involved with because of the spread of disease and the likelihood that it would cause violence. I can see legitimate reasons to push that as a crime.

Haase needs to be pinned down on how people should be punished. If I were on the committee interviewing him, I'd pin him down on the Law based on Leviticus, on whether or not he believes the punishments described there are God's word, and whether or not he would be disobeying his God if he believed lesser punishments than stoning and so on for adultery would be appropriate. I suggest he should be asked what sort of sentence Bristol Palin might be given, since she appears to be having serial pre-marital affairs.

According to Patti Epler at the Alaska Dispatch, Rep. Carl Gatto, in his committee session on Haase, stifled his colleagues:

At that hearing, House Judiciary Chairman Carl Gatto refused to allow members to question Haase too closely about his politics. He defended the applicant and dismissed concerns by saying that everyone has some sort of opinion on issues.

This is the same Gatto who introduced HB 88, that seeks to stifle people whose opinions on issues might depart from those of Gatto.

Should Haase manage to get onto the Alaska Judicial Council, he will be joining the eminently unqualified Kathleen Tompkins-Miller, wife of serial liar Joe Miller. That's the Joe Miller who is obsessed with people planting kiddy porn on his computer.

What is it with these kinky GOP folks and their strange views on human sexuality?
Update: Wickersham's Conscience is linking to an article written there last year, which explains how Mrs. Joe Miller (that's not her above, that's one of Joe's "close friends") got onto the Alaska Judicial Council:

The good citizens of Alaska elected Sarah Palin Governor of Alaska on her promise to fight corruption. She quit, of course, but before she quit, WC can point to at least one case of blatant political payback by Caribou Barbie. And it involves candidate Joe Miller.

Shortly after the Alaska Legislative Council undertook its investigation of Troopergate, Joe Miller, on September 16, 2008, representing five Interior Alaska citizens, filed a lawsuit to stop the Alaska Legislative Council from looking into the scandal. He also wrote an opinion piece for the September 22, 2008 Catholic News Agency, extolling his theories and a pretty distorted statement of the facts. On October 16, 2008, just a month later, he voluntarily dismissed the case after a parallel case in Anchorage had been shot down. Think about it: the Judicial Branch telling the Legislative Branch what it can and cannot do about the Executive Branch. WC would assume a constitutional expert like Candidate Miller would know about the doctrine of separation of powers and know not to go there.

But before quitting, Palin demonstrated her gratitude to Joe Miller for his efforts. The Alaska Judicial Council selects nominees for judgeships in Alaska. Three of the positions are appointed by the Governor and confirmed by the Senate. It’s a compensated position. Palin nominated Kathleen Tompkins-Miller – Mrs. Joe Miller – to fill one of those three seats. Her qualifications, as shown in her resume and at her confirmation hearing on February 20, 2009, seem to have been she was the mother of 8 kids, worked in her husband’s law office and “knew a lot of lawyers.” And, of course, her husband had been helpful to Sarah Palin.

You don’t have to go to law school in Chicago to see the obvious connection.

Some of WC’s readers may think irony is rusty water. WC thinks irony is Palin running against corruption, and then engaging in patent Chicago-style political patronage and cronyism. And avowed maverick candidate Joe Miller jumping at the chance to put his wife in a six year part-time job.