Judges not infallible, but corrective procedures can set things right — Hafiz Hassan
More than half a century ago, Norman Hahn started a wood-working business in his garage, and since then, this company, Conestoga Wood Specialties (Conestoga), has grown and now has more than 1,000 employees. Conestoga is organised under Pennsylvania law as a for-profit corporation.
The Hahns exercise sole ownership of the closely held business; they control its board of directors and hold all of its voting shares. One of the Hahn sons serves as the president and CEO.
The Hahns believe that they are required to run their business 'in accordance with their religious beliefs and moral principles.' To that end, the company's mission, as they see it, is to 'operate in a professional environment founded upon the highest ethical, moral, and Christian principles.'
The company's 'Vision and Values Statements' affirms that Conestoga endeavours to 'ensure a reasonable profit in [a] manner that reflects [the Hahns'] Christian heritage.'
As explained in Conestoga's board-adopted 'Statement on the Sanctity of Human Life', the Hahns believe that human life begins at conception.
It is therefore 'against [their] moral conviction to be involved in the termination of human life' after conception, which they believe is a 'sin against God to which they are held accountable.'
The moral conviction of the Hahns and Conestoga mirrors that of the Greens and Hobby Lobby, whose story I shared in 'Where artificial persons can profess a faith'.
Hobby Lobby's statement of purpose commits the Greens to 'honoring the Lord in all [they] do by operating the company in a manner consistent with Biblical principles.'
Each Greens family member has signed a pledge to run the businesses in accordance with the family's religious beliefs and to use the family assets to support Christian ministries.
In accordance with those commitments, Hobby Lobby stores close on Sundays, even though the Greens calculate that they lose millions in sales annually by doing so.
They refuse to engage in profitable transactions that facilitate or promote alcohol use; they contribute profits to Christian missionaries and ministries; and they buy hundreds of full-page newspaper ads inviting people to 'know Jesus as Lord and Savior.'
Now, can Conestoga and Hobby Lobby, being corporations, engage in the 'exercise of religion'?
The majority in Burwell v Hobby Lobby Inc. referred to the Dictionary Act, whose definition of the word 'person' includes corporations, companies, associations, firms, partnerships, societies, and joint stock companies, as well as individuals.
The majority has no doubt that 'person', in a legal setting, often refers to artificial entities. The Dictionary Act makes that clear.
Conestoga and Hobby Lobby won their respective suit against the federal government for being persons, albeit artificial, having the right to engage in the exercise of religion.
Article 160 of the Federal Constitution deals with interpretation, and it provides specific meanings to words used in the Federal Constitution. — Pexels pic
Sisters in Islam Forum, on the other hand, won its suit against a state religious authority for being an unnatural person (read: artificial) to which a fatwa (religious edict) does not apply.
The majority in the Federal Court's decision rules that Sister in Islam (SIS) is not a person professing the religion of Islam. The phrase 'persons professing the religion of Islam' is used repeatedly in paragraph 1 of the State List of the Ninth Schedule of the Federal Constitution.
According to the majority, only a natural person can profess, not an artificial person.
Reference is not made though to the definition of 'person' in the Federal Constitution itself—the supreme law of the land.
Article 160 of the Federal Constitution deals with interpretation, and it provides specific meanings to words used in the Federal Constitution.
Article 160(1) refers to the Eleventh Schedule to the Constitution and states that the meanings given there shall apply. The Eleventh Schedule states that 'person' includes a body of persons, corporate or unincorporate.
So unlike the word 'parent' which is not defined in the Federal Constitution, the word 'person' is.
And not unlike the word 'person' in the US which is defined in a legislation (Dictionary Act), the word is also defined in the Interpretations Act 1948 and 1964.
Judges are not infallible, but corrective procedures like appeal and review can set things right.
Infallible they may not, but attributing motives is wrong.
Justice Robert Jackson of the US Supreme Court famously quipped: 'We are not final because we are infallible, but we are infallible only because we are final'.
It means an apex court's decision is considered final, not because they are inherently perfect or incapable of error, but rather because there is no higher judicial body to review them.
But here in Malaysia, there can be a review of an apex court's decision, albeit in very exceptional circumstances.
* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of Malay Mail.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Free Malaysia Today
17 hours ago
- Free Malaysia Today
Bitcoin rises to record as investors snap up riskier assets
Bitcoin has been steadily rising over the past year, supported by a favourable US legislative environment under President Donald Trump. (EPA Images pic) HONG KONG : Bitcoin hit a record high Wednesday, moving in lockstep with a rally in US equities as investors pushed deeper into risk-taking territory across world markets. The cryptocurrency rose past US$123,500 on Wednesday evening in New York, topping the previous all-time high of US$123,205.12 reached on July 14. The milestone came soon after the S&P 500 closed at its own record for a second consecutive session, extending a summer run that has carried the benchmark to repeated highs. Bitcoin has been steadily rising for most of the past year as a result of the friendly legislative climate in Washington ushered in by President Donald Trump. Public companies, led by Michael Saylor's Strategy, have boosted the demand by following an increasingly popular corporate tactic of stockpiling the original cryptocurrency. The playbook has recently spread to smaller competitors, like Ether, leading to a broad rise across digital assets. The coordinated move underscores how speculative market corners and mainstream benchmarks are drawing from the same well of optimism. US inflation data landed in line with expectations this week – and strengthened bets the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates in September, easing financial conditions and encouraging capital to flow from blue-chip equities to volatile digital tokens. 'Crypto has been positively correlated to equities with the relationship stronger for ETH than BTC,' said Chris Newhouse, director of research at Ergonia. 'General sentiment looks positive.' Ether's rise has been propelled by sustained demand from newly active treasury firms, while Bitcoin's steadier climb has leaned on persistent exchange-traded inflows even as it has faced technical resistance. 'The combination of moderating inflation, growing expectations for rate cuts, and unprecedented institutional participation through ETFs has created a powerful tailwind,' said Ben Kurland, CEO at crypto research platform DYOR. 'What's different this time is the maturity of the demand base — this rally isn't just retail euphoria, it's structural buying from asset managers, corporates and sovereigns.'
Free Malaysia Today
17 hours ago
- Free Malaysia Today
World equities flat, crude oil prices fall as Trump, Putin hold high-stakes talks
The Dow Jones Industrial Average hit an intra-day record high, becoming the last of Wall Street's main indexes to climb to a new peak this week. (EPA Images pic) NEW YORK : Global stocks were flat but still traded near record highs on Friday as US President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin held high-stakes talks in Alaska over Ukraine. US Treasury bond prices fell across the board with markets anticipating a Federal Reserve interest rate cut. The Dow hit an intra-day record high during the session, becoming the last of Wall Street's main indexes to climb to a new peak this week. The benchmark S&P 500 and the Nasdaq dropped, dragged down mainly by technology, financials, industrials and utilities stocks. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.08%, the S&P 500 fell 0.29% and the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.40%. 'This market continues to move higher and the story is just earnings and margins,' said Talley Leger, chief market strategist at The Wealth Consulting Group in New Jersey. 'The inflation numbers that we saw this week were mostly services and in a services-based economy like ours, this is good for profit margins.' Data showed that US retail sales increased solidly in July, rising 0.5% from the prior month, after an unexpected spike in producer price data on Thursday renewed inflation concerns and pared market expectations for Federal Reserve rate cuts this year. European shares touched a near five-month high before pulling back, as investors drew encouragement from a largely positive earnings season. The pan-European STOXX 600 index finished flat at 0.06%. The MSCI All Country World Index consolidated recent gains. It was last flat at 951.70, just shy of the record level of 954.21 set on Wednesday. Trump and Putin met face to face in Alaska in a high-stakes meeting that could determine whether a ceasefire can be reached in the deadliest war in Europe since WWII. Trump has said a second summit involving Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky could follow if the talks with Putin go well. Details and the longevity of any agreement will be key, and for now investors are on standby. Ukraine's government bonds – key indicators of the mood – have largely stalled in recent days at a still-distressed 55 cents on the dollar. 'There's still a small degree of risk premium in European markets because of the war. Any type of resolution will ultimately pare that back,' said Shaniel Ramjee, co-head of multi-asset at Pictet Asset Management, adding that oil and other commodity prices could also react. 'But I think that the market has learnt not to expect too much from these negotiations. Ultimately, Zelensky and the Europeans are not invited. They will need to be involved in any final negotiation,' Ramjee added. The two-year note yield, which typically moves in step with interest rate expectations for the Fed, rose 1.1 basis points to 3.751%, paring earlier losses. The yield on benchmark US 10-year notes rose 2.7 basis points to 4.32%. In currency markets, the dollar weakened 0.38% to 146.72 against the Japanese yen and was down 0.15% at 0.806 against the Swiss franc. The euro was up 0.48% at US$1.1702. The dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, was last trading down 0.34% at 97.85. Japanese GDP data released on Friday showed the economy expanding by an annualised 1.0% in the April-to-June quarter, beating analyst estimates. Brent crude fell 1.5% to settle at US$66.85 per barrel. US crude fell 1.8% to settle at US$62.80. Spot gold rose 0.09% to US$3,338.65 an ounce. US gold futures settled almost flat at US$3,382.60. Cryptocurrency markets stabilised after bitcoin touched a record US$124,480.82 on Thursday. It was down 0.78% at US$117,033.52.
Free Malaysia Today
17 hours ago
- Free Malaysia Today
US stocks hold steady after wholesale prices jump
Markets have been monitoring inflation in light of president Donald Trump's tariffs. (Reuters pic) NEW YORK : Wall Street stocks shook off early losses to finish essentially flat Thursday as markets digested disappointing inflation data that complicates expectations for lower Federal Reserve interest rates. The producer price index rose 0.9% on a month-on-month basis, much greater than analysts expected following benign consumer pricing data earlier this week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished down less than 0.1% at 44,911.26. The broad-based S&P 500 edged up less than 0.1% to 6,468.54, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index was virtually unchanged at 21,710.67. Markets have been monitoring inflation in light of president Donald Trump's tariffs, with Tuesday's consumer price report adding to confidence the Fed will lower rates in September. But after Thursday's report, a potential half-point interest rate cut is probably 'off the table', said Jack Ablin of Cresset Capital Management. The report 'suggests that companies are currently bearing the brunt of tariffs,' Ablin said. 'We would expect that companies will start to pass these costs along'. Among individual companies, Intel surged 7.4% following a Bloomberg News report that Trump is considering an investment in the beleaguered chip company in exchange for a government stake. Such a deal would represent Trump's latest departure from the US government's traditional laissez-faire posture towards business. Deere & Co sank 6.8% after it reported a drop in profits and lowered the ceiling of its full-year earnings range.
