Benny Marchesi

Benjamin Benny Marchesi (/mɑrˈkeɪzɪ/; born December 16, 1956) is a Sierran politician, author, and attorney who has served as the 20th Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Tahoe since March 1, 2012. A member of the Remove Kebab Party, Marchesi joined after he was banned from the Democratic-Republican Party due to Marchesi's controversial statements towards Muslims and members of the LGBT community in 2015. He previously served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of Shasta and as a fellow judge of the Third Circuit of Tahoe.

Born in, Reno to a wealthy Italian Sierran family, Marchesi is a graduate of the King Smith University School of Law in , Kings and an alumni of the University of Sierra, Bernheim. He began his career as a staff counsel for Democratic-Republican MP Mark Gusber in Tahoe's 2nd parliamentary district. He worked as a for the Supreme Court of Tahoe for four years after his time as staff counsel. Marchesi then served as an Assistant K.S. Attorney, with a specialty on immigration law, from 1989 to 1995, until he began practicing private law practice.

In 2000, Marchesi was appointed interim judge of the K.S. District Court for Central Styxie by Prime Minister Melinda Peters to fill a vacancy until the term expired. He was subsequently transferred to the Third Circuit Court of Tahoe in 2002 as a judge to fill another vacant seat. He was elected into the position in 2004 on a four-year term. In 2008, he sought election for the Supreme Court of Tahoe as an associate justice, to replace the seat of retiring Associate Justice Lou Carbajal. As an Associate Justice, he became well-known for his obstructionist policies, concurring with his conservative peers on numerous cases, including striking down a provincial law banning plastic bags. His decisions and opinions in the court earned him the nickname, "Blocky Benny".

In 2012, Marchesi was elected Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Shasta, narrowly defeating his opponent Democratic-Republican Ryan Ivey by a margin of 2,101 votes. In 2015, the Democratic-Republican Party officially disavowed any affiliation with Marchesi by expelling him, following a number of videos surfacing that showed him directing slurs towards Muslims and LGBT members. His refusal to apologize led to calls pressing for his resignation and months-long protests outside the Tahoe Supreme Court. Marchesi joined the far-right Remove Kebab Party a month after his expulsion from the Democratic-Republicans and became the first Remove Kebab to hold a significant position in the Sierran judicial system.

Marchesi has been described as an advocate for Sierra's far-right politics. He has attracted significant controversy over statements and views that have been called, , , , , and. He has openly supported, calling himself a "modern Crusader", in his capacity as a Remove Kebab Party spokesman. He also has previous connections with members of the Imperial Knights of Sierra and similar white nationalist organizations. He has also founded the Institute for Sierran Immigration Reform, which has been described as a group by the Pacific Civil Liberties Center.

Early life
Benjamin Benny Marchesi was born in, Reno, the eldest son of Assunta (née Pierno) and Sergio "Secondo" Marchesi. His father was a who worked at the Lyon Memorial Medical Center while his mother was a practicing  at a local health clinic. He has Italian ancestry, with his father's side hailing from and his mother's side from. Both his parents were native-born Italian Sierrans, while his paternal and maternal grandparents both respectively arrived as immigrants from Italy. He was the oldest of four siblings, growing up with Danny, Nicoletta, and Johnny. When Marchesi was in fifth grade, his family moved to, Tahoe after his father found work at the University of Sierra, Davis Medical Center.

Raised with a Roman Catholic upbringing, Marchesi attended the Saint Xavier Junior High School, a parochial grade school. He later attended Augustus Sutter High School, a public school, in. He participated in the school debate club, journalism club, and athletics program as a track-and-field athlete. He won two provincial championship honors and was a national finalist in 1973. Marchesi graduated as one of the salutatorians with high honors. After graduation, he attended the University of Sierra, Bernheim with full scholarship, graduating in 1978 with a  in economics. Marchesi then attended King Smith University Law School and graduated with a .

Early legal career
After graduation, Marchesi started work in private practice with a focus on personal injury and vehicle accident cases at the Sacramento-based Holstein & Cho. He worked on researching case studies and preparing arguments for Holstein & Cho's defense team on a case defending blind people over the City of Roseville's attempt to replace standard intersections with s. After three years, he joined the staff counsel for Democratic-Republican MP Mark Gusber through network connections via the Barony of Roseville during the Ford Government. Due to his academic achievement, Marchesi was able to find work at the Supreme Court of Tahoe as a, working directly for Chief Justice Christian Myers between 1985 and 1989. He then worked as an Assistant K.S. Attorney for the Ministry of Justice's Immigration and Naturalization Division from 1989 to 1995 before resigning to continue private practice as a returning partner for Holstein & Cho.

He worked on a number of pro bono cases on behalf of Holstein & Cho, including a case where Marchesi represented Frank Mackey, a former police officer, who was convicted of negligence and involuntary manslaughter. Marchesi briefly served as an adjunct faculty member at Sierra National University, Sacramento, and made contributions to its official library. He was able to argue four cases before the Supreme Court of Tahoe and one at the Supreme Court of Sierra, prevailing in all of them.

Interim District Judge
In 2000, Judge Carlos Vergas from the K.S. District Court for Central Styxie was involved in a serious accident, with a post-surgical recovery that prevented him from continuing work. In the midst of this vacancy, Marchesi appeared on an official list as one of the recommended candidates to fill in for Vergas' vacancy to Prime Minister Melinda Peters. Marchesi was ultimately nominated by Peters, who cited his previous work, personal recommendations, and legal achievements, as well as familiarity with the Central Styxie area as Peters' decision to choose him. After undergoing a background check and an evaluation test, his nomination was approved by the Senate 88–37. Marchesi would serve as a temporary interim judge, who would complete the remainder of Vergas' elected term. When the term expired, he did not seek election as he accepted an offer to transfer to the Third Circuit Court of Tahoe to fill in another vacancy.

Circuit Judge
Marchesi succeeded Susan Knowland as the Circuit Judge for the Third District of Tahoe on April 9, 2002. During his tenure, he attracted attention for his opening prayers, which he started at the start of every court session. Members of the jury and defense attorneys objected to his prayer, with one juror stating it made them "incredibly uncomfortable". During one case, Marchesi asked a juror, who was a priest, to pray on their behalf for guidance. Marchesi's courtroom was filled with religious language, frequently citing biblical passages and spiritual stories to explain his arguments and sentencing. Although he received warnings from the National Bureau of Court Administration for violating standard protocol, Marchesi successfully challenged the complaints, insisting he did not compel people within the courtroom to join him in prayer.

The Democratic-Republican Party of Tahoe continued to endorse Marchesi, despite objections to the judge's conduct, citing his judicial record and case studies. It also stated that Marchesi represented the social attitudes of Styxie's Democratic-Republican voters, who leaned much more conservative than their national counterparts. Marchesi himself stated that he was a loyal Democratic-Republican and insisted that "Christian values are compatible with the Democratic-Republican vision of economic fairness and justice". The Sierran Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit against Marchesi in 2004 for his courtroom prayers, stating that it was unconstitutional for a person in public office to promote or partake in religious activities while operating in an official capacity. The lawsuit attracted widespread media attention, with supporters and opponents rallying outside Marchesi's Circuit Court. Marchesi himself responded to SCLU's lawsuit, calling it "an attack against honest expression of faith in the public sphere", and was invited to speak at the National Prayer and Faith Committee in support of public prayer.

The Supreme Court of Tahoe took up on the SCLU's case against Marchesi and ruled in the judge's favor, arguing that the separation of church and state clause did not expressly forbid the mere presence or act of religious activities in the public sphere. It argued that politicians frequently included generalized statements asking for God's blessing or divine providence, which could not be construed as the Sierran government itself promoting any established religion. The Supreme Court further stated that because the prayer was a personal choice that neither added nor diminished the value or order of the court hearings, it could not be restricted on the grounds of religious freedom. The case's victory boosted Marchesi's individual approval ratings, and the judge was awarded the National Prayer Warrior of the Year Award in 2005.

When the National Bureau of Court Administration made changes explicitly forbidding prayers in court sessions within its protocol, Marchesi chose to defy the Bureau's new rule, and continued his standard prayer openings. Thousands of supporters rallied outside of his court and the administrative headquarters of the Bureau in Porciúncula to demand a reversal of the decision. As specified from the Bureau's ruling, the province of Shasta incurred a $5,000 fine for every time Marchesi violated the ruling for failure to comply with the order. The Government of Tahoe came out in support of Marchesi in protest of the order, demanding a reconsideration by the Bureau over the matter. After four months, the Bureau invalidated the fines and removed the prayer ban rule from its protocol.

Abortion and birth control
Marchesi believes that begins at the moment of  and is opposed to all forms of, except in life-threatening situations, which he stated in 2009, "almost certainly is never ever the case". In the Waters v. Planned Starts Clinic, he formed the majority opinion that struck down partial-birth abortions, calling it a "grave moral hazard that denies life to unborn children". His decision was later upheld by the Supreme Court of Sierra when it was appealed in 2008. At a 2009 Sierran National Right to Life Organization gathering, he said, "As a pro-life judge, I am completely committed towards protecting all stages of human life." He has openly stated he believes the National Family Planning program should be abolished "outright", describing its foundation in 1986 as "one of Sierra's worst moral decisions ever made". He has received a consistent 0% from the National Reproductive Rights Advocacy Network and has received perfect 100% from the Sierran National Right to Life Organization based on his court decisions and legal work pertaining to the matter.

He opposes the promotion or sale of products and other forms of birth control, insisting that the only acceptable forms to prevent births are  and. He has also alleged that compulsory in Sierran public education has "led teenagers towards a life of bodily degradation, unrestrained recklessness, and hedonistic destruction".

Church and state
Marchesi stated that although he believed that the government should protect the freedom of religion, he did not agree with the idea that religion should be separated from the public, political sphere. He has urged Christians to involve their faith actively in politics and believed, "Sierra was founded on Judeo-Christian principles, principles which cannot be abandoned and must be defended at all costs." He has also stated, "The ultimate source of all laws must come from God, the true sovereign." He has defended staff-led prayer in public schools and has publicly started sessions within the Supreme Court of Tahoe in personal prayer.

LGBT rights
Marchesi is opposed to same-sex marriage, believing the government has a "moral duty to preserve traditional marriage between man and woman". In a 2011 Supreme Court case, he wrote, "Marriage is a fundamentally different institution by which we propagate our species and inculcate our young," and stressed that homosexuality goes against "". He further believed that changing societal perception of marriage did not justify legalizing same-sex marriage. He has stated, "It was who said that if you call a tail a dog, how many legs has a dog? The answer is four. And calling a civil contract between consenting adults a marriage does not make it a marriage. When you marry, you need consent from God first and foremost." He has equated homosexuality to and is supportive of laws that would make homosexuality and homosexual acts illegal. He has openly supported, believing that the practice is humane and effective because "homosexuality is a lifestyle choice that can and should be changed".

Views on CAS
Marchesi strongly opposes the Conference of American States and believes Sierra's membership and compliance with CAS rules have "compromised and jeopardized the independence and integrity of Sierran sovereignty". He has criticized the open border policy of the St. Louis Area and regulatory powers of the American Parliament, American Council, and American Secretariat. He has expressed strong support for a Sierrexit referendum.