Issue 17.17
There have been a significant number of Constitutional thinkers that have suggested or even demanded that the individual states stand up to abuses of power by the Federal Government. Others have opposed this vehemently preferring a Constitutional Convention to correct those abuses or derelictions of duty by the various branches (executive, legislative and judicial) of government. We examined why a Constitutional convention is a VERY bad idea in a previous article. This article details why a convention is unnecessary in light of already present powers of the people and their representatives.
In simple terms, nullification is defined politically as an individual component (state) of a group (United States) determining that a rule or law created by the group is not within the defined rights or responsibilities of that group (US Federal Government) and that they (the individual component or state) will not obey that rule or law.
To expand the understanding of that concept, you need to understand and have read the US Constitution. The 9th and 10th Amendments to the Constitution state, “The enumeration in the constitution of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people” (9th) and “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people” (10th).
Those powers (of the Federal Government) are specific and limited. They do not include things such as providing housing, health care, education and a host of other things that the Federal government has taken upon itself unconstitutionally and then taxed us to fund. Those items are rightly the responsibility of the people themselves or the states (10th Amendment). Things such as national defense, coining money and negotiating with foreign governments ARE the responsibility of the Federal Government and cannot be affected by nullification.
Thomas Jefferson wrote the following after the ratification of the Constitution. “…the government created by this compact (US Constitution) was not made the exclusive or final judge of the extent of the powers delegated to itself; since that would have made its discretion, and not the Constitution, the measure of its powers; but that, as in all other cases of compact (agreement) among powers having no common judge, each party has an equal right to judge for itself, as well of infractions as of the mode and measure of redress.” (parts in parenthesis are added for clarity). In plain English, he makes it clear that the states can choose to disregard any action or law instituted by the national government UNLESS that rule or law is within the scope of the powers of the national government. Those who oppose this view seem to believe that an organization formed to protect the rights of the people can make any law they choose, even in violation of the Constitution they have committed to uphold and defend and, that the only way to oppose an unconstitutional law or rule is to appeal to the same people that created it. That makes no sense whatsoever.
States have often used this process to counter Federal actions that go beyond the restrictions placed on the Federal government by the Constitution. In our own state, we have countered some imposed educational mandates and highway policies from the Federal government. Nullification could also be used for everything from federal drug laws, to Health Care requirements, to EPA policies and a score of other issues. The fact that this is not happening when it should is an indictment of our state legislators and not of the Federal Government who are simply trying to expand their power over us. The only checks and balances we have to that abuse of power are through the courts or through the nullification process by our state legislators and governor. Let them know that you require them to understand and use this process when appropriate or you will elect someone who will.
Lynn West is a thinker, a teacher and a patriot. You can reach him through email at forgingthefuture2021@gmail.com or through this newspaper. Liberty is a state of being which must be continually created. These articles can help all of us discover the ways we can contribute to that outcome.