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FreeRepublic , LLC PO BOX 9771 FRESNO, CA 93794
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Posted on 07/18/2003 3:40:52 PM PDT by Willie Green
For education and discussion only. Not for commercial use.
For citizens, the legitimacy of a republican form of government (small "r" - this is not a partisan battle) lies in its adherence to constitutional rules established by the people themselves. Without this, the foundation of the Republic is undermined, rules of law are meaningless, and eventually tyranny or anarchy may ensue. If a government may arbitrarily discard a foundational principle for political expediency, the gravest consequences are not the short term implications from violating the law, but instead the long term consequences that come from undercutting the sustaining principles that are the bedrock of our nation.
As Thomas Jefferson noted in the Declaration of Independence more than two centuries ago, "Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient Causes," but "when a long Train of Abuses and Usurpations" of the will of the people has been undertaken, it is the right of the people, indeed their duty, "to throw off such Government."
On July 10, 2003, the Supreme Court of the State of Nevada issued an order to the state legislature to ignore the two-thirds tax rule established by an overwhelming majority of Nevada state voters. The short term implications of allowing the tax hike to go forward under a simple majority vote are bad.
An unjust and unconstitutional tax will be imposed on the citizens and businesses of the state of Nevada, several of the legislators and constituents will suffer from having their vote given a lesser weight than is required under the state constitution, and, perhaps the most egregious effect, Nevada voters will be told, essentially, that they have no right to decide how to govern themselves.
Our nation's founders provided us with constitutional safeguards against such abuses. In the case of Angle v. Legislature of the State of Nevada, the Federal District Court of Nevada has a chance to vindicate this recent attack on the principles of self-government guaranteed by the Constitution. They have the opportunity to rule the right of Due Process requires no taxes be collected from the people of the state unless those taxes were imposed following the procedure laid out in the state constitution. They have the opportunity to rule that every legislator and constituent enjoys the protection of having their vote given the full weight afforded it by the state constitution.
And most importantly, under the Republican Guarantee clause, the court has the opportunity to return to the citizens of the state of Nevada their right to decide how they want to be governed.
In addressing these short term injustices now, the court will also be working to prevent the long term consequences that might ensue from a sustained attack on the founding principles of the nation. It will be preventing the State of Nevada from the tyranny of an unelected court that believes it knows better how to govern than 70 percent of the citizens of the State. And it will be preventing in the State of Nevada the anarchy that will inevitably ensue if the government of Nevada continues to ignore the people's constitutional commands.
Dr. Eastman, a Professor of Constitutional Law at Chapman University School of Law and Director of The Claremont Institute Center for Constitutional Jurisprudence, is counsel of record in Angle v. The Legislature of the State of Nevada.
Ms. Moore, a second-year law student at the University of St. Thomas School of Law, is a Blackstone Fellow at the Claremont Institute this summer and one of the students working on the case with Dr. Eastman.
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FreeRepublic , LLC PO BOX 9771 FRESNO, CA 93794
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It is in the breaking news sidebar! |
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Article IV - Section 4. The United States shall guarantee to every state in this union a republican form of government....
Much of the authors points are right.
This is rich. The Supreme Court of Nevada has ordered the Nevada State Legislature to break the law.
The legislature should simply pass a resolution stating that the NSC has exceeded its authority and then simply ignore the order.
This is very similar to the Perry County Ohio case in which the OSC declared Ohio’s method of financing the Public Schools unconstitutional.
| "...In addressing these short term injustices now, the court will also be working to prevent the long term consequences that might ensue from a sustained attack on the founding principles of the nation. It will be preventing the State of Nevada from the tyranny of an unelected court that believes it knows better how to govern than 70 percent of the citizens of the State. And it will be preventing in the State of Nevada the anarchy that will inevitably ensue if the government of Nevada continues to ignore the people's constitutional commands...." |
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