Posted on 11/02/2004 11:20:24 AM PST by tpaine
When a proposed amendment is under consideration by the States, it takes a vote of three-fourths of the States to ratify any proposed change.
Neither Congress nor a majority of the American people has a vote in this process.
Article V does not authorize the legislatures of the "several states" to violate our Constitutions safeguards of individual rights by the amendment process.
Likewise, neither the federal government nor the whole people can override a three-fourths vote of the States. The 38 smallest States, with a minority of the population, can bind the remaining 12 States with a majority of the population.
States cannot 'bind' anyone to amendments that are repugnant to the overall principles of liberty embodied in our Constitution.
This proves conclusively that federal government is not supreme and above the States.
The whole of the Constitution proves that neither the States, nor the Feds, are supreme over "We the People"..
This authors essay is a cleverly disguised piece of agitprop for the statist agenda. The 'States Rights' cause is anti-constitutional, not just anti-fedgov.
In the USA, State's have no rights, only the powers delegated to them by their citizens. Such state powers cannot infringe upon our individual rights.
Feel free to defend your hero.
No!
umm, we lost the Civil War. So the answer is yes.
No! [says eskimo]
Is the Constitution the supreme "Law of the Land" and above the States?
Yes!
People often mistakenly claim that the formation of the USA was wholly part of the very bourgeois assertion of Enlightenment core values. While it is true that our Founders were Men of their era, their inspiration came from something much older, the Magna Carta, a brilliant stroke of genious regarding God given Rights of Men and Rule of Law. Given this notion, there can be no doubt that the intent of the Founders was indeed God given Rights of Men and Rule of Law. For a few short years, their initial vision moved forward, largely unmodified and unchallenged, Marbury Vs. Madison and other tweaks notwithstanding. However, increasingly, the currents of bourgeois will to power, and the tendency of global money power to erode nation states founded on the above principles in favor of trans national expendiency, undermined the original consensus. The urge to place state over all (including the God given Rights of Men *and* Rule of Law!) was not, as some naively assume, limited to Europe. We were tainted by this as well. Herein lies the root of our current problem. No fewer than 40 % of the population essentially do not believe, in their hearts, in God given Rights of Men and in Rule of Law, but in Rights and Rule of Law set forth by the State. Business men like this, because there is "on throat to choke" and a focal point for exerting influence. In order to truly reform ourselves, we seriously need to get back to fundamentals. But I will make a caution here. Any serious effort to do this would meet with INTENSE resistance from business interests and from many amongst the bourgeoisie.
The Constitution was the supreme law long before the Civil War.
--- That fact is one of the reasons we had to fight it.
"Is the Federal Government Supreme and Above the States?"
Of course it is. We really need to wake up in this country. The Constitution is eroded each year by the courts, the final arbiter of which is of course... the Supreme Court, appointed at the Federal level. SHOULD it be? Certainly not!! But until and unless our Constitution is truely upheld as the Law Of The Land (strictly interpreted)... the rulings of our Judicial Branch will be.
Hate it when that happens.
Is the Constitution the supreme "Law of the Land" and above the States?
Yes!"
Works for me. I think the land issue was settled when it was the states that ceded land for Washington, D.C. The feral gummint said, 'thank you very much.' They didn't steal it. Fact is, it was the only land in the union (10 square) they had any jurisdiction over, except for forts, armories, etc., at various locations in the states.
My. How far we have evolved as a free people. < /sarc >
Is the Federal Government Supreme and Above the States?
Sure it is, in those areas delegated to it by the Constitution. Example: the war power. States can't declare war, and they can't keep their own navies and go fight on the high seas. Another example: tarriffs. States can't levy them on international or interstate trade.
Of course the Federal government is supreme and above the States in those areas that the People originally delegated supreme power over the States to the Feds under the Constitution.
And no. No the Federal government is not supreme over the States in those areas that the Constitution does not delegated to it by the Constitution.
Of course, the Constitutional delegation of power is very, very broad indeed, and the real line of what's federal and what isn't is determined by the democratic will of the People, as washed through the political parties, Congress, the Presidency and the courts.
Pick a topic, any topic, and there's overlapping jurisdiction. Usually the Feds can assert supremacy if they need to. Usually they don't. Often there is shared jurisdiction. Example: Murder of a federal agent is murder under state law and a federal crime as well. Even if the People of the State have decided that there shall be no death penalty for murder in that State, the Federal government can apply the Federal death penalty at a facility in that State if the criminal is convicted in Federal Court.
There is no clear-cut answer to the question.
The best short description is to say that the Federal and State governments are each sovereign in their spheres, and the Federal government has the final say in what the boundaries of those spheres are.
Since the Federal government is subject to the will of the electorate just like the State government is, sovereignty in both cases reposes in the People.
Alas, with the War of Northern Aggression wherein Lincoln ostensibly said, “Do what I tell you to do, or I’ll come down there and kill you,” the Several States discovered that they had joined a club from which they could not resign. From that point, all power resides in Washington D.C., unhappily, by the actions of the brand new Republican Party. In recent times, the democrats have abused that power to the extent we observe today.
Lincoln did preserve The Union, but he murdered The Republic. The question is, “Can we get it back?”
bump
Yes, if the states allow it and if the people of the states allow the states to allow it.
That's a lot of allow's, I know, but that's the way it was intended to work.
In truth, it was not a war between the states, or a civil war. It was a war between the Federal Government and the Republic -- the union of states. Loser take all.
But even at this late date, we are not certain who the winner was, as we've been involved in a long-term mission to re-construct the Republic and restore the Constitution. Sometimes we gain, sometimes we lose.
Personally, I think we are on the threshhold of a major change -- for the better or for the worse.
Well put..
Unfortunatly, there are many here at FR that have bought into the Statist 'right' line that States ~must~ have the power to control the individuals private nonviolent behavior.
Then we have all those at DU that have bought into the Statist 'left' line that the Feds ~must~ have the power to control the individuals private nonviolent behavior.
Between the two factions we are being whipsawed into losing ALL of our liberties.
The problem with this analysis (most of which is dead on IMO) is that what is supposed to be is not necessarily the way things are.
The reason is simple. FedGov has massive weaponry, and they are no squeamish in the least in using it. They will kill you and think nothing of it. This gives them a lot of power they otherwise would not have, because if only subconciously, people know it.
Isn't this what we have to thank Lincoln for?
The aftermath of keeping the Union together was that the Fed gov. became the "Supreme Law of the Land" as that judge believes it to be.
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