“The unconstitutionality stems from its inherent conflict with the Declaration of Independence, the basic instrument which gave birth to our democracy.”
Idiotic, self-contradictory statement. If something is unconstitutional, by definition that means it is at odds with the Constitution. The Declaration has nothing to do with constitutionality. And democracy, in one form or another, predates independence.
“The Declaration has the force of law and the constitutions of the United States and of the various States must harmonize with its tenets. The Declaration when it proclaimed ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness’ restated the natural law”
This is akin to saying natural law has the force of law. if but so it were true. But you know as well as I that broad philosophical conceptions have little relation to the law as it works. It all comes down to legislators, executives, and judges, and what their heads tell them is right. I’ll bet none of them go re-read the Declaration before they make up their minds.
“Unless there had been a Thomas Jefferson who was educated by a philosophy professor to know the primacy of the natural law — there would be no United States of America.”
Pah. There were several other authors in addition to Jefferson. And hasn’t history taught us that Washington, not Jefferson, was the indispensible man? Besides, might makes right in the real world. The patriots’ cause was won not by rhetoric but by arms.
“We began our legal life as a Nation and a State with the guarantee that these were inalienable rights that come not from the State but from an external source of authority superior to the State which authority regulated our inalienable liberties and with which our laws and Constitutions must now conform”
There are thousands, if not millions, who would strongly disagree with that. We were not A nation, never A state, except in a very limited and temporary sense. We were a collection of states, if you will. It took the Constitution to make us a nation.
“That authority alone establishes the norms which test the validity of State legislation.”
B.S. Nobody tests federal legislation against that standard. They test it against the Constitution.
“Inalienable means that it is incapable of being surrendered (Webster’s Third New International Dictionary).”
Really, it means rights are incapable of being alienated, that is, transfered to another.
You’re arguing against the only firm foundation for American republican self-government and liberty.