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The legal fiction that states can nullify US law persist in Texas
Austin American Statesman ^ | 2.6.2010 | Sanford Levinson

Posted on 02/07/2010 6:15:41 AM PST by wolfcreek

An unexpected feature of this year's gubernatorial race is the revival of certain political notions identified with early American history. Republican candidate Debra Medina in particular has made nullification a major aspect of her campaign, both in her two debates with U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison and Gov. Rick Perry and on her Web site, which includes, under the label "Restore Sovereignty," the message that the U.S. Constitution "divides power between the federal and state governments and ultimately reserves final authority for the people themselves. Texas must stop the over reaching federal government and nullify federal mandates in agriculture, energy, education, healthcare, industry, and any other areas D.C. is not granted authority by the Constitution."

She does not specify the mechanism by which nullification would take place, but, obviously, she appears to believe that the legal authority to nullify is unquestionable, making it only a question of political will.

(Excerpt) Read more at statesman.com ...


TOPICS: Activism/Chapters; Breaking News; Constitution/Conservatism; Government; US: South Carolina; US: Texas
KEYWORDS: 10thamendment; constitution; liberalidiots; media; mediabias; medina; neoconfederate; notbreakingnews; nullification; paulbots; secession; sovereignty; statesrights; teapartyrebellion; tenthamendment; texas
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To: rustbucket

OK, then answer the question. If North Carolina and Rhode Island were not part of the Union then how did they become states without complying with the provisions for admitting new states outlined in Article IV?


541 posted on 02/10/2010 7:15:47 AM PST by Non-Sequitur
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To: Non-Sequitur; Who is John Galt?

Who ya gonna believe, John....these folks or Nonsensical?
(With thanks to Walter E. Williams)

Thomas Jefferson — “If there be any among us who would wish to dissolve this Union, or to change its republican form, let them stand undisturbed as monuments of the safety with which error of opinion may be tolerated where reason is left to combat it.”

James Madison — (the father of the Constitution) cleared up what “the people” meant, saying the proposed Constitution would be subject to ratification by the people, “not as individuals composing one entire nation, but as composing the distinct and independent States to which they respectively belong.” In a word, states were sovereign; the federal government was a creation, an agent, a servant of the states.

Or — In Federalist Paper 45, Madison guaranteed: “The powers delegated by the proposed Constitution to the federal government are few and defined. Those which are to remain in the State governments are numerous and indefinite.” The South seceded because of Washington’s encroachment on that vision. Today, it’s worse. Turn Madison’s vision on its head, and you have today’s America.

The key issue in the right to secession is not separating oneself from a government that prevents the “self-determination” of “peoples,” but separating oneself from a government that fails in its purpose: the protection of individual rights.

It’s quite simple, really. If you believe what Lincoln said (even if he did not believe it himself) “government of the people, by the people, for the people...” then it should be the people who decide whether to stay or go...not the government. It can’t be any more simple.

That Lincoln’s government ignored the beliefs of those who actually wrote and passed the Constitution (see above) and crushed “the people” who left their tyrannical abomination that had become the U.S., exposes Lincoln as the ultimate hypocrite.

Forcing people to be part of a “union” is not a union (at least as Lincoln himself defines it above), it is enslavement. It made southerners as much slaves to the Union as blacks were slaves to people in both the north and south.

Nonsensical says he loathes slavery while simultaneously embracing it and defending it as the preferred way of maintaining a “union”. Forced participation is NOT “by the people” nor is it a union.

All the other discussion is just so much jibber jabber. Which is why nonsensical’s name is most appropriate.


542 posted on 02/10/2010 7:27:09 AM PST by Lee'sGhost (Johnny Rico picked the wrong girl!)
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To: rustbucket
And in Congress Monday, January 11, 1790, President Washington sends word of the ratification of the Constitution by the state of North Carolina. Nothing about the admission of the soverign country of North Carolina or the territory of North Carolina. So obviously North Carolina was considered a state before ratification and joined the House and Senate after ratification.

Link

And similarly when Rhode Island ratified, nothing about admitting or territory or the country of Rhode Island. Just that the state of Rhode Island had ratified.

Link

If they were not states then why did they merely ratify the Constitution instead of being admitted?

543 posted on 02/10/2010 7:28:48 AM PST by Non-Sequitur
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To: Lee'sGhost
Who ya gonna believe, John....these folks or Nonsensical?

Just what Galt needs. Help from someone like you.

544 posted on 02/10/2010 7:31:04 AM PST by Non-Sequitur
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To: Non-Sequitur
OK, then answer the question. If North Carolina and Rhode Island were not part of the Union then how did they become states without complying with the provisions for admitting new states outlined in Article IV?

They had been members of the previous union and had had the Constitution submitted to them for ratification by the previous union. That invitation to ratify the Constitution had not been withdrawn and there were no such conditions on their ratification.

The new United States government under the Constitution wanted as many of the 13 states to join it as possible. There is no way they would have been a practical country if the last four states of the 13 to ratify (New York, Virginia, North Carolina, and Rhode Island) had barriers making it more difficult for them to join. The ratification vote was very close in three of those last four states. It was 80-79 in Virginia, 30-27 in New York, and 34-32 in Rhode Island.

By the way, the 14th state (Vermont) also ratified the Constitution.

The fact still stands, as my post above shows, that prior to their ratification the US Congress considered North Carolina and Rhode Island not to be part of the United States, i.e., goods from those two states "... were imported or brought into the United States ..." How can that be if they never were outside of the United States?

545 posted on 02/10/2010 7:41:45 AM PST by rustbucket
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To: rustbucket

Hmmm. A second source says the Virginia vote was 89-79.


546 posted on 02/10/2010 7:52:46 AM PST by rustbucket
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To: Non-Sequitur; Who is John Galt?

Ah.... a most appropriate response from someone who has NO rebuttal.

“What is best in life? To crush your enemies — See them driven before you, and to hear the lamentation of their women!”


547 posted on 02/10/2010 7:54:31 AM PST by Lee'sGhost (Johnny Rico picked the wrong girl!)
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To: BP2

“Sure you can. It’s happened before.”
And more recently:

There is no question as to whether or when “official” nullification will happen: It has ALREADY HAPPENED. In fact, not only has it happened recently, it has been a success! Perhaps this is why the federal government hopes you will never hear about it. According to the Tenth Amendment Center:

“25 states over the past 2 years have passed resolutions and binding laws denouncing and refusing to implement the Bush-era law [REAL ID Act]..While the law is still on the books in D.C., its implementation has been “delayed” numerous times in response to this massive state resistance, and in practice, is virtually null and void.”


548 posted on 02/10/2010 7:59:44 AM PST by antisocial (Texas SCV - Deo Vindice)
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To: Non-Sequitur
On February 17, 1787 legislation was passed that said that "...in the opinion of Congress, it is expedient that, on the second Monday in May next, a convention of delegates, who shall have been appointed by the several states, be held at Philadelphia, for the sole and express purpose of revising the Articles of Confederation, and reporting to Congress and the several legislatures such alterations and provisions therein as shall, when agreed to in Congress, and confirmed by the states, render the federal constitution adequate to the exigencies of government and the preservation of the Union."

...for the sole and express purpose of revising the Articles of Confederation,..." and they went FAR beyond that charter as EVERY member of the New York delegation promptly recognized and all save Hamilton left and took no further part in the proceedings!

What they did, without authorization and in total disregard for the instructions given by the government under the Articles of Confederation, was write an entirely NEW Constitution under which all seceded from that "perpetual" union in favor of a new one! So much for "perpetual" government in America!

Your arguments are indeed ridiculous!

549 posted on 02/10/2010 8:03:40 AM PST by Bigun ("It is difficult to free fools from the chains they revere." Voltaire)
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To: wolfcreek

I’d put it this way. Every state has a God-given right to *try* to nulify unjust federal law.


550 posted on 02/10/2010 8:06:42 AM PST by sand lake bar
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To: rustbucket
They had been members of the previous union and had had the Constitution submitted to them for ratification by the previous union. That invitation to ratify the Constitution had not been withdrawn and there were no such conditions on their ratification.

Which would have to also mean that they were not out of the United States, right? Their political relationship may have been somewhat ambiguous but there was no complete severing of ties or explusion as Galt would have us believe. It that had been the case, if there was a complete severing of all bonds, then Article IV must apply.

By the way, the 14th state (Vermont) also ratified the Constitution.

Maybe. But they became a state through act of Congress.

Link

The fact still stands, as my post above shows, that prior to their ratification the US Congress considered North Carolina and Rhode Island not to be part of the United States, i.e., goods from those two states "... were imported or brought into the United States ..." How can that be if they never were outside of the United States?

And if they were outside of the United States then how could they become states without consent of Congress per Article IV? Vermont was outside of the U.S. and they required Congressional approval. Why not Rhode Island and North Carolina? Or for that matter Virgina and New York which also ratified after the Constitution was adopted by the 9th state?

North Carolina and Rhode Island were founding members of the United States. The fact that the government changed to the Constitution from the Articles of Confederation didn't alter that. And their delay in ratifying the Constitution, while creating a political limbo, did not expel them from the United States. Now had they continued to refuse to ratify then I imagine that a final resolution would have had to have been identified. At that point then secession or expulsion might have resulted. But that point was never reached. And Rhode Island and North Carolina never ceased to be states.

551 posted on 02/10/2010 8:22:24 AM PST by Non-Sequitur
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To: kittykat77
Relax -- I suggest you look up what the process is to REPEAL constitutional amendments. The SCOTUS cannot repeal constitutional amendments; only the people can repeal constitutional amendments.

My neive friend, the SCOTUS merely needs to interpret the meaning of the First and Second amendments to change how they are enforced. On several past Second Amendment legal reviews, the decisions have come down 5/4 on what constitutes "Shall Not be Infringed". To me it is pretty darn clear what the founders meant by "Shall NOT be infringed", but obviously 4 Supremes think otherwise. Change the mix by one or two, and we are in permanent tyranny!

552 posted on 02/10/2010 8:23:41 AM PST by broken_arrow1 (I regret that I have but one life to give for my country - Nathan Hale "Patriot")
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To: Lee'sGhost
“What is best in life? To crush your enemies — See them driven before you, and to hear the lamentation of their women!”

First Walter Williams and now "Conan the Barbarian". The quality of your sources is consistent, I say that for you

553 posted on 02/10/2010 8:29:51 AM PST by Non-Sequitur
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To: Non-Sequitur

Ahhhh......there it is, right on cue. The lamentation of the women.

Thanks for not letting me down.


554 posted on 02/10/2010 8:32:16 AM PST by Lee'sGhost (Johnny Rico picked the wrong girl!)
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To: Bigun
...and they went FAR beyond that charter as EVERY member of the New York delegation promptly recognized and all save Hamilton left and took no further part in the proceedings!

No doubt they went beyond what Congress had expected, but based in the legislation authorizing the convention they certainly followed what the states had unanimously agreed to.

What they did, without authorization and in total disregard for the instructions given by the government under the Articles of Confederation, was write an entirely NEW Constitution under which all seceded from that "perpetual" union in favor of a new one! So much for "perpetual" government in America!

ROTFLMAO!!!! So they seceded from the United States and formed....the United States. Neat trick.

555 posted on 02/10/2010 8:32:49 AM PST by Non-Sequitur
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To: Lee'sGhost
Thanks for not letting me down.

Likewise. Can "Outlaw Josey Wales" be far behind?

556 posted on 02/10/2010 8:33:36 AM PST by Non-Sequitur
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To: Non-Sequitur

And she wails even louder!

LOL! I own you, bi-atch. Can you squeal like a pig, too?


557 posted on 02/10/2010 8:36:57 AM PST by Lee'sGhost (Johnny Rico picked the wrong girl!)
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To: Lee'sGhost
LOL! I own you, bi-atch. Can you squeal like a pig, too?

ROTFLMAO!!!

558 posted on 02/10/2010 8:39:00 AM PST by Non-Sequitur
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To: Non-Sequitur

I knew you could. Good job!


559 posted on 02/10/2010 8:41:40 AM PST by Lee'sGhost (Johnny Rico picked the wrong girl!)
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To: Non-Sequitur; rustbucket
OK, then answer the question. If North Carolina and Rhode Island were not part of the Union then how did they become states without complying with the provisions for admitting new states outlined in Article IV?

After the collapse of British authority in 1775 it became necessary to form new state governments and by the end of 1777 ten new state constitutions had been created. Connecticut and Rhode Island kept their colonial charters but removed all references to British sovereignty. Massachusetts waited until 1780 to adopt it's new Constitution. All of this prior to adoption to the Articles of Confederation!

The were already free and independent states prior to their becoming party to any union whatever!

The Treaty of Paris acknowledged the 13 colonies to be free, sovereign, and independent states and that the British Crown and all heirs and successors relinquished claims to the Government, propriety, and territorial rights of the same, and every part thereof.

560 posted on 02/10/2010 8:42:04 AM PST by Bigun ("It is difficult to free fools from the chains they revere." Voltaire)
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