There’s a critical dividing line that few are aware of.
In past, the SCOTUS has ruled that congress is superior to state legislatures, *and* that federal judges are superior to state judges. But it has *never* ruled that the US president is superior to state governors.
This is critical in US history, because whenever a POTUS and a state governor are at loggerheads, the *only* way the POTUS can enforce his will is with the US Army.
The best example of this was when Andrew Jackson was POTUS, and South Carolina attempted to nullify what it called unconstitutional tariffs that Jackson had instituted. This resulted in the “Nullification Crisis” of 1832.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nullification_crisis
Jackson won only by threatening to send in the military to arrest and hang every legislator who had voted for it.
The second example was far more recent, when the governor of Arkansas, Orval Faubus, Bill Clinton’s mentor, tried to block integration of Little Rock high school, and Eisenhower sent in the 101st Airborne Division.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Rock_Integration_Crisis
However, it took a long time for these issues to come to a head. The most recent example of a president *not* trying to force a governor to act was when George W. Bush offered aid to Louisiana during hurricane Katrina, and the governor of Louisiana dithered, refusing to act, but by doing so also prevented the federal government from acting.
Bush refused to overrule the governor in that case by declaring a federal martial law over the area.
There is, however, waiting in the wings, something that progressives have been wanting to do since FDR, which is in effect to erase state governments entirely, replacing them with regional authorities.
This was about half the intent of the original Tennessee Valley Authority scheme. But it went nowhere, because nobody else wanted it.
In any event, there is a practical side to nullification that is also seldom mentioned. That enforcement of federal law is to a great extent up to the states, and if they refuse to enforce federal law, there is instantly an impasse.
Medical marijuana is a huge example of this. It is a federal crime, but in many states it is only prosecuted by federal authorities. The states and local authorities ignore the federal law, and are under no obligation to enforce it.
It is “de facto” (in fact) nullification; even if it is not “de jure” (in the law) nullification. To date, this is the most effective form of nullification.
O please give me a break...
Jackson won only by threatening to send in the military to arrest and hang every legislator who had voted for it. bs/
Washington (Jackson) saw it a different way when confronted with...this.
“In Charleston Governor Robert Y. Hayne ... tried to form an army which could hope to challenge the forces of ‘Old Hickory.’ Hayne recruited a brigade of mounted minutemen, 2,000 strong, which could swoop down on Charleston the moment fighting broke out, and a volunteer army of 25,000 men which could march on foot to save the beleaguered city. In the North Governor Hayne’s agents bought over $100,000 worth of arms; in Charleston Hamilton readied his volunteers for an assault on the federal forts.”
this and this only brought them to the table and an agreement..for all to stand down.
Jackson knew his brother and sister South Carolinians would fight him to the last drop of blood from the Scot-Irishman.