Some conservative state legislators around the nation are hurling themselves against the Constitution. In addition to a movement to circumvent the 14th Amendment and deny automatic citizenship to those born in the U.S., a move is now afoot to allow states to nullify federal laws they find burdensome or odious. The movement is aimed primarily at the recently passed health care law. Idaho, Texas, Alabama, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, and several other states are exploring the right of nullification. Nullification is an 18th century doctrine that asserts that states have the authority to determine for themselves what the Constitution permits and what their obligations are under it.
The Constitution is in many parts vague and undetermined. Over two hundred years after it was written and adopted, struggles persist as to what it precisely allows and forbids the government to do. Nevertheless, many issues have been settled. One such issue is federal supremacy. The Civil War was fought over the issue. The side that argued for state supremacy lost. Against the resounding victory of the North and well over a century of Supreme Court rulings, some states are asserting the dusty and obscure concept of nullification. While states have an important role in what is put in the Constitution, once an amendment has been adopted or a federal law has been established, the states are bound to observe it. Hundreds of thousands died and cities were burned to the ground to make that point.
History has never been a strong point in American political life. Almost every generation has felt itself unique and unbound by the past. For the last century political and social movements have battered the Constitution. Frustrated by the halting pace and inertia of society, one group after another has assailed the laws, customs, and traditions of the land in their zeal. Sometimes this has been for the good. Universal suffrage and overturning segregation are two issues that redound to the nation's, and the Court's, credit. Sometimes time it has been for the worse. The 18th Amendment banning the manufacture, transportation and sale of alcohol and Supreme Court rulings upholding segregation are examples that speak poorly of American political sensibilities.
Progressives have historically been the ones who, in their political impatience, pushed for new and elaborate interpretations of the Constitution. To their discredit, some conservatives are beginning to take their political dissatisfaction out on the Constitution. Two issues stand out in recent events. Both are flimsy at best. The move to deny citizenship to some born in the U.S. is in clear violation of text, history and precedent. The growing movement to assert states' right to nullify laws they find unconstitutional is equally against history, tradition, and text.
People can, and do argue over what the Constitution says. They always will. However not everything written in the Constitution is ambiguous. At least conservatives have frequently made that argument. Yet some have taken to parsing words, ignoring clear text and turning over rocks looking for obscure and antiquated interpretations and precedents. That they are doing so is a discredit to themselves and a disservice to the nation. Conservatives claim to be the champions of tradition and law, yet some of them are beating the bushes for legal loopholes and engaging in constitutional spelunking. What is the matter with them?
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Is That a Threat?
Two reports were released Monday. One was from the Center for American Progress. The other was from the Southern Poverty Law Center. The reports addressed the efforts by state and local authorities to augment and enforce national immigration laws. Both reports take a dim view of recent efforts to crack down on illegal immigration. Both reports also sought to warn states and local governments of the legal strain and financial pitfalls that they can expect should they pass such legislation.
Attempts to curb illegal immigration, such as the recent case in Farmers Branch, Texas where the city has passed a law declaring that anyone who knowingly rents to illegal immigrants is guilty of harboring, have engendered protracted legal fights. Farmers Branch has already lost the first round and is preparing for the second. Legal fights cost money. According to the Center for American Progress, $9 million has been spent so far by five cities defending their immigration ordinances. As new laws and ordinances are passed, new suits will be filed and more money will be spent defending them. State and local governments have been put on notice that they will have to keep spending to defend themselves and their laws.
There are many issues that surround immigration reform. Where politics and insults have failed to stem the growth of immigration reform movements, economic pressure has been brought to bear in the threats of boycotts. In Farmers Branch, a new strategy is being developed by those who oppose efforts to crack down on illegal immigration. They will seek to impoverish the city through endless litigation.
Those who support liberal immigration policy claim they are simply trying to inform communities of the legal consequences that can be expected should those communities try to enforce immigration law, just as those who organize boycotts claim they are merely trying to make communities aware of the financial costs of such policies. What they are really doing is threatening those communities.
A lot people have become disdainful of the democratic process. Many do not trust voters. Some hold voters in contempt. Others are simply too impatient. They are the ones most apt to turn to the courts to achieve their political goals. They are the ones who, if they cannot persuade the public to adopt preferred policy, will coerce them to adopt it. That is precisely what the Immigration Reform Law Institute and Center for American Progress are trying to do. They are trying to coerce Farmer's Branch into changing its laws.
Liberals might see themselves as reformers and progressives, but they are not. They are elitist and heavy handed. Their confidence in their beliefs and sensibilities is absolute. They know what they want and they will do whatever they feel is necessary to achieve it. If they cannot get the results they want at the ballot box they will bribe, coerce, and threaten. They will harp on rights and freedom but you will rarely, if ever, hear them speak of liberty.
The controversy in Farmers Branch and other communities seeking to crack down on illegal immigration begs the question: how can you have the right to rent an apartment or have a driver's licence when you do not even have the right to be here?
Attempts to curb illegal immigration, such as the recent case in Farmers Branch, Texas where the city has passed a law declaring that anyone who knowingly rents to illegal immigrants is guilty of harboring, have engendered protracted legal fights. Farmers Branch has already lost the first round and is preparing for the second. Legal fights cost money. According to the Center for American Progress, $9 million has been spent so far by five cities defending their immigration ordinances. As new laws and ordinances are passed, new suits will be filed and more money will be spent defending them. State and local governments have been put on notice that they will have to keep spending to defend themselves and their laws.
There are many issues that surround immigration reform. Where politics and insults have failed to stem the growth of immigration reform movements, economic pressure has been brought to bear in the threats of boycotts. In Farmers Branch, a new strategy is being developed by those who oppose efforts to crack down on illegal immigration. They will seek to impoverish the city through endless litigation.
Those who support liberal immigration policy claim they are simply trying to inform communities of the legal consequences that can be expected should those communities try to enforce immigration law, just as those who organize boycotts claim they are merely trying to make communities aware of the financial costs of such policies. What they are really doing is threatening those communities.
A lot people have become disdainful of the democratic process. Many do not trust voters. Some hold voters in contempt. Others are simply too impatient. They are the ones most apt to turn to the courts to achieve their political goals. They are the ones who, if they cannot persuade the public to adopt preferred policy, will coerce them to adopt it. That is precisely what the Immigration Reform Law Institute and Center for American Progress are trying to do. They are trying to coerce Farmer's Branch into changing its laws.
Liberals might see themselves as reformers and progressives, but they are not. They are elitist and heavy handed. Their confidence in their beliefs and sensibilities is absolute. They know what they want and they will do whatever they feel is necessary to achieve it. If they cannot get the results they want at the ballot box they will bribe, coerce, and threaten. They will harp on rights and freedom but you will rarely, if ever, hear them speak of liberty.
The controversy in Farmers Branch and other communities seeking to crack down on illegal immigration begs the question: how can you have the right to rent an apartment or have a driver's licence when you do not even have the right to be here?
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