History
of Nullification: While the media generally portrays nullification
as being solely aligned with the efforts of the nullifiers of the
South and the Civil War, this is certainly false, and reeks of misinformation.
Nullification has a long history in the American tradition and has
been invoked in support of free speech, in opposition to war and
fugitive slave laws, and more. Read more on this history here.
10th
Amendment Resolutions
These non-binding resolutions, often called "state sovereignty
resolutions" do no carry the force of law. Instead, they are
intended to be a statement of the legislature of the state.
They play an important role, however. If you owned an apartment
building and had a tenant not paying rent, you wouldn't show
up with an empty truck to kick them out without first serving
notice. That's how we view these Resolutions – as serving "notice
and demand" to the Federal Government to "cease and desist any
and all activities outside the scope of their constitutionally-delegated
powers." Follow-up, of course, is a must.
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HERE FOR CURRENT 10TH AMENDMENT RESOLUTIONS
Firearms
Freedom Act
Originally introduced and passed in Montana, the FFA declares
that any firearms made and retained in-state are beyond the
authority of Congress under its constitutional power to regulate
commerce among the states. The FFA is primarily a Tenth Amendment
challenge to the powers of Congress under the “commerce clause,”
with firearms as the object. (source, FirearmsFreedomAct.com)
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HERE FOR CURRENT FIREARMS FREEDOM ACT LEGISLATION
State
Marijuana Laws
An honest reading of the Constitution with an original understanding
of the Founders and Ratifiers makes it quite clear that the
federal government has no constitutional authority to override
state laws on marijuana. All three branches of the federal government,
however, have interpreted (and re-interpreted) the commerce
clause of the Constitution to authorize them to engage in this
activity, even though there's supposedly no "legal" commerce
in the plant. At best, these arguments are dubious; at worst
an intentional attack on the Constitution and your liberty.
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HERE FOR CURRENT STATE MARIJUANA LAWS
Health
Care Nullification Act
The Health Care Nullification Act declares that "the federal law
known as the “Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act,” signed
by President Barack Obama on March 23, 2010, is not authorized
by the Constitution of the United States and violates its true
meaning and intent as given by the Founders and Ratifiers, and
is hereby declared to be invalid, shall not be recognized, is
specifically rejected, and shall be considered null and void and
of no effect."
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HERE FOR HEALTH CARE NULLIFICATION ACT TRACKING
REAL
ID Act
Led by Maine in early 2007, 25 states over the past 2 years have
passed resolutions and binding laws denouncing and refusing the
implement the Bush-era law which many expressed concerned about
privacy, funding and more. 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.
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HERE FOR ANTI-REAL ID LEGISLATION
Health
Care Freedom Act
The Health Care Freedom Act is considered in states as either
a bill or a state constitutional amendment – effectively prohibiting
the enactment of any new government-run healthcare programs
within the state.
While many of the bills have language similar to true nullification
legislation, many of them are promoted solely as a vehicle to
drive a federal court battle – which is not nullification in
its true sense.
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HERE FOR HEALTH CARE FREEDOM ACT TRACKING
Defend
the Guard
Under the Constitution, the militia (now called the National
Guard) may only be called into duty by the federal government
in three specific situations. According to Article I, Section
8; Clause 15, the Congress is given the power to pass laws for
"calling forth the Militia to execute the Laws of the Union,
suppress Insurrections and repel Invasions." The militia was
intended by the Founders and Ratifiers to be defense force and
nothing more. Deployments outside the country were not considered,
and neither were internal deployments in pursuance of powers
that were not delegated to the federal government. Congress
has passed numerous laws in the past 100 years giving the federal
government additional authority not mentioned in the Constitution.
But, without amendment, altering the enumerated powers by legislative
fiat is, in and of itself, unconstitutional. Campaigns in states
around the country are working to reassert the authority of
governors over guard troops.
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HERE FOR CURRENT BRING THE GUARD HOME LEGISLATION
Constitutional
Tender
The United States Constitution declares, in Article I, Section
10, "No State shall… make any Thing but gold and silver
Coin a Tender in Payment of Debts." Constitutional Tender laws
seek to nullify federal legal tender laws in the state by authorizing
payment in gold and silver or a paper note backed 100% by gold
or silver,
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HERE FOR CURRENT CONSTITUTIONAL TENDER LEGISLATION
Cap
and Trade/EPA
Cap and Trade and EPA regulations and acts are often claimed
to be authorized under the Commerce Clause of the Constitution.
At best, this is a highly dubious claim. This interstate regulation
of “commerce” did not include agriculture, manufacturing, mining,
or land use. Nor did it include activities that merely “substantially
affected” commerce.
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HERE FOR CURRENT CAP AND TRADE/EPA NULLIFICATION LEGISLATION
State
Sovereignty and Federal Tax Funds Act
Such laws would require that all federal taxes come first to the
state’s Department of Revenue. A panel of legislators would assay
the Constitutional appropriateness of the Federal Budget, and
then forward to the federal government a percentage of the federal
tax dollars that are delineated as legal and Constitutionally-justified.
The remainder of those dollars would be assigned to budgetary
items that are currently funded through federal allocations and
grants or returned to the people of the state.
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HERE FOR CURRENT FEDERAL TAX FUNDS LEGISLATION
Sheriffs
First Legislation
A "Sheriffs First" bill would make it a state crime for any
federal agent to make an arrest, search, or seizure within the
state without first getting the advanced, written permission
of the elected county sheriff of the county in which the event
is to take place.
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HERE FOR CURRENT SHERIFFS FIRST LEGISLATION
Federal
Gun Laws Nullification
As codified in law with the 2nd Amendment, the People did not
delegate the power to regulate or control the ownership of firearms
to the federal government. And, as the 10th Amendment makes
clear, all powers not delegated to the federal government are
reserved to the States or to the People themselves.
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HERE FOR CURRENT FEDERAL GUN LAWS NULLIFICATION LEGISLATION
Intrastate
Commerce Act
As understood at the time of the founding, the regulation of
commerce was meant to empower Congress to regulate the buying
and selling of products made by others (and sometimes land),
associated finance and financial instruments, and navigation
and other carriage, across state jurisdictional lines. These
bills attempt to reassert this original meaning of the commerce
clause over wide areas of policy and effectively nullify federal
laws and regulations that violate such limitations by regulating
commerce and other activities that are solely intrastate.
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HERE INTRASTATE COMMERCE ACT TRACKING
10th
Amendment Bills
Unlike the many 10th Amendment Resolutions that have been introduced
around the country since 2008, these "10th Amendment" or "State
Sovereignty" bills are proposals for binding legislation. They
include language to affirm the sovereignty of the people of the
state and to create a commission or a committee to review the
Constitutionality of acts emanating from the federal government.
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HERE FOR CURRENT 10TH AMENDMENT BILLS
