« Previous Story | Front Page | Next Story »


10th Amendment Does Not Trump the Supremacy Clause

By Vickie Stangl
Analysis | March 7, 2010

WICHITA, Kan. - Kansas legislators held a Town Hall Meeting on Saturday, March 6th at the WSU Metroplex and what a meeting.

Kansas State Rep. Brenda Landwehr sounded like she was trying to resurrect the confederacy. Y'all remember the confederacy? Our southern cousins decided in 1861 that they didn't have to obey the U.S. Constitution's "supremacy clause" and in fact could leave the Union if the national government passed a law they didn't cotton to.

Landwehr has decided she doesn't much cotton to following a president she didn't vote for, let alone being forced to uphold his nasty piece of legislation that would provide health insurance for a bunch of losers who can't afford to purchase their own but want a handout from hard working legislators like Landwehr.

Landwehr has introduced the "Health Care Freedom Act". This is a constitutional amendment that will appear on the Kansas ballot in November IF it gets two-thirds approval of both houses. It EXEMPTS Kansans from being covered by any federal health care law just in case the Democrats get a spine and pass one in the future. The problem with her little ol' bill is that first, states do not get to "exempt" federal law just because they say they can, and two, there is that little ol' thing Landwehr is ignoring, our nation's history.

Imagine, giving states the power to nullify laws made by the U.S. Congress. What kind of nation would we be if states could take their big crayolas and veto legislation they didn't like from Washington insiders like Tiahrt, Moran and Brownback? How long would our government survive under such a system?

Actually, we don't have to speculate on such a scenario. America experienced the devastating effects of allowing the states to be sovereign under the Articles of Confederation government. The Articles was America's first government hastily formed in 1777 after we declared our independence from England. While the war lasted the states worked in some unity with one another, but once America successfully defeated the British, the nation began to splinter apart as sectionalism and loyalty to one's state became paramount.

Landwehr is obviously not aware of her own nation's history. Under the Articles, states were in fact sovereign and essentially America was comprised of thirteen separate governments doing whatever they wanted to do with little regard for the good of the nation. Since the Articles had no method of forcing states to pay taxes, there was no military to protect America against foreign or domestic threats. States were taxing other states to ship goods through their states creating a commercial nightmare which in the end was jeopardizing the economic health of the nation. After the Revolutionary War, America was a mess and Europeans watched and placed their bets on how long it would take before the country dissolved under a confederal form of government where the power rests with the states.

So, Representative Landwehr, we have done this kind of "state's rights" government before and it was a disaster. Let me explain one other little item you may have missed in civics class. The 10th Amendment is a recognition that the founder's developed a new system called "federalism" where the state and federal governments share certain powers. States are expected to carry out the day to day powers necessary for their citizens as long as state law does not violate the constitution nor conflict with national law. For example, powers like establishing a local police force or health clinics are necessary for the welfare the citizens of each state.

The 10th Amendment is brief: "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people." This amendment does not mean only states can take care of the health of their citizens.

From Medicare to Social Security, the United States government has longed been involved and concerned with the economic impact issues of health care on its people and the nation as a whole. This power is established under the the "necessary and proper" clause in Article One Section 8 Clause 18 which empowers Congress to do what is necessary "for carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers and all other Powers vested by this Constitution..." It has long been established law that the national government has the power to implement programs which "promote the general Welfare" of our nation as the preamble so beautifully states the case.

Let me be clear about this. States are not given the authority to usurp the national government under the 10th Amendment just because they resent the supremacy of the national government. This may be painful to hear for some Kansas legislators, but it's true. Too many American men died on the battlefields of the Civil War to make a mockery of this critical fact. It is awful and shocking to hear our elected leaders twist the meaning of the 10th Amendment into a call for the state's to nullify the laws of this land they are sworn to uphold and defend.

If you want to rebel, then rebel, but don't mislead Kansans into thinking this is a constitutional right when it is simply a case of sour grapes. Just because you don't have the courage to admit you don't like who is in the White House and don't want to help the poor obtain comprehensive medical insurance, is no reason to waste the taxpayer's money on an amendment that is stupid and unconstitutional.


8 Comments

This is wonderfully succinct explanation. I learned a lot from this article. Thank you!


This "tenther" movement is totally misguided, in my opinion. Thanks for shedding more light on this. African-Americans should be particularly bothered by this, as this resolution passed by the Kansas Senate, if binding, would eliminate the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Voting Rights Act of 1965 in Kansas. Fortunately, resolutions are not binding.


Each and every legislator should be called out by name for endorsing Mary Pilcher Cook and other kook's idea for their unsubstantiated claim of what the 10th Amendment allows for. Thank you for writing this Vickie. This rather reminds me of the "interpretation" of the 2nd Amendment and the gunning down of the Constitution.
And let us not forget the 14th Amendment designed to keep states in check.

Section 1. "All persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws." This sort of overrides the theory of the 10th.
Example: After much discussion by the United States Supreme Court over the Plessy v. Ferguson decision, the Court stated that Louisiana's Separate Car Act did not violate the 14th Amendment.

"So far, then, as a conflict with the fourteenth amendment is concerned, the case reduces itself to the question whether the statute of Louisiana is a reasonable regulation, and with respect to this there must necessarily be a large discretion on the part of the legislature….in determining the question of reasonableness, it [the state] is at liberty to act with reference to the established usages, customs, and traditions of the people, and with a view to the promotion of their comfort, and the preservation of the public peace and good order."

—Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)


The sovereignty movement seems to forget the last four words of the 10th Amendment (and skips over the 9th entirely).


You are right on, Vickie.

How many of you think this country would have survived long enough to unite 50 individual territories into what we now have, if we had not had a strong central government that protected the rights of minorities and forced cooperation between individual states in national security, commerce, law enforcement, food purity, etc.???


Great job. The Constitution has both rights and responsibilities. It doesn't permit the states or citizens to pick the parts they like and discard the rest.


The Tenth Amendment refers to 'powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution' whereas the Supremacy Clause refers to laws made persuant to powers that are delegated to the United States by the Constitution.

To put it simply, the Constitution lists the powers that the federal government has. It then says (in the Tenth Amendment) that anything that isn't on the list is a state power.

So federal laws are 'the supreme Law of the Land', but only if they're valid. And they are only valid if they are within the power given to the federal government by the Constitution. So that doesn't conflict with the states having power over everything else.


In order to come to a proper conclusion about Constitutional construction, one must understand the concept of restrictive qualification, for our system of government, both federal and those of the States, are guided by the principle of the restrictive qualification of powers committed to them respectively by the Constitution. As such, not only the governments, but within those governments, the various branches are, or should, be guided by the same principle, which essentially delegates authority within very specified spheres of action. Each may exercise the powers delegated to them, but neither can or should act upon the powers delegated to the other. The essential laws of delegation and representation denies the exertion of powers beyond the sphere of active delegation and representation, any attempts to cross those lines of delegated powers amounts to usurpation. Each of the branches of government, as well as the governments of the States, was established to preserve what each represents and to operate within those spheres of delegated authority. Thus each portion of government from the States to the federal government is to provide aggressive checks and balances on all other respective portions of government.

As such, the House of Representatives served the purpose of a direct reflection of the People themselves, while the Senate, on the other hand, represented the States as a reflection of the Free and Independent character of those States. While these two distinct bodies act within a federal sphere of operations, they are indeed not employed by nor beholden to the federal government, but are, in fact, deputized and authorized by the People directly and indirectly respectively. Thus, the establishment of this Constitutional union was conceived and established for the management of the general concerns of the People and the States they inhabit, and not for a supreme or nationalized federal government. The federal government was not the focus of the formation of the union; it was the resulting agency to be utilized, not as other governments of the world in holding a place of supremacy, but to represent the People as they pursued Life, Liberty and Happiness.

The Executive Branch was also established within the sphere of the allocation of powers between the House of Representatives and the Senate, again a restrictive qualification of powers was imposed for the purpose of the execution of powers delegated, but not beyond. Likewise, the Judicial Branch, while given the name Supreme Court, only has the delegated authority to operate within the restrictive qualification of power. The entire system was never intended to be efficient, by definition, but rather, to be cumbersome in hope that there would be more difficulty in the consolidation of powers, particularly in the federal government. The intent was to create a balance of inequalities within the different spheres of operation without the annexation of exclusive or delegated powers.

Unfortunately, what has taken place is a transmutation of Sovereignty, from the People to the government, in particular the federal government, which, by the way, is no longer federal, but national in both character and administration. It is evident that many of the Constitutions of the States assert, and rightly so, that all Sovereignty resides within the People. The changes however came through the Judicial Branch and began rather early in our history as the Supreme Court decided cases that, instead of following the spirit and letter of the Constitution, veered from that course, allowing for the transference of the Sovereignty of the People from each of the Several States into the hands of government.

Article 6 of the Constitution states an interesting consideration, one that has been taken to construct the word Sovereignty in a very broad sense, yet does it? It has generally been interpreted by the Court, that this clause confers all supremacy on Congress over the States, and thus, all the Sovereignties within those States, i.e. The People. Yet, if logical construction were followed, then there would be no power left to the States to either alter or, in the most extreme necessity revoke the Constitutional Compact. If that is indeed the case, and it appears to be, then the fact that the Constitution, the laws and the treaties are all declared to be the supreme law of the land does not, in any way, bestow any supremacy on the federal government itself, but on the Constitution and the laws pursuant to the Constitution. The federal government is nothing more than the deputized agency utilized to implement Constitutional law. There is no supremacy bestowed on the federal government any more than there is any supremacy bestowed on the State governments, each operate within very specific spheres of operation and reflect, in their character, the supremacy of the People. The Sovereignty of the People is expressed within their governments. The ability to establish government is the single highest expression of the Sovereignty of a People, the character of Sovereignty is also expressed in the ability of the People to alter or destroy their government in order to institute one better suited for their benefit.

It must be completely understood that under Article 6, the so-called supremacy clause, there is absolutely no additional powers conferred by that Article to the federal government in any respect than that which is already respectively enumerated. The declaration of supremacy did nothing more than confirm all the enumerated limitations on the powers delegated; it was not a license to extend any powers beyond that which was already enumerated. In other words, while some attempt to construct an almost unlimited degree of power to the federal government under the so-called supremacy clause, the fact is the clause only confirms the restrictive enumerated powers that were delegated to the government. The supremacy is not in the government formed by the enactment of the Constitution, but in the Constitution itself.

Today, it is difficult to grasp the concept that the United States government has absolutely no authority but that, which is specifically provided to it by the Constitutional Compact. In order for any law to be the supreme law of the land it must, by definition, be in complete confirmation of the specific powers delegated within the Constitutional Compact, there can be no question of supremacy without a law meeting such confirmation. If any law does not meet with such qualifications then that law is void and null.

While there has been a tendency for the Supreme Court to operate as though it was indeed the sovereign determinant factor in all matters, the fact is that the Court is little more than a curator of the supremacy within the restrictive spheres of action and is bestowed no powers beyond any other governmental branch. It is however, evident that the Supreme Court has the ability to either impair or enforce the Constitution, but the proper role of the Court is far from that which it now assumes over this land. Thus the supremacy clause is nothing more than the affirmation of the Sovereignty of the People as it is characterized within the Constitutional Compact. Our system of governments, both State and federal, are completely embraced by the Constitutional powers that are delegated and reserved, the supremacy is bestowed coextensively and as such, that supremacy protects the powers delegated to the federal government equally as it protects those powers reserved by the States, otherwise there is no independent supremacy of either the federal or the State governments.

Each is co-dependent upon the other for the supremacy of operation within the very specific and limited spheres of action provided by the Constitution to those entities. There is no independent supremacy granted to any branch of government, otherwise there would have been no need for a Constitutional Compact delineating such powers. If the federal government, or any branch of the federal government had such supreme powers then the efficacy of a Constitutional Compact would have been instantly voided and would contain no practical effect on governing. Thus it is the supremacy of the Constitution, not a political branch of government that imposes limitations on each branch of government to very specific orbits of functionality, with one holding no more supremacy than any other branch within our system of governments. If such supremacy existed within one branch of government, or was extended to one branch then the entire concept of checks and balances would be an exercise in futility.

It is therefore, upon this foundation that the Supreme Court has asserted its power, but it must be remembered, that like every other branch of our system of governments, it too is limited and restricted to its sphere of action. It is not the judgments of the Supreme Court that are the supreme law of the land, but the Constitution and it is the responsibility of the Supreme Court to simply determine if laws passed by Congress meet the standards of restrictive qualification within the Constitution. The Supreme Court is equally related to all other portions within government in respect to the limited powers delegated to the federal government and reserved to the States. The Supreme Court cannot be above the very law that created it, but must operate within the qualified limitations imposed upon it by the Constitutional Compact.

Every branch of our system of governments must act within the boundaries enumerated within the Constitution and there is no place within the Constitution that provides for any branch of government to have supremacy over any other branch of government. Neither the federal nor the State governments derive any supremacy over the other, but must act within their specific Constitutional sphere providing a balance within the system that would simply not be possible if such supremacy existed in one or the other parts of government within the system. Each section of our government is supreme within its limited sphere of action, but not beyond that sphere for each branch, and each government, whether federal or State, is bound by the powers delegated or reserved to it.

Thus, the Supreme Court has supremacy limited to its sphere of operation, in other words it can only justify its actions if, while function within the judicial sphere, it annuls an un-Constitutional law legislated by Congress. It is evident therefore, that neither the federal nor the States can place an impediment on the other unless one of those governments overstep their own sphere of operations and intrude upon the delegated authority of the other. Each section of government operates within its own sphere without hindrance from the others unless there is the usurpation of the powers prescribed to the other section of government, and then a hindrance is not only valid, but also absolutely necessary to void the trespass and usurpation. A section within our government cannot exempt itself from the limitations prescribed to it by the Constitution; limited powers cannot become unlimited.

The federal government cannot modify any powers vested in the States, nor can it nullify powers reserved to the States, but each must operate with respect to the powers and responsibilities committed to them by the Constitution. The federal government can claim no supremacy except within the narrow powers prescribed to it, nor are the States subordinate to the federal government in any respect except for those powers the States delegated as the scope of federal power.

The People of the Several States exercised their Right to alter or abolish both the governments of their respective States, as well as the federal government. If such power no longer rests within the People of the Several States, but in the federal government, then such construction must be considered completely erroneous not only with regard to the language of the Constitution, but to the very existence of the Constitution. If such were the case then there would be no need for the Constitution to exist at all. There is no branch within the federal government, which can, by its own volition, modify the terms of the Constitution, which governs its operation, and the sphere of its delegated power. There would have been no need to reserve any powers to the States if the States were to be subordinate to the supremacy federal government. It is the powers reserved to the States that provide a mediated check upon the powers exercised by the federal government, otherwise the whole system would have been subversive to the enumeration found within the Constitution.

The common consensus from the Declaration of Independence through the ratification of the Constitution was that the States, by concurrent consent of the People of the Several States, might modify or dissolve the union by the Right of Self-Government. The People have never relinquished that right and in that Right they retrain absolute and complete Sovereignty. The States, by virtue of the Consent and Will of the People, in Constitutional Compact, retained all power to influence the operations of the federal government in order to maintain the security of their Liberty.

The power reserved to the States and the People respectively demonstrates a particular supremacy over the federal government in that Congress can be compelled, by the States, to call a Constitutional Convention that can, based upon the Will and Consent of the People, ratify changes to the federal government without the consent of any branch of the federal government. In terms of strict Constitutional order, the federal government cannot change itself, nor can it change the governments of the States. While the Constitution enumerates those powers reserved to the States to affect the means and manner of operation of the federal government, it does not enumerate such powers to the federal government over the States. It is evident that while powers of the State Constitutions are limited, that limitation is not placed upon them by the federal Constitution, but by the People of the individual States themselves.

Article III, Section 2 of the Constitution clearly states the extent of judicial power within these United States: "The judicial power shall extend to all cases, in law and equity, arising under this Constitution, the laws of the United States, and treaties made, or which shall be made, under their authority; --to all cases affecting ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls; --to all cases of admiralty and maritime jurisdiction; --to controversies to which the United States shall be a party;--to controversies between two or more states;--between a state and citizens of another state;--between citizens of different states;--between citizens of the same state claiming lands under grants of different states, and between a state, or the citizens thereof, and foreign states, citizens or subjects.

In all cases affecting ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls, and those in which a state shall be party, the Supreme Court shall have original jurisdiction. In all the other cases before mentioned, the Supreme Court shall have appellate jurisdiction, both as to law and fact, with such exceptions, and under such regulations as the Congress shall make.

The trial of all crimes, except in cases of impeachment, shall be by jury; and such trial shall be held in the state where the said crimes shall have been committed; but when not committed within any state, the trial shall be at such place or places as the Congress may by law have directed."

It should be concluded that the Supreme Court derives no supremacy from the above article of the Constitution; in fact, Article III limits and defines the powers and jurisdiction of the Supreme Court. It should also be evident that, based upon sound construction, the term "supreme" in reference to the court is in relationship to the "inferior courts" and that no actual supremacy rests within the Supreme Court itself except in that relationship. There is no reference within the Constitution as to the supremacy of the Supreme Court over State Courts or State jurisdiction.

There was no intention that the word "supreme" as being indicative of a power that extended beyond the prescribed limitations placed upon the court by the Constitution, if there were the case then it would be possible for the court to extend its power to any degree it deemed proper and necessary; that would be a dangerous proposition and would allow for the concentration of power within the federal government without regard to the consequences of that concentration. Had the Constitution enumerated that the court had supreme jurisdiction then it would have not be necessary to enumerate or define certain limitations on the jurisdiction of the court as found within Article III. Indeed, had that been the case then there would be no limitation at all and the supremacy of the High Court would instantly abolish the coordinate Right of Constitutional Construction. There is therefore, no power innate within any branch of government to define its own limitations or lack thereof, those are defined within the Constitutional Compact as agreed upon by the States as parties to that Compact. The federal government is not a party to the Compact, but is the resulting agency of that Compact, deputized and authorized to operate within a defined and limited capacity.

Since it is obvious that the Constitution does not invest inferior courts with jurisdiction over State courts, then it must be equally clear that the Supreme Court can hold no such jurisdiction either. Likewise, the Constitution did not declare the Legislative Branch was superior over the State Legislatures, both were considered independent of each other, thus the same construction must be applied to the Judicial Branch of the federal government regarding the State Judicial Systems. If the State Judicial were subordinate to the federal Judicial, then it would have been enumerated and the interactions, as well as the limitations would have been clearly defined, but that is not the case. In fact, if it were the intention of the Framers of the Constitution to place actual supremacy within the federal Court system then it would not have been necessary to define the various operations, limitations and jurisdictions of the Supreme Court.

Federal Judicial power must therefore, be limited in relationship to the State Judicial in the same fashion as the Legislative Branch is limited in regards to State Legislatures, in both instances they are independent of each other and operate within differing spheres of action and different spheres of delegated power. Since it is obvious that Congress cannot repeal a State Law, it would follow that the federal courts cannot Constitutionally abrogate or enjoin judgments of State courts. Indeed, if the three branches of our federal government are separate, but co-equal then every principle concerning the manner and means by which authority is delegated to the federal government must be equally applied.

These principles derive their force from The Declaration of Independence as demonstrated in M'Ilvaine v. Coxe's Lessee, 8 U.S. (4 Cranch) 209, 212 (1808), where the Court held:

"This opinion is predicated upon a principle which is believed to be undeniable, that the several states which composed this Union, so far at least as regarded their municipal regulations, became entitled, from the time when they declared themselves independent, to all the rights and powers of sovereign states, and that they did not derive them from concessions made by the British king. The treaty of peace contains recognition of their independence, not a grant of it. From hence it results, that the laws of the several state governments were the laws of sovereign states, and as such were obligatory upon the people of such state, from the time they were enacted."

Again, in Harcourt v. Gaillard, 25 U.S. (12 Wheat.) 523, 526, 527 (1827), where the Court stated:

"There was no territory within the United States that was claimed in any other right than that of some one of the confederated states; therefore, there could be no acquisition of territory made by the United States distinct from, or independent of some one of the states. Each declared itself sovereign and independent, according to the limits of its territory"

"The soil and sovereignty within their acknowledged limits were as much theirs at the declaration of independence as at this hour."

New York v. Miln, 36 U.S. (11 Pet.) 139 (1837), the Court held:

"They are these: that a State has the same undeniable and unlimited jurisdiction over all persons and things within its territorial limits, as any foreign nation, where that jurisdiction is not surrendered or restrained by the Constitution of the United States. That, by virtue of this, it is not only the right, but the bounden and solemn duty of a State, to advance the safety, happiness and prosperity of its people, and to provide for its general welfare, by any and every act of legislation which it may deem to be conducive to these ends; where the power over the particular subject, or the manner of its exercise is not surrendered or restrained, in the manner just stated. That all those powers which relate to merely municipal legislation, or what may, perhaps, more properly be called internal police, are not thus surrendered or restrained; and that, consequently, in relation to these, the authority of a State is complete, unqualified and exclusive,"

Pollard v. Hagan, 44 U.S. (3 How.) 212-223 (1845) the Court clearly delineates the strength of the State's independence:

"We think a proper examination of this subject will show that the United States never held any municipal sovereignty, jurisdiction, or right of soil in and to the territory, of which Alabama or any of the new States were formed,"

Because, the United States have no constitutional capacity to exercise municipal jurisdiction, sovereignty, or eminent domain, within the limits of a State or elsewhere, except in the cases in which it is expressly granted,Alabama is therefore entitled to the sovereignty and jurisdiction over all the territory within her limits, subject to the common law".

Caha v. United States, 152 U.S., at 215:

"The laws of Congress in respect to those matters do not extend into the territorial limits of the states, but have force only in the District of Columbia, and other places that are within the exclusive jurisdiction of the national government."

Additionally, in consideration of proper understanding and construction the Court appeared to be in concurrence with The Federalist Papers:

"The jurisdiction of the general government, is limited to certain enumerated objects, which concern all the members of the Republic, but which are not to be attained by the separate provisions of any."

If we take such expounders of our Constitutional construction then it should follow that if the jurisdiction of the general [federal] government is limited in both its scope and reach into the matters of the Free and Independent States, then the Supreme Court, being simply a branch of that general government is also restrained by the Constitution to follow the same limitations of power as the federal government as a whole. Since the federal government is limited to certain enumerated objects, then it would behoove us to understand what those enumerated objects consist of and just how they are prescribed for administration.

Also found within The Federalist 82.3, federal power is clearly defined: "the principle that the States will retain ALL PRE-EXISTING AUTHORITIES not exclusively delegated to the federal government."

Within the Kentucky Resolution of 1798, it appears that Jefferson is in concurrence:

"Resolved, that the Several States COMPOSING the United States of America ARE NOT UNITED ON THE PRINCIPLE OF UNLIMITED SUBMISSION TO THEIR GENERAL GOVERNMENT, but that by COMPACT under the style and title of the Constitution FOR the United States and of amendments thereto, THEY CONSTITUTED a general government for special purposes, delegated to that government certain definite powers, RESERVING TO EACH STATE TO ITSELF THE RESIDUARY MASS OF RIGHT TO THEIR OWN SELF-GOVERNMENT; AND THAT WHENSOEVER THE GENERAL GOVERNMENT ASSUMES UNDELEGATED POWERS, ITS ACTS ARE UNAUTHORITATIVE, VOID AND OF NO FORCE: That to this compact each state acceded as a state, and is an integral party, its co-states forming, as to itself, the other party; that the government created by this compact was not made the exclusive or final judge of the extent of the powers delegated to itself; since that would have made its discretion, and not the constitution, the measure of its powers; but, that as in " all other cases of compact among parties having no common judge, each party has an equal right to judge for itself, as well of infractions as of the measure of redress."

There can be no doubt that while there is a complex relationship of co-organization between the Several States and the federal government, that they are indeed independent of each other and both the Several States and the federal government have the mutual right of construing the Constitution. It is both recognized and also asserted, as co-dependencies of government, the governments of the Several States and the federal government, along with the principle of those distinct governments, in principle, operate within distinct jurisdictions, and for a very good reason, so as not to allow the concentration of power to be formed by any government, whether it be those of the Several States or, in particular, the federal government. Thus, logical construction should follow that if the entirety of the federal government possesses no supremacy over, nor can require subordination of the entirety of the State governments, then neither can any part of the federal government have supremacy over any corresponding part of the State governments or, for that matter, the Several States themselves or their citizens except in a very limited delegated manner prescribed by the Constitution.

That being said, it would then appear that there is no obligation of subordination of the legislatures of the Several States to the federal legislature; likewise, there is no supremacy of the federal judiciary over the judiciary powers of the Several States, except as explicitly expressed within the delegated and enumerated powers found within the Constitution. Since there has been, within the Constitutional Compact, a reservation of the residual mass of rights to the States it then follows that all the powers, limited in scope and operation, delegated to the legislature and judiciary of the federal government were deliberately prohibitive. Claims to the contrary defy the co-extensive restrictions on the enlargement of power or the assumption of power that would, by any Constitutional definition, be a trespass against the functional spheres of operation of the States.

There is, without doubt, no assertion of power more inconsistent with the principles of republican government than a claim by any portion of the federal government over the laws and Constitutions of the Several States. The annulment, by the federal government or any portion of the federal government, of the laws of the Several States is an abridgement of the oath that every elected federal official took to uphold and defend the Constitution for the United States of America.

There is, without doubt, an obligation on the part of the governments of the States, as it is on the federal government, to comply with the Constitutional Compact; after all, it is a Compact between the Several States, not with the federal government and the Several States. The primary obligatory focus however, is on the federal government as the resulting agency of the Compact between the Several States, thus the delegation of powers to the federal government from the position the States take as creator of the Compact.

Thus, it is sufficient to say that the Supreme Court can most definitely declare un-Constitutional laws as void and ineffectual however, that does not mean that the Supreme Court may, based upon the authority delegated to it, be the sole authority of Constitutional construction. The final check on the federal government is not the Supreme Court, but the Several States themselves since the Supreme Court's authority only extends to the limits of the powers delegated to it by the States and no more. It cannot legislate from the federal Bench, it can only determine the Constitutional value of a particular law as passed by Congress or, in the case of Appellate jurisdiction, the opinions of the inferior federal courts. The Supreme Court, as well as the Legislative and Executive Branches of the federal government are not constituent parts of the governments of the Several States, as such, there is no legitimate cause for any portion of the federal government to intrude into the measures taken within the Several States unless those State governments seek to abrogate their Constitutional obligations under the Compact. Likewise, the governments of the Several States cannot legitimately intrude into federal measures unless those measures are determined, by the Several States, to be a violation or usurpation of the Constitutional Compact which created, through ratification, the federal government.

During the ratification process, it is evident that the People of the Several States did not confide the federal government with every possible power, nor did they imbue the federal government the power to determine its own limitations. In the case of the federal Judiciary, the People of the Several States confided the Courts with the power to declare a federal law void and un-Constitutional, but the People, in their own Sovereign character through the agency of their Free and Independent States, provided that the spheres of action between the federal and State Judiciaries, were to be separate and distinct. So much so, that the relationship between the Judiciary of the States and that of the federal government could be compared with that of the court systems of two different States, separate jurisdictions and powers with no power to intrude in each other's spheres of action or declare a law of a different State void. `

How can there be a reconciliation between the principles found within the Constitutional Compact and the idea that, as the Supreme Court appears to contend, that is has the ultimate and final word on law? If, as the Supreme Court contends, it has the Constitutional authority to effect, with a certain finality, the laws of the Several States, even to abrogate those laws then would that not be a complete surrender of all control over the governments of the Several States, and thus, over the People of the Several States?

If the Supreme Court or the federal courts can abrogate any State law and control the States based upon any construction that it so pleases, then can there be any real retention of the mass of rights which, according to the Constitution, were reserved to the States themselves? Would therefore, the States have any security at all in retaining any of their rights if the federal Judiciary claims such supremacy? The guarantee of the right of republican governments to the States, a guarantee stemming from the Constitutional Compact not the federal government, could possibly be safe under the supremacy of such a federal court system?

The doctrine of federal judicial supremacy is contrary to the principles of internal self-government by the People of the Several States and essentially transfers all authority over every aspect of our political, social and economic life to the Supreme Court. Certainly that could not have been the intent of the Framers of the Constitution, nor of the Conventions of the Several States as they ratified the Constitution. The Framers were careful enough to divide powers between the Several States and the federal government, indeed they went as far as dividing the federal government in order to protect against centralized supremacy; it makes no sense therefore, that after such care in construction they would place such an unlimited power within the Supreme Court. Indeed, they would not have placed a power within such a court that would essentially allow it to be the judge of its own limitations and the powers that were delegated to it as enumerated.

The very same principle that allows for the Judicial Branch to restrain the Legislature from extending its power beyond the prescribed enumerated Constitutional powers is also found within the Several States and is an added measure of protection against the usurpation and abuse of power. The States are no less powerful, no less respectable than the Supreme Court itself or any other Branch within our system of governments. Despite the current present condition of the State governments, subjugated to the federal government and pressed beyond measure to a servile state under the now centralized federal government, the States nevertheless, has the same power upon which the Supreme Court depends and they too are equally entrusted to discharge their Duty as Parties to the Constitutional Compact to be loyal to those principles upon which that Compact was founded.

We must, if we are to survive and restore the Republic, remember that the strength of the government lies within the People themselves. While it appears that this Grand Republic of Republics have been reduced to a shell of its former self, there is enormous power residing within the People themselves and there is nothing this deformed centralized government fears more than the power that is reserved to the People. The People are the origin of all power that is delegated to the governments; they are the protectors and the source of all deputized authority. The Framers of Our Constitution never intended any given sphere of government to acquire enough power to control all others, the final determining factor is the People themselves acting through their deputized agents called the governments of the Several States, which can, if necessary, act forcibly against the federal government through interposition, and as a final threat of authority, the abolition of the Compact of Union.

It is evident that the States, prior to the Compact of Union found within both the Articles of Confederation and the Constitution, were Free and Independent States; these attributes were not relinquished by the Compact of Union, in fact it demonstrates the full character of the States as Free and Independent entities in the ability to form such a Compact of Union.

All Un-Constitutional laws, as well as Un-Constitutional Judgments of the Supreme Court itself are null and void. The Supreme Court is no less bound by its Oath to the Constitution than is the Legislature, the Executive or the States themselves. The States, like the other Branches of government, not only have a right, but also a duty to resist, by absolutely every means within their power, all Un-Constitutional laws or judgments. The Supreme Court has never had the exclusive right to determine its own jurisdiction, for to have such a right would essentially empower it with a jurisdiction without limits and without the ability to be redressed for its abuses.

Since it is the People who are Sovereign, the government, including our State governments cannot be sovereign; the State governments are equally limited in their scope of power as is the federal government. Our system of governments was intentionally subjected to limitations and restrictions, within none of them being exclusively empowered with the ability to enforce those limitations and restrictions, thus a system of checks and balances.

Derived power can never be greater than the power from which it is derived. Since all power is derived from the People themselves, no State or majority of States can exercise supremacy over any other State; equally as potent is the fact supremacy was not conferred to Congress, to the Executive or the Supreme Court because derived power can never be greater than the power from which it is derived. It is very apparent since the federal legislature cannot possess absolute unlimited power or supremacy, then the Executive nor the Supreme Court cannot posses it either. The principle of separate, but equal Branches of government would indeed be a contraction if one of those Branches had any supremacy over the others, likewise, the concept of a Republic of Republics, Free and Independent would equally be contradictory if the federal government had exclusive supremacy over the States.

In consideration of the fact that Un-Constitutional laws and judgments are null and void, such judgments and laws cannot be enforced since they are not indeed law, but mere fabrications of legislative deviancy. Herein is the power of the States, as deputized agents of the People, demonstrated in the nullification of such judgments and laws. The States, as deputized agents of the People, share the mutual Right of Constitutional construction as does the various Branches of the federal government, this is evident by the oath found within the Constitution that requires: "the Senators and Representatives in Congress, and the members of the Several State Legislatures, and all Executive and Judicial officers, both of the United States and the Several States, shall be bound, by oath of affirmation, to support the Constitution."

This common duty to uphold the Constitution also implies an equal responsibility as to the determination of the actual nature of laws passed by the federal Legislature, executed by the federal Executive and if necessary, subsequently adjudicated by the Supreme Court. The truth is that our government is far more than just a single entity with single authority; it is multilayered with very defined spheres of limited power and with good reason, to protect the Liberty of the People and to provide the least amount of government intrusion into their lives. It must be understood that the constructive supremacy of one single political power over all others within our government invalidates the entire system upon which this country was founded.

Equally as important is the understanding of the type of construction that was used to impart these divisions of power within our system of governments. There was an intentional degree of internal conflict imbedded into our Constitutional Republic. Since it appears that the federal government possesses the greater sphere of influence in terms of governing, due to the nature of the federal government, there is, as we have seen over the decades, a tendency for the Supreme Court to base its decisions on the justification of the federal government's positions. Such judicial actions can, of course, create distortions within our republican form of government. Over the years, expressed supremacy has been erroneously merged with implied supremacy within the federal government, as such; the government has assumed authority far beyond that which was enumerated. It should therefore, be obvious that by merging that which is actually expressed and enumerated with that which is merely implied there is a great possibility, as is the case presently with our federal government that instead of the government functioning within the defined limitations and restrictions found within the Constitution, the powers it has assumed have been amplified from implied powers to what now amounts to expressed powers without limitations. Due to these distortions of Constitutional construction, the Court now appears to insist that Congress, the Executive and the Court itself extends to supremacy over the powers reserved to the States themselves. The Constitution was carefully constructed to preserve the powers reserved to the States, as well as those delegated from the Several States to the federal government and no where within the Constitution does it give exclusive right to one section of our system of governments over another.

The federal government cannot be the judge of its own limitations for it will always determine that such limitations are no limitations at all. A judge cannot judge his own case any more than our government can determine the extent of its own limitations, there must be external checks and balances which forcefully demand those limitations be obeyed.

Likewise, if the Supreme Court, for instance, is limited by its own will then its conception of power will always gravitate toward that power being unlimited. No power can ever be checked by itself for it will always assume the greatest degree of latitude in the exercise of that power. In such cases there is left little means of resistance except extreme resistance.

Does not a union of States denote the supremacy and equality of the parties forming the union and not the union itself? The act of union did not imply the reduction of the supremacy of the States nor the Sovereignty of the People, it was a mere contractual act between the States to provide a greater degree of flexibility and protection to the People of the Several States than they would have been provided without union.

John Locke correctly stated, "that no man has a right to that, which another has the right to take from him." This is exactly the state of affairs that the People of this country are now subjected to by the federal government; the Court is more likely to judge the limitations of our Rights instead of the limitations of the government's exercise of power over our Rights.

When Congress passes Constitutional laws, then the States have the obligation to abide by those laws, but when Congress passes laws that are blatantly Un-Constitutional then it is the duty of the State government to resist with the utmost force possible and deny the exercise of those Un-Constitutional laws on the Citizens of the Several States. The supremacy of the Constitution not only embraces the powers delegated to the federal government, but it also embraces those powers reserved to the Several States as they perform a valuable function within our system of governments. There is, inherent in the reservation of powers and rights to the States a declaration that the States are in the position of supremacy over those rights and powers reserved to them rather than the federal government, which has no jurisdiction in those areas; in a similar fashion the States have no supremacy over those rights and powers they delegated to the federal government, yet the States do provide a check upon an extension of those powers beyond the measure prescribed within the Constitution.

There must be a concerted effort on the part of the Citizens of the Several States to not only disavow, but to resist and nullify all laws that are contrary to the lawful adherence and exercise of the Constitution. The States have this power for direct and indirect opposition to laws passed by Congress that do not meet with the measure laid out by the Constitution. For if Congress can continue to take from the States and their Citizens through various legal fabrications and the use of coercion to enforce those fabrications then it can take everything away.

It is apparent that the federal government has, with the assistance of Judicial novelties, effectively abrogated the right of the States to a republican form of government; for now the federal government intrudes into every internal matter within the States and their Citizens, employing various legal measures and maneuvers to accomplish its treason against the Constitution. The abutment of the States reserved powers has been effectively eroded by these measures to the point that the federal government, by implication, can remove any person from the jurisdiction of the States or confiscate any property. We have become a plundered People without redress to the plunderers. It is time for this People, though their Rightful State governments, deputized for their protection against usurpation, to stand in forceful resistance against the wiles of a federal government that has illegally imposed itself as sovereign over this People and their State Republics.


Post your own comment here


Do you want to read more? You've only just scratched the surface at the Kansas Free Press. We have so much more to read! Nearly all of the pieces published here are timeless and relevant, regardless of when the articles were first published. To discover more, please take a look at our Table of Contents or go back to our Front Page.


Our sponsors help us stay online to serve you. Thank you for doing your part! By using the specific links below (clicking through from our site) to start any of your online shopping, you are making a tremendous difference. By using the shopping links provided on a Kansas Free Press page, you are directly helping to support the Kansas Free Press:



About This Page

This page contains just one story published on March 7, 2010. The one written previous to this is titled "Spotlight on Citizen Journalists: Meet Delia Garcia" and the story published right after this one is "Education Rally in Topeka on March 16"

Our most current stories are always updated on our Front Page.

Other Archives

Interested in other topics? You may wish to poke around in our Table of Contents to find other sections and archives.

Do you want to explore pieces written by specific authors? You can find archives for KFP writers by reviewing our complete Directory of Authors and Writers here.

Recently Featured Stories

Functional Poll Tax: Kobach Wrongly Blames Senator

TOPEKA, Kan. - As reported in a recent Topeka Capitol Journal article, KanVote exposed a major discrepancy in new voting restrictions which has resulted in a functional poll tax. KanVote found that in order to obtain a free voter …
Should We Buy a Pig in a Poke?

COLBY, Kan. - Let's take another look at some information that Bob Hooper presented in his article. Some people don't agree with or believe those statistics. But then, I've known some people who would swear on a stack of …
Nation Building or Imperialism

COLBY, Kan. - What is your opinion of the promise to rush into Cuba, as soon as Castro 'kicks the bucket', and establish a democracy? I guess the leading Republican contenders for the presidency don't realize the failure of …
A Preview of the Dirtiest Election Ever?

BOGUE, Kan. - A Jan.11 writer to Reader Forum [Hays Daily News] blustered about "non-factual distortion" by the Obama administration and supporters, then made his own claims. [CLAIM: "All the money from the richest 400 Americans wouldn't pay our …
State of the Union

COLBY, Kan. - I missed the first part of the President's address. GrannyP recorded it and I'll listen to it in the morning. The last portion of his speech, that I got to listen to, seemed to clearly address …

News and Opinion







Get Connected

Connect with us on Facebook! Join our page!
Subscribe for free!
[Feeds & Readers...]
Follow Kansas Free Press on Twitter, too!
Make Kansas Free Press your home page!

Journalists, sign in.

We're reader supported!

Whenever you use the specific links below to begin any of your online shopping, a portion of your sale goes directly towards the support of this site.

Tech Depot - An Office Depot Co.


Our sponsors help us stay online to serve you. Thank you for doing your part! By using the specific links above (clicking through from our site) to start any of your online shopping, you are making a tremendous difference. By using the shopping links provided on a Kansas Free Press page, you are directly helping to support the Kansas Free Press.

Thank you for your help!

Notices & Policies

All of our Kansas Free Press journalists are delighted that you are here. We all hope that you come here often, sign in and leave us comments, and become an active part of our community. Welcome!

Our writers are credentialed after referral to, and approval by, the editor/publisher of KansasFreePress.com. If you are interested in writing with us, please feel free to let us know here. We are always looking for Kansans who want to write about Kansas!

All authors here retain their own copyrights for their original written works, original photographs and art works. They welcome others to copy, reference or quote from the content of their stories, provided that the reprints include obvious author and website attribution and links to the original page, in accordance with this publication's Creative Commons License.

Our editor primarily reviews stories for spelling, grammar, punctuation and formatting and is not liable or responsible for the opinions expressed by individual authors. The opinions and accuracy of information in the individual stories on this site are the sole responsibility of each of the individual authors. For complete site policies, including privacy, see our Frequently Asked Questions. This site is designed, maintained, and owned by its publisher, Everyday Citizen Media. The Kansas Free Press, KansasFreePress.com, and Kansas Free Press are trademarked names.

© Copyright, 2008-2011, all rights reserved, unless otherwise specified, first by the respective author, and then by KFP's publisher and owner for any otherwise unreserved and all other content.