Nullification

by Senator Brent Hill

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The federal government’s lack of respect for our Constitution has long troubled me. The government’s ever-expanding control over the people it was created to serve and its encroachment on states’ rights are contrary to the fundamental principles imbedded in the Constitution. An obvious violation is the recent Healthcare Reform Law. In its zeal to “take care of us” from first breath to last, the government is robbing us of our freedoms.

I believe the federal Healthcare Reform bill violates our Constitution and, in the wisdom of its framers, the Constitution itself provides us with legal remedies

1.  In the event a state or other entity deems a law unconstitutional, it can appeal to the judiciary branch of government. Article III, Section 2 of the U.S. Constitution grants the power to determine the constitutionality of a law exclusively to the court. No reasonable interpretation of the Tenth Amendment could invalidate that power delegated specifically to the judiciary. Had the Constitution not specified where that right resides, it would be subject to construal by every citizen or state, resulting in anarchy and the ultimate demise of the Constitution itself. Accordingly, no court has ever upheld a state effort to nullify a federal law.

In accordance with the Constitution, Idaho’s legislature was among the first to bring suit against the federal government challenging the constitutionality of the Healthcare Reform Act. In January of this year, the U.S. District Court ruled in our favor. Idaho and the 25 other states that have joined us are well on their way to nullifying the federal Healthcare Reform Law in the manner prescribed by the Constitution.

2.  If we are not satisfied with the decisions of the judiciary, the Constitution provides for a further remedy. By a vote of two-thirds of the state legislatures, we can demand a constitutional convention to amend the Constitution and clarify its intent. Once again, the drafters of our Constitution provided an orderly course of action for the states to exercise their rights.

These are the processes our Constitution endorses for challenging a law’s constitutionality. It contains no provision for an individual state to nullify federal laws which it considers unconstitutional. Idaho’s Attorney General has warned that nullification is unconstitutional, violating not only the U.S. and Idaho constitutions but lawmakers’ oath of office. President George Washington declared that “it is preposterous and anarchic,” and it would lead to the “dissolution of the union.”

I despise the destructive consequences of the federal Healthcare Reform Law. We must pursue every constitutionally acceptable remedy to overturn it. But no matter how vital our cause, we must not violate our Constitution in response to the federal government’s violations. We must operate within the bounds established by the Constitution and, in so doing, I am confident we will prevail.