Wednesday, February 16, 2011

You don't have to be right-wing to favor nullification

In fact, being a "progressive" can be an advantage, as Michael Boldin of the Tenth Amendment Center writes for the Los Angeles Daily News:

While the rhetoric coming from many on the right these days includes words like "nullification," and "state sovereignty," it has been the left, not the right, which has been successful in putting these ideas into practice. And, California has been at the forefront since the beginning.

When Californians voted to approve Proposition 215 to allow medical marijuana, the word "nullification" was not part of the argument, but it most certainly was the result. Opponents often cited the Constitution's "supremacy clause," saying the state had no authority to violate federal marijuana laws. But, Californians voted to violate those laws by the millions. And, when the Supreme Court ruled in the 2005 Gonzales v. Raich case that state-level medical marijuana laws were, in essence, illegal, dispensaries around the state didn't start closing shop. 
In fact, by 2005, there were nine other states that had joined California in passing medical marijuana laws. After the supremes told the country that such laws were a big no-no, how many were repealed? Zero. And since then, another five states - most recently, Arizona - have joined up. 
Freedom is for everyone, not just the so-called "wingnuts" on the right. Nullification is the way to protect that freedom within the system when conventional political processes fail.  

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