muhly22222
Posts: 463
Joined: 3/25/2010 Status: offline
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quote:
The bill says the First Amendment only applies to the federal government and does not stop state governments, local governments and school districts from adopting measures that defy the Constitution. The legislation also says that the Tenth Amendment, which says powers not reserved for the federal government belong to the states, prohibits court rulings that would seek to apply the First Amendment to state and local officials. This is true. Provided that we're in 1865. Oh, it's 2013? The 14th Amendment applied most of the provisions in the Bill of Rights to the states (the only ones that haven't been are the quartering of soldiers, the grand jury requirement, and the right to a jury in a civil trial). Additionally, there's a very old Supreme Court case that established the principle of judicial review of state laws and court decisions (when they fell within the federal purview). I believe it's Martin v. Hunter's Lessee, and it's a case that came out of Virginia. A very important case, too...can you imagine what the United States would look like if each state was free to disregard whichever laws it felt like? My first instinct is to say...not very united. And the 10th Amendment? Under current law, it's utterly meaningless. I do have some problem with that...it's a Constitutional Amendment, for fuck's sake. We shouldn't simply ignore it. There are a number of powers that are nowhere in the Constitution that should be left to the individual states to take the solution that they feel best fits their needs (regulating health care, for one), and the state can deal with the consequences of their decisions in those areas. As for this proposal...without knowing very much about North Carolina politics, I'd imagine that it was just done for posturing. Those 9 legislators can go home in 2014 or 2016 (or whenever their next election is) and tell their constituents "We tried. The atheists stopped us from protecting your religious rights." And they'll probably be re-elected. I know that if my local state representative tried something like that, they'd get re-elected (though not with my vote).
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I have always been among those who believed that the greatest freedom of speech was the greatest safety, because if a man is a fool, the best thing to do is to encourage him to advertise the fact by speaking. -Woodrow Wilson
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