In the face of the growing behemoth known as the American federal government, states and individual citizens are rediscovering the Tenth Amendment as a defense against tyrannical and unconstitutional measures taken by the fed. Recalling the power assigned to the states by the Founding Fathers, the term “state nullification” has begun to creep back into the American vocabulary as a defense mechanism against this growing Leviathan, even featured as a topic of discussion on Judge Napolitano’s new show Freedom Watch, which aired on August 7 on the Fox Business Network.
In an effort to promote the concept of state nullification, the Tenth Amendment Center and WeRefuse.com have launched Nullify Now!, a speaking tour that has been dubbed “your ticket to freedom.”
Set to take place on September 4 in Ft. Worth, Texas, October 10 in Orlando, Florida, October 23 in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and concluding on January 29, 2011 in Phoenix, Arizona, the speaking tour will feature a variety of knowledgeable speakers, including New York Times best-selling author Thomas E. Woods, author of Nullification: How to Resist Federal Tyranny in the 21 Century, Jim Babka of DownsizeDC, and Jack Hunter, radio personality and columnist. Joe Wolverton II, a Constitutional lawyer and professor of American government who writes for The New American, will be speaking at the "Nullify Now" event in Chattanooga on October 23.
Sponsors of the speaking tour include Campaign for Liberty, Young Americans for Liberty, and The John Birch Society. Additionally, organizations like Don’t Tread on Me: Rise of the Republic, Liberty Pulse, and The New American magazine are national supporters of Nullify Now!
According to its website, “Nullify Now! Is a multi-city event tour focused on education and activism on a state level to say NO to unconstitutional federal ‘laws’-which, in reality, are not laws at all.”
Focusing on the Founding principles of the United States Constitution, the tour will educate viewers about the Tenth Amendment, the powers of the state including that of nullification, and a variety of issues that can be resolved by state nullification.
On February 18, The New American’s Patrick Krey wrote this of nullification:
State nullification is actually an elaborate term for a simple concept that is taught to young children. When a child has a problem with another child who is verbally teasing him or her, they are often told ‘ignore them and they’ll go away’. State nullification basically follows this same directive. If the feds pass a law that a state deems to be outside the boundaries of its proper constitutional authority, the state will simple ignore the law and refuse to comply with it. This might sound revolutionary to some, but it shouldn’t. It’s already happened.
Krey goes on to cite well-documented examples of the states resorting to nullification, including with regards to the Firearms Freedom Act and the Real ID Act.
Similarly, William Jasper’s August 6 TNA article addressed nullification as a viable option to combat Obamacare, and explained the importance of nullification:
One of the most important and encouraging developments in recent times is the reassertion by the states of their sovereign powers against federal usurpation. The Framers of our Constitution well understood the tendencies of government toward encroachment and did not intend that the states should be helpless before an inexorable, centralizing national government. The states have the right (and duty) to resist unconstitutional arrogations by Washington of powers constitutionally reserved to the states. A principle form of resistance in this regard is for the state government simply to declare the offending federal law, regulation, or edict null and void and to refuse to enforce or implement it.
Proponents of state nullification, including those presenting the speaking tour, see it as an applicable option to cap and trade, Obamacare, and “other unconstitutional expansions of federal power through nullification.”
Speaker Thomas E. Woods is a reputable authority on state nullification and should prove to be a captivating guest at the speaking tour. In his appearance on the August 7 episode of Freedom Watch, Woods championed the lawsuits filed by the states against Obamacare as an example of states reclaiming their authority: “[States] weren’t intended to be doormats and litter boxes.”
However, Woods adds that the states should not turn to the courts when they believe there is unconstitutional overreach. “If the federal government can just monopolize the determination of what its powers are, it’s going to keep acquiring new powers. The states have to have some counterbalance in check and federal courts, ultimately, for whatever victories you might win once in awhile, cannot perform this role because they are an interested party. They are one of the parties in dispute between the states and the government. You don’t refer disputes between you and your neighbor to your wife.”
Overall, Woods defends nullification as the best option available to the states because of how far removed we are from the system founded by our Founding Fathers. “The system is rigged. The system is broken. The system is the opposite of what the Framers tried to give us. Thomas Jefferson imagined that the states would act as the sentinels of the liberty of the people. They would protect the people from the unconstitutional overreaches and those powers have by and large been stripped from the states over the years and they need to be reclaimed.”
Judge Napolitano said it best when he concluded his interview with Thomas Woods. “These are exciting times we live in. Who would have thought in 2010 we would be talking about the principles that were so dear to Thomas Jefferson? Your book Nullifcation has brought this to the floor.”
Anyone interested in attending Nullify Now! should visit www.nullifynow.com for tickets. Attendants interested in preparing themselves before the tour would do well to read Thomas Woods’ Nullification: How to Resist Federal Tyranny in the 21 Century.
