Dear My Former Home State

[mmerriam]

dragonmyst posted this link to a news article today:

If approved by voters, state legislation passed Wednesday would amend Oklahoma’s constitution. Under the amendment, no law or rule could force any citizen, employer or health care provider, to participate in any federal health care system. The amendment would also prevent Oklahomans from being financially penalized if they choose not to purchase insurance mandated by the federal health care plan, and doctors would still be allowed to accept direct payment for services without fear of financial penalty.

I would like to take this opportunity to remind the people of my former home state (just in case you were all sleeping in that civics class) that State law cannot supersede Federal law.

Article VI Clause 2 of the Constitution (aka The Supremacy Clause):
This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in Pursuance thereof; and all Treaties made, or which shall be made, under the Authority of the United States, shall be the supreme Law of the Land; and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, any Thing in the Constitution or Law of any State to the Contrary notwithstanding.

Comments

[dragonmyst.livejournal.com]

From what the reports are here, 18 states total are trying to do this.

I'm thinking that since CA passed the law legalizing pot for medicinal use despite it being a federal offense, that OK lawmakers are using that as an example you know? I don't know, Oklahoma is weird.

[midnightfae.livejournal.com]

As a Californian, I will tell you that it is still a crime, federally, to use marijuana medically in California. However, because it is legal by state law, we don't use state money or resources to prosecute people who are abiding our state laws.

It doesn't stop the feds from cracking down, and anyone with a license knows that, if it came to it, they can still be arrested and charged at the federal level. Thankfully for those that need it, Obama's administration has stopped raids on medical marijuana clubs in the state, but it was a problem before then.

[dragonmyst.livejournal.com]

Gotcha, thanks for the information. :)

[ken-schneyer.livejournal.com]

It's much easier for a legislator to vote in favor of a bill he knows has no legal chance of being enforced. It revs up your more nutty radical committed supporters, and causes no real problems in the future because it never has any real effect.

[glynisj.livejournal.com]

Bravo! Radical supporters are beginning to drive me crazy and I grew up during the hippie era!

[nomaddervish.livejournal.com]

Yeah, but if you want to drag the Constitution into it, doesn't that just mean that we'll end up with a 10th Amendment case in the Supreme Court? ("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. - Where does the Constitution delegate this power to the United States?)

I suspect an argument could (and will) also be made on the first clause of your quoted text, on the basis that a health insurance mandate is not "made in Pursuance of [the Constitution]", so the Supremacy Clause doesn't apply to it.