When five of the U.S. Supreme Court
justices last summer created a constitutional right to “same-sex marriage,”
they overturned a bunch of state constitutional and statutory provisions
against that status.
And they crushed the will of
tens of millions of voters who had across dozens of states thought about
“same-sex marriage,” and decided against allowing it. Some of those voters now
are strategizing ways to simply nullify the ruling from the lawyers on high.
Some high-profile resistance cases
already are well-known – that dispute in Alabama over what to do with the Supreme
Court’s Obergefell decision in the state, the Kentucky county clerk who refused
an order from U.S. District David Bunning to violate her faith and issue
“same-sex marriage” licenses.
A lawyer in the state, Jeff Cobble of the Cobble Law Firm, told WND on Thursday that there are hundreds for sure, and
possibly thousands, of residents in his state already taking up the discussion
of how to nullify the decision.
Multiple arguments and possible
moves are being discussed, but he said a couple of counties already have
adopted resolutions condemning the action by the justices in Washington and
expressing the sentiment that the decision needs to be ignored.
“Outlasting the Gay Revolution” spells out eight
principles to help Americans with conservative moral values counter attacks on
our freedoms of religion, speech and conscience by homosexual activists One of those counties, Greene County, recently
approved a resolution that says the county is “vehemently opposed to
same-sex marriage.” It asks Tennessee state officials
to challenge the Supreme Court ruling however they can. Cobble explained to WND
that he’s discussed the issue with dozens of lawmakers, a multitude of local
officials, and state residents by the thousand through email chains and other
social media.
The sentiment is that something
needs to be done, and the most likely avenue is simply nullification. That, he
explained, is simply making the court decision of no account. It’s already
being done in practice in America, he said, on other issues.
For example, dozens of states have
approved medical marijuana use. Some have even adopted laws allowing
recreational use of the drug. But under the federal statutes, it remains
illegal and a criminal offense. The fact that the federal government does not,
will not, or cannot, arrest and prosecute all of those industry participants is
a result of nullification – the fact that although the law remains on the
books, no one really pays any attention to it.
Cobble said he even expects a
legislative proposal when the state’s lawmakers meet after the first of the
year, and he expects a positive outcome to the plan.
The lawyer, who is working without a
client on the issue, but just for his own personal goals, said the other issue
where nullification has proven effective is sanctuary cities.
Immigration laws remain on the books
on the federal level, and the federal government has demanded complete control
of the issue. But hundreds of cities and counties simply announce they are
sanctuary locations, and won’t enforce the federal immigration statutes.
Washington has done nothing to try
to enforce those.
In both cases, he said,
“progressives feel free to just ignore the law.” But the results prove that the
president believes in nullification, the attorney general believes in
nullification and “that it’s widespread.”
His own interpretation of the
Constitution is that since marriage is not mentioned in the document, it
remains one of the subjects left to the states. Now, he said, it’s “time for us
to step up.” Perhaps, he said, past time.
After all, what about the abortion
decision by the court in 1973, the school prayer and Bible cases from the
1960s, and even earlier? A multitude of decisions have simply been imposed on
America by a judiciary without constitutional authorization, he said.
Cobble, who is active in the group
Reclaiming America’s First Principles, told WND the grassroots already is
working on the situation. He recalls exchanging emails about the issue after
the June decision. Then he contacted some friends, some lawmakers and got onto
some email chain lists. From there, it snowballed, with thousands now
discussing.
Are there similar talks going on in
other states? Likely, he said. In
the state’s Blount County, Commissioner
Karen Miller is sponsoring a resolution asking the Almighty to “pass us by in
His coming wrath and not destroy our county as he did Sodom and Gomorrah and
the neighboring cities.”
Her request is based on the U.S.
Supreme Court decision on June 26 that legalized same-sex marriage nationwide.
Other commissioners have resorted to
tricks to keep the item from coming up for discussion, but she’s determined to
keep introducing it until the people have an opportunity to act.
The plan from Miller states,
“We adopt this resolution before God that he pass us by in His coming wrath and
not destroy our county as He did Sodom and Gomorrah …”
It also says, “We adopt this
resolution begging His favor in light of the fact that we have been forced to
comply and recognize that the state of Tennessee, like so many other
God-fearing states, may have fallen prey to a lawless judiciary in legalizing
what God and the Bible expressly forbids.”
WND
reported only days ago that
nullification is being pursued more and more by local and county governments,
as well as states. A new report
from the Tenth Amendment Center,
which focuses on state-federal issues, explains that issues recently have
included the right to try experimental drugs or treatments, surveillance, hemp,
the Second Amendment, the federal militarization of police, marijuana, money,
Obamacare, asset forfeiture and Common Core. Get “Taking America Back,” Joseph Farah’s manifesto
for sovereignty, self-reliance and moral renewal
“Today’s nullification movement is
revolutionary because it offers the hope of smashing the established political
order; an alternative to ‘voting the bums out’ – a way to support the
Constitution and liberty whether the federal government wants us to or not,”
said Tenth Amendment Center Executive Director Michael Boldin.
He noted nullification actually was
what rid the United States of prohibition. Lawmakers removed the law but that
was long after it was essentially ignored.
Boldin notes that James Madison
addressed the issue of the federal government enacting a measure that states
found unacceptable. “Should an unwarranted measure of the federal government be
unpopular in particular states, which would seldom fail to be the case, or even
a warrantable measure be so, which may sometimes be the case, the means of
opposition to it are powerful and at hand,” Madison wrote. “The disquietude of
the people; their repugnance and, perhaps, refusal to cooperate with officers
of the union, the frowns of the executive magistracy of the state; the
embarrassment created by legislative devices, which would often be added on
such occasions, would pose, in any state, very serious impediments; and were
the sentiments of several adjoining states happen to be in union, would present
obstructions which the federal government would hardly be winning to
encounter.”
Regarding marijuana, it remains
illegal under federal law, but 19 states have legalized it for medical use.
Colorado, Washington state, Oregon and Alaska also have legalized it for
recreational use. The federal government has made no serious effort to address
the discrepancy.
http://www.wnd.com/2015/10/americans-weapon-against-gay-marriage-nullification/
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