sarah_palin

Sarah Palin has signed a joint resolution which essentially declares to the Federal government that Alaska is a sovereign and independent state under the 10th Amendment.

Just weeks before she plans to step down from her position as Alaska governor, Palin signed House Joint Resolution 27, sponsored by state Rep. Mike Kelly on July 10, according to a Tenth Amendment Center report. The resolution “claims sovereignty for the state under the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States over all powers not otherwise enumerated and granted to the federal government by the Constitution of the United States.”

Alaska’s House passed HJR 27 by a vote of 37-0, and the Senate passed it by a vote of 40-0.

According to the report, the joint resolution does not carry with it the force of law, but supporters say it is a significant move toward getting their message out to other lawmakers, the media and grassroots movements.

In other words, this declaration has no real legal significance, but the message here is clear, we don’t need no stinkin’ Federal Government. The actual text of the Resolution reads:

Be it resolved that the Alaska State Legislature hereby claims sovereignty for the state under the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States over all powers not otherwise enumerated and granted to the federal government by the Constitution of the United States.
Be it further resolved that this resolution serves as Notice and Demand to the federal government to cease and desist, effective immediately, mandates that are beyond the scope of these constitutionally delegated powers.

This sounds like the correct reading of the 10th Amendment to me. The point of the 10th Amendment was to reassure each colony or state that they would remain the true source of power for issues like education, health and morality. Over the years, mainly through a misreading and abuse of the Commerce Clause, the Courts have whittled this sovereign power of the states down to almost nothing. The Federal government now seems to trump the states in all matters but the most mundane. This was never the intention of the Constitution and I applaud Sarah Palin for reasserting the rights of the states under the Constitution.

Currently 36 other states have introduced similar measures in their various state bodies, but thus far only 7 states have actually passed both legislative bodies and only 2 now (Alaska and Tennessee) have been signed by the state executive.