[Peace-discuss] Constitutionality

[John W.]

On Wed, Sep 24, 2008 at 1:05 PM, Bob Illyes <illyes at uiuc.edu> wrote:

Lots of things were assumed by the authors of the Constitution, and not
> written down. This doesn't mean that they are not implicit in the
> Constitution, but only that the authors assumed that the interpreters were
> somewhat educated and weren't idiots.
>
> For example, the Constitution doesn't specify that a simple majority vote
> will pass a bill (let me know if you find this- I've looked and failed). It
> also doesn't specify how a law will be determined to be unconstitutional or
> more generally what should happen if there are two laws that contradict each
> other. There are at least five remedies for unconstitutional laws: the
> President can refuse to enforce them, the Congress can change them, the
> courts can tell us what to do about them, the people can engage in civil
> disobedience, and the Constitution can be amended. All of these remedies
> have been used.
>
> John's claim that a law is unconstitutional only when found so in court is
> rather like saying that your wife isn't cheating on you unless a judge
> agrees.
>
> Bob


Hahahaha!  I take it you don't agree with my claim, then?  You surprise me,
Bob, in that you missed my point so utterly.  We can talk about the law, or
we can talk about what we in our own minds and hearts think is "moral" or
"ethical".  My point was simply that they're not at all the same thing.

In the context of the marijuana laws, which we on this list seem to mostly
agree are draconian:

1) The President IS enforcing federal law, even where it conflicts with a
compassionate state law.  Our prisons are full of drug "criminals".
2) Congress is NOT doing anything to change federal drug law.
3) The courts are all over the place, but mostly upholding the primacy of
federal law over state law.
4) No one is trying to amend the Constitution.

So, (5) We the People can talk about morality all we want, and we can engage
in civil disobedience, but because of THE LAW as it is written and enforced,
we are likely to go to prison.
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