Obama Citizenship

States? Rights: OK PR on Sovereignty Resolution; Gov. Perry Hints at Secession?

By Phil

While the Oklahoma State Senate had already passed SJR10, State Rep. Charles Key released the following presser regarding HJR1003:

OKLAHOMA CITY (April 15, 2009) ? State Rep. Charles Key today praised the Senate passage of a resolution demanding the federal government cease and desist mandates beyond its authority as designated by the Tenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.          

?Today, thousands of regular citizens showed up at this state Capitol to say they want the federal government to follow the United States Constitution,? Key, R-Oklahoma City, said. ?I believe that this piece of legislation is one of the most important ones we will pass this year and I think that it will give the president and members of the U.S. Congress reason to reconsider much of the legislation they are proposing.? 

House Joint Resolution 1003 declares Oklahoma?s sovereignty under the Tenth Amendment in all matters not otherwise enumerated or granted to the federal government under the U.S. Constitution. The resolution also calls on the president and other agents of the federal government to ?cease and desist? mandates beyond the scope of ?constitutionally delegated powers? and repeal all compulsory federal legislation directing states to comply under threat of civil or criminal sanctions or in order to gain federal funding. 

?It is abundantly clear to many U.S. citizens that the federal government has violated the Tenth Amendment of the Constitution and they are voicing their outrage and concern through this legislation,? Key said. ?Lawmakers in other states have also been looking into similar resolutions since Oklahoma became the first state file and pass Tenth Amendment Legislation.  We now have an opportunity to be the first state to have it signed it into law.? 

Key noted that the resolution refers also to a 1992 Supreme Court ruling further stressing that the federal government cannot simply commandeer the regulatory and legislative processes of the states.

?Once the resolution is on the governor?s desk, I hope he will quickly sign House Joint Resolution 1003 into law,? Key said. ?I also hope that when it is distributed to President Barack Obama and other elected officials of the federal government that they will recall the oaths to the United States Constitution that they all took and take heed.?

Oklahoma’s initiative page is here; other State-based initiatives are here.

In related news, Texas Governor Rick Perry seemed to hint at secession…

In what could be construed as a play at a potential presidential run in 2012, he had the following to say:

Perry called his supporters patriots. Later, answering news reporters’ questions, Perry suggested Texans might at some point get so fed up they would want to secede from the union, though he said he sees no reason why Texas should do that.

“There’s a lot of different scenarios,” Perry said. “We’ve got a great union. There’s absolutely no reason to dissolve it. But if Washington continues to thumb their nose at the American people, you know, who knows what might come out of that. But Texas is a very unique place, and we’re a pretty independent lot to boot.”

He said when Texas entered the union in 1845 it was with the understanding it could pull out. However, according to the Texas State Library and Archives Commission, Texas negotiated the power to divide into four additional states at some point if it wanted to but not the right to secede.

Texas did secede in 1861, but the North’s victory in the Civil War put an end to that. [emphasis added]

A blogger at the HoustonChronicle has the audio here and adds some interesting links to the concept of secession:

Just FYI, on Perry’s 1845 statement, Texas came into the union with the ability to divide into five states, not withdraw. After seceding during the Civil War, Texas was allowed to re-enter the union after ratifying the 13th Amendment. The 13th Amendment banned slavery in the United States and any territory subject to its jurisdiction.

UPDATED: Texas v White, a U.S. Supreme Court case decided in 1869, said Texas cannot secede.

Let’s not forget that there’s a fine difference between any State having “predominantly sovereign rights” as allowed via the 10th Amendment versus completely disuniting from the Union altogether.

-Phil

Full post as published by The Right Side of Life on April 16, 2009 (boomark / email).