Precedents

Precedents

The Chisholm Case:

Information from The Sovereign States,James F. Kilpatrick, Henry Regnery Co., Chicago, 1957 pp. 269-27.

In 1792, a suit was brought in the US Supreme Court against the State of Georgia. The case involved property confiscated during the War for Independence. The Georgia House of Representatives responded by issuing a resolution stating that that for Georgia to agree to the suit "would effectually destroy the retained sovereignty of the States, and would actually tend in its operation to annihilate the very shadow of State government, and to render them but tributary corporations to the government of the United States." (Herman V. Ames, State Documents on Federal Relations (Philadelphia, 1911), p. 7.) Georgia did not appear before the Court.

In February 1793, the Court decided, with a 4-1 vote, that the State could not claim exemption from the jurisdiction of the national government. The Court ordered that the suit be served on the Governor of Georgia, and ordered that the State appear or suffer judgment in default. Governor Telfair refused to appear, and when the Georgia Legislature convened again that fall, the House of Representatives passed a bill that any Federal marshall who attempted to levy upon the property of Georgia in executing the court's order "shall be ... guilty of felony, and shall suffer death, without the benefit of cloergy, by being hanged." (Herman V. Ames, State Documents on Federal Relations (Philadelphia, 1911), p.9.)

Before the end of February 1793, a resolution was offered in Congress that resulted in the 11th Amendment to the Constitution . The text of the amendment reads as follows:

"The judicial power of the United States shall not be construed to extend to any suit in law or equity, commenced or prosecuted against one of the United States by citizens of another state, or by citizens or subjects of any foreign state."

Georgia had interposed, and Georgia won.

The Alien & Sedition Acts:

The Alien & Sedition Acts were a set of bills signed into law by President John Adams in 1798. These laws , among other things, punished any person that spoke or wrote negative things about the government. Opposition rose immediately to these new laws . James Madison & Vice President Thomas Jefferson argued that they violated the right to free speech, and wrote the Kentucky & Virginia Resolves, urging the states to interpose between the people & the federal government, and to strike down the laws . The Resolves were based upon the 10th Amendment which stipulates "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." Jefferson contended that the "sovereign and independent states" had the right to "interpose" themselves between their citizens and improper national legislative actions and to "nullify" acts of Congress they deemed unconstitutional .

These resolutions were not followed, although most of the laws expired or were repealed by Thomas Jefferson, who was elected as the next President. All the victims of these laws were subsequently released & monetarily compensated for damages done.

An excerpt from the Virginia Resolution:

". . . this Assembly doth explicitly and peremptorily declare that it views the powers of the federal government as resulting from the compact, to which the States are parties, as limited by the plain sense and intention of the instrument constituting that compact; as no further valid than they are authorized by the grants enumerated in that compact; and that in case of a deliberate, palpable, and dangerous exercise of other powers not granted by the said compact, the States who are parties thereto, have the right, and are in duty bound, to interpose for arresting the progress of the evil, and for maintaining, within their respective limits, the authorities, rights , and liberties appertaining to them. . . ."

The Virginia Resolution
December 21, 1798

Dred Scott:

Dred Scott was a slave who was promised freedom by his master, but when his master died, his master's wife said that he was still a slave. Dred Scott appealed to the Supreme Court, who said that, since he was not a "person", he couldn't even bring a case forward. The Supreme Court then dismissed the case and sent him back to slavery. Many states denounced this decision and declared it not binding. One example is the State of Maine:

"We may look, also, to the respectable State of Maine. One month after the decision came down, the Legislature of Maine solemnly declared the Court’s opinion “extra-judicial,” and “not binding, in law or in conscience, upon the government or citizens of the United States.” The right of each State to determine the political rights of her citizens “is clear and indisputable, and is to be exercised without question by any other State.”

James F. Kilpatrick, The Sovereign States, Henry Regnery Co., Chicago, 1957 pp. 269-270.

All told, 22 states denounced this decision, and interposed between the Supreme Court and the people of the United States.

"Pro-lifers like to make a comparison between the Dred Scott decision and Roe v. Wade to demonstrate the fallibility of the Supreme Court. Why not use the same tactics to overcome the pernicious Roe decision as did 22 states after Dred Scott? Wisconsin “denounced the Supreme Court for ‘assumption of power’ and declared ‘that the several States … have the unquestionable right’ to exercise ‘positive defiance’ in behalf of their interpretation of the powers reserved to the States by the Constitution .” - Scott Whiteman, Standing Between The Butcher And The Baby.

Roy Moore & The Ten Commandments Case:

In 1995, Circuit Judge Roy Moore was sued by the ACLU for displaying a plaque of the Ten Commandments in his courtroom. Below is a timeline of events:

April, 1995: ACLU Sues Roy Moore for "establishing a religion" with the Ten Commandments plaque and his prayers in the courtroom. July, 1995: ACLU Suit dismissed on technical grounds. September, 1996: Roy Moore's trial over the Ten Commandments and prayer in the court begins. September, 1996: Judge Price rules that the Ten Commandments can stay, but orders prayers to halt. Judge Moore refuses.
February, 1997: Judge Price orders Ten Commandments plaque removed. Judge Moore refuses. Alabama Supreme Court issues order to continue prayers in court. February, 1997: Alabama Governor Fob James states his determination to use all legal means, including the National Guard, to keep the Ten Commmandments in Moore's courtroom. Also, the Alabama House Of Representatives approves resolution supporting the display of the Ten Commandments. Alabama Supreme Court issues another order to keep Ten Commandments in court.
January, 1998: Alabama Supreme Court dismisses the case for technical reasons. January, 2001: Judge Roy Moore is sworn in as Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court. July, 2001: Chief Justice Roy Moore installs granite Ten Commandments monument in the Alabama Supreme Court. August, 2001: A handful of black law makers tries to force their way into the Alabama Judicial Building and put up a plaque with Martin Luther King Jr's Dream speech next to the Ten Commandments. October, 2001: The ACLU files a suit to have the Ten Commandments Monument removed. October, 2002: Chief Justice Roy Moore's trial to decide the future of the Ten Commandments Monument begins. November, 2002: Judge Myron Thompson of the Federal Circuit Court rules the Ten Commandment Monument unconstitutional . August 5, 2003: Judge Thompson orders that the Ten Commandments Monument be removed. Chief Justice Roy Moore announces that he will uphold his oath to the Constitution of the United States and will not remove the monument.

August 22, 2003: A complaint is filed against Chief Justice Moore with the Judicial Inquiry Commission and he is suspended from his duties.

August 27, 2003: The Ten Commandments Monument is moved to a storage room in the Judicial Building, 60 feet from where it had been displayed.

November, 2003: Chief Justice Roy Moore is removed from the office of Chief Justice of the state of Alabama by the Alabama Court Of The Judiciary.

"In the eyes of the world I had lost, but I had stood for the God who never loses and the law I had sworn uphold."

Former Chief Justice Roy Moore, So Help Me God, Broadman and Holman Publishers, 2005, p.231.