Morris Patriots !         

• States Rights

• Sovereignty

• Nullification

• 10th Amendment
  

Two Priorities of the tea parties of New Jersey  (as adopted at the Grassroots-NJ summit on 1/15/11):

• Nullification of unconstitutional federal laws
• Community Strategies to limit local and county governments to their Constitutional authority

_________________________________________________

Resources / Links:

• Tenth Amendment Center - (National)

• NJ Tenth Amendment Center - (New Jersey)

• Sovereign State Initiative

• Neighborhood Organizing - Voices of America

• NJ State Constitution    
  

• U.S. Constitution - National Archives site   
  

__________________________________________________

The Tenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution is very clear:

The powers NOT delegated to the United States [the federal government] by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, ARE RESERVED TO THE STATES RESPECTIVELY, OR TO THE PEOPLE.

But there have been many times when the federal government intruded into rights it does not have, and Thomas Jefferson, as early as 1798, spelled out the remedy to such incursions:   Nullification - or the recognition by the States that a given law is unconstitutional and that the federal courts, owing their allegiance to the federal structure, cannot be relied upon to be impartial in determining whether such a law is constitutional or not - it is up to the State, on behalf of its People, to be the final judge.

NULLIFICATION is the term used when a State makes such a determination and interposes itself between its People and the federal government, in defense of the People.

Thus, "Nullification" relates to defense of the People by the State(s) when a federal law is deemed unconstitutional.

Recommended:   Nullification:  How to Resist Federal Tyranny in the 21st Centure, by Thomas E. Woods

____________________________________________________

When municipalities or counties undertake actions or spending beyond what they are authorized under the U.S. Constitution and N.J. Constitution, an argument can be made that it is also up to the People to correct the usurpation. 

This is the thrust of the sovereign state initiative.