"Easy on the Patriot Act, Raleigh"

[DarkPhenyx]

Wether or not you agree with it this is an interesting op-ed piece. Give some good history.

Resolving not to cooperate with the feds would nullify democracy

http://www.newsobserver.com/print/wednesday/opinion/story/1294971p-7417066c.html

<on edit> fine I'll do it this way damnit!

Faced with the imminent prospect of war and potential insurrection in 1798, Congress adopted several laws, known to us as the infamous Alien and Sedition Acts, to enhance the federal government's powers to respond to the national security threat.

Thomas Jefferson and James Madison protested the acts by authoring and ensuring the adoption of two state resolutions asserting the ability of state governments to judge for themselves the constitutional validity of acts of the federal government, and to refuse compliance with legislation deemed incompatible with that document. In particular, these Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions urged non-cooperation with the Alien and Sedition Acts on the grounds that they violated the Bill of Rights.

<snip>

Today, there is a great deal of consternation regarding civil liberties implications of the USA Patriot Act, a package of law enforcement and national security provisions adopted in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks to enhance the federal government's ability to counter the terrorist threat. By one count, 284 municipal governments have adopted resolutions alleging that the Patriot Act violates the Constitution. To the extent that these actions are intended to contribute to the democratic discussion of the propriety and need for the Patriot Act's particular provisions, they are a welcome development.

<snip>

A substantial number of the resolutions, however, contemplate a kind of devolutionary judgment of and non-cooperation with federal law strongly reminiscent of the Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions. The Raleigh City Council is currently considering one such resolution, which maintains that city employees should refuse to cooperate with federal investigations wherever they deem them to violate provisions of the Bill of Rights or the state constitution, and urges the state government to do the same.