Skylar
Diamond Member
- Jul 5, 2014
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Its not my take. Its James Madison's and the Supreme Court's. And in terms of sovereignty, its immediately relevant. As we're not talking about a single sovereign. We're talking about dual sovereigns with concurrent jurisdiction. Its by far a more apt analogy. As it accurately describes the situation.
Every State shares sovereignty with the federal government. The reverse is not true. The Federal government holds territory of unique jurisdiction, over which no state has authority. And make no mistake: the Federal government is a sovereign. Its simply not the *only* sovereign.
As established by the Treaty of Paris, the states are sovereign. The federal is an organization created by them through a treaty for the purpose of exercising a small set of enumerated powers on their behalf. It is not sovereign but only gains its power by having it delegated by the states.
And established through the Constitution and the 14th amendment that the Several States delegated much of their authority in a federal government. A federal government that wields sovereign powers of its own and maintains concurrent jurisdiction over all State territory. And unique jurisdiction over exclusively federal territory.
It was James Madison himself that coined the term 'concurrent jurisdiction' when describing the relationship between the States and Federal government. And he's a damn good source on the topic. Better than either one of us.
In a contest between an individual state, the Judicial Power delegated to the Federal government grants its authority to interpret the constitution. With the 14th amendment granting the federal government authority to protect the rights of Federal citizens in any State. The Supremacy Clause puts the constitution as the Supreme Law in the United States. And the judicial power grants the judiciary to interpret that constitution.
The Several States have the authority to override that delegated federal authority. An individual state does not. Nor does any collection of States beneath the threshold of 3/4 necessary to amend the constitution.
Thus, short of an amendment, the Federal Judiciary is authoritative on the issues that arise under the Constitution. And can overturn State laws that violate individual privileges and immunities.