At 01:14 AM 6/20/01 -0400 Gautam Mukunda wrote:
>What John is not saying, however, is that there is a clear reason for why
>the "Congress shall make no law" is now read to include state governments.
>It was not prior to the Civil War. After the Civil War, however, the 14th
>Amendment was passed. The Supreme Court has since held that one of the
>effects of the 14th Amendment - probably the most important one, in fact -
>is to extend some Constitutional prohibitions on federal power to the
>state governments as well. Each state has its own individual
>constitution, which may set further limits on that state government.
>Without the 14th Amendment, however, there would be virtually no limits
>imposed upon state governments by the federal constitution.
Just to be clear, I also think that this interpretation by the Supreme
Court of the 14th Amendment is unjustifiable as well. The 14th Amendment
reads:
"Section 1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and
subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and
of the state wherein they reside. No state shall make or enforce any law
which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United
States; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or
property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its
jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws."
How the above language justifies extending a proscription on the powers of
Congress to a proscription on City Councils is beyond me.
JDG
__________________________________________________________
John D. Giorgis - [EMAIL PROTECTED] - ICQ #3527685
We are products of the same history, reaching from Jerusalem and
Athens to Warsaw and Washington. We share more than an alliance.
We share a civilization. - George W. Bush, Warsaw, 06/15/01
