State law v. Fed law/medical marijuana/further ramifications?

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DKSuddeth

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http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metro/20061206-1725-bn06pot.html

A Superior Court judge has refused to overturn California's medical marijuana laws, issuing a final ruling Monday that upholds a decision last month rejecting a lawsuit San Diego County filed against the state.
Judge William R. Nevitt Jr. ruled that state law enforcement officials are not obligated to arrest and prosecute people who violate federal laws.

Some questions, could the counties then take this to federal courts?

Is all this a moot point since Raich v. Gonzalez?

Could this be used for RKBA??
 
Could this be used for RKBA??

It could be bad for RKBA. I imagine rogue cities could pass whatever law they wanted in defiance of superceding laws.. like when San Francisco tried to ban handguns. Luckily that was overturned.
 
Since we don't have a real militia, it doesn't matter.

The States can complain about the Federal Government, but the Federal Government has all the big weapons, and the Supreme Court is a branch of the Federal Govenment, too. Even the "Federalists" so demoized by the Authoritarian Left seem loath the give up any real Federal power to the States.

The Civil War was really about the rights of States to decide whether or not they wanted to do as the Federal Government told them

Tragically, the lines were drawn largely over slavery, which is obviously one of the most immoral institutions in the history of the world. The unfortunate casualty of the war, as it turns out, was States' rights to self-government.

It was the South's fault, for wanting to use those rights to preserve slavery. Obviously, slaves couldn't vote, so they had no say in this. Therefore, States' Rights in such a context are impossible to support, since slaves comprised a good portion of the population, but had no voice in government -- surely they would have voted not to be enslaved!

And it was Lincoln's fault, and the fault of the fledgling Republicans, for prioritizing "preserving the Union" over civil liberties in the North, the lives of tens of thousands of unwilling combatants, and the Constitution itself. In his own words, Lincoln said that the war was about "preserving the Union", not freeing slaves, and that he would have been fine with keeping them enslaved if he could have preserved the Union by doing so. Kinda ugly.

Now, we are left with the trappings of Federalism, but the reality of a central government with near-absolute power, especially since Raich reaffirmed the principle that the Federal Government could enforce laws regarding anything that "migh have an impact" on interstate commerce. What wouldn't?
 
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States' Rights vs. a strong Federal government has gone back and forth over the years. The Civil War settled part of the question for a time, but it has come back to be re-examined many times. Generally, when a group is out of power in Washington it's in favor of States' Rights. When it is in power it preaches the One True Religion of Federalism :rolleyes:
 
The key phrase:
Judge William R. Nevitt Jr. ruled that state law enforcement officials are not obligated to arrest and prosecute people who violate federal laws.
That means just what it says: that state and/or local cops aren't required to enforce Federal law. The Feds can still enforce it, but state and local cops aren't required to expend their resources to do so.

It doesn't mean that the law doesn't apply, it doesn't mean that the state can supercede the Feds, just that they don't have to do the Feds' jobs.

No, it doesn't mean that they can violate the Constitution, either (that comes under other precedents :fire: ).
 
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