Hacker News new | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submit login

The Bill of Rights[1] restricts both federal and state power. It, empowered by the Fourteenth[2], has been used by the courts to strike down state (and federal) laws as unconstitutional several times. This has overall been in the interest of the people, and have served to protect our individual liberty -- wouldn't you say so? And the rights of the people enumerated Bill of Rights is supreme over all laws whether passed by Congress, state government, or local government.

What I'm essentially arguing for is for a sort of massive expansion of individual liberty through federal restriction of state power, by for example, having a list of "Enumerated Powers of the States" similar to the federal Enumerated Powers clause added to the Constitution, and establishing (just as in the Tenth Amendment) that all powers not specifically delegated to the states are reserved to the people. This would expands personal liberty, as it would put well-defined limits on what the states can legislate on.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Bill_of_Rights

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fourteenth_Amendment_to_the_Un...




Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: