‘States’ Rights’ Tea-Publicans run amok

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Oh geezus, here we go again. The Birthers-Birchers-Secessionists of our Tea-Publican legislature are spouting Neoconfederate nullification and secession theories again, in a reprisal from last year.

It sounds an awful lot like the nonsense spewed by the sovereign citizen movement and Oath Keepers movement that have been labeled hate groups by organizations such as the Anti-Defamation League and the Southern Poverty Law Center, among others.

The Arizona Daily Star reports State bill puts feds second to sheriffs:

A state Senate panel has fired a warning shot of sorts over the heads of federal law enforcement agencies: Don't come nosing around these parts unless you get the local OK. Legislation offered by Rep. David Gowan, R-Sierra Vista, would require employees of those agencies to first notify the sheriff of the county "before taking any official law enforcement action in a county in this state."

The only exception would be if notification would impede the federal officer's duties. But even then, HB 2434 requires notifying the sheriff "as soon as practicable after taking the action." The proposal took its first step toward becoming a reality Thursday when the Senate Committee on Border Security, Federalism and States Sovereignty voted 5-2 to approve, sending the bill to the full Senate.

The bill's sponsor, "states' rights" Tenther Rep. David Gowan (R-Sierra Vista) explains:

Gowan said it's a simple matter of state sovereignty.

"If you look in your Constitution, you will not find there are any police powers granted to the federal government," he said. And Gowan said the 10th Amendment says any powers not given to the federal government are reserved for the states and the people.

"That means the states have the inherent right to use law enforcement,'' he said.

From a practical standpoint, Gowan said the highest elected law enforcement officers in the state are the sheriffs of the 15 counties.

"They have a mandate from the people over bureaucracies," he said, which includes federal agencies. "Without this, we allow the bureaucrats to dictate and bring their vision of law enforcement down upon the people who are duly elected."

Gowan said his legislation would bring back the state's sovereignty "in line with what we need to be to make sure our citizens have all the liberty they can handle."

There is so much wrong with what Gowan says I don't even know where to begin in limited space. Suffice it to say that this man has no idea what he is talking about on matters of constitutional law. Perhaps he is confused by the The Constitution of the Confederate States of America preferred by Neoconfederates and Tenthers.

This bill, like the Neoconfederate nullification and secession bills from last year, should be defeated or vetoed by the Governor, as they were last year.