Nullification in a Nutshell

The “Principles of 98,” as they came to be known, are rarely discussed in modern history lectures even though these are integral to understanding how our federal Constitution was intended to function. These are the principles of state interposition or nullification that assert that if the federal government fails to check itself through one of its three branches, then it would be up to the states to rein in the feds.

The main basis for the theory is that the states created the national government when they joined the compact and not the other way around. The states therefore retained the power to judge for themselves the constitutionality of federal laws and reserved the right to refuse to enforce them if they went beyond their constitutionally delegated powers.

The States have been cowered by the federales and are not likely to oppose their mandates as Madison and Jefferson intended they do when faced with onerous decrees from the federal government. There are, however, some encouraging signs that some States are starting to circle the wagons.