Utah’s Govenor To Files Suit to Take Federal Lands by Eminent Domain – A Question of Taxes

Chief Justice John Marshall, establihed Judicial Review

From:the Los Angeles Times: The Governor of the State of Utah has put his pen to bills allowing the seizure of Federal property within the State by eminent domain. This move is hoped to draw a suit going to the Supreme Court. The crux of the matter – Utah needs the lands in order to shore up its tax base to pay for schools and other services. (The new Health Care Legislation puts a heavy burden on States) Although the government is planning to erect new monuments in these lands, and environmental groups are siding with the Federal government noting that the suit would not go anywhere, one has to give it to Utah for exerting its State’s rights.

States across the nation are also suing the Federal Government to repeal the Health Care legislation signed by Barak Obama. The State of Florida, joined by Louisiana, Alabama, Colorado, Idaho, Michigan, Nebraska, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Washington, and Florida are bringing suit to protect their citizens from Federal mandates requiring purchase of health insurance, under the commerce clause. The State of Georgia has since joined in the fray and however, the State’s AG is refusing to bring suit based on partisanship. The problem facing some states is the political divide between the Governor and the Attorney General. In some instances, the A.G. being a Democrat is standing by the side of the party rather than what might be in the best interest of the state. In others, as in Michigan, the Governor, Jennifer M. Granholm, wrote a strongly worded letter decrying her A.G.’s suit against the Federal Government. The A.G. in that State is a Republican.

One has to believe that in most cases the individuals bringing suit are doing so to protect the citizens of their states and to assert the rights of individual states to protect them from the Federal Government under the 10th Amendment. Unfortunately, detractors are looking at it from the perspective of the body politic – in the states of Michigan, Washington, Pennsylvania and Colorado, the Democrat Governors have called on Eric Holder, the federal attorney general, to offer the Federal government assistance to fight their own States sovereignty should a lawsuit be filed.

These suits, both of eminent domain and protection from a federally mandated health care program are historical in nature, as is the unprecedented infringement of the Federal government on the individual states. It is the first time that this many states have brought the law to bear to fight off an ever encroaching Federal government. In the 1800’s - states filed to succeed, and became the confederacy. That said, it is not the intent of the states (as far as one knows) to become independent of the “Union” rather, to draw attention to the fact that the 10th amendment does hold water – should these suits be heard by the Supreme Court (as these are specifically the types of cases they would hear, (see Chief Justice John Marshall, his establishment of Judicial Review, giving the Supreme Court the necessary powers over the legislature and establishing checks and balances under the Constitution) Given that the suits are being filed under the commerce clause, it appears as if those who would be detractors for political purposes may find themselves on the wrong side of the issue.