The constitutionality of all laws, from Arizona’s
immigration law to the federal healthcare bill and even local ordinances can,
and should, come under examination. Laws that violate constitutional provisions
must be struck down.

One federal court last week struck down a provision in the
Arizona law and this week a federal judge in Virginia agreed to hear arguments
on the constitutionality of the health insurance mandate that compels people to
buy health coverage whether or not they want it, or be fined by the IRS.

Wouldn’t it be better, however, if the constitutionality of
a law was established first, before the law is passed at all?

All members of Congress—representatives and senators—as well
as the president and the vice president, take an oath to preserve, protect and
defend the Constitution. Township supervisors do that, too. But, do they all
honor that oath?

Consider: During the debate over healthcare last year, Fox
News legal analyst Judge Andrew Napolitano asked U.S. Rep. James Clyburn,
D-S.C. what constitutional authority there was for such a bill.

Rep. Clyburn’s response reflected just how little regard
elected office holders have for their oath of office. First he said most of
what Congress does has no constitutional basis and then he asked where it was
written that Congress does not have the authority.

As has been written before, in a free society, the people
may do anything not prohibited but the government may only do what is
permitted.

The body of the U.S. Constitution establishes the framework
of government, with its three branches, and enumerates what those three
branches may do. It limits the actions of the government. Nowhere does it say
the federal government may force people to buy anything.

And in answer the congressman’s question is the 10^th
Amendment, which states: “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution,
nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or
to the people.”

Lest anyone think we’re picking on Democrats, Republicans are just
as bad. Think back to the Patriot Act that was forced through during the Bush
administration. Its provisions violate due process, habeas corpus and any
number of constitutionally guaranteed rights.

(Democrats, please note that the aforementioned Judge Napolitano has
said that former President George Bush and former Vice President Dick Cheney
should have been impeached.)

The war on drugs, a long-time Republican favorite, allows for asset
forfeiture, the confiscation of a person’s property even without charges being
filed. Such is a clear violation of the due process clause of the Fifth
Amendment.

Disregard for the Constitution trickles down even to the local
level. Chadds Ford Township enacted a noise ordinance in 2005 that includes a
clause prohibiting loitering at the township building. The township solicitor
told the supervisors’ chairman that the clause should be stricken because it
could violate the First Amendment guarantee about freedom of assembly. The
chairman said he didn’t care.

Most laws, including that township ordinance, have a clause
saying that any portion of the law that is found to be unconstitutional will be
stricken. That’s good, but there’s something that should be done before a law
is challenged in court.

Require legislators to cite the constitutional authority for
any given piece of legislation and its myriad clauses. Demand they honor their
oath of office.

When people complained that provisions of the Patriot Act
violated the Constitution, proponents of the law responded by saying the
Constitution isn’t a suicide pact. That part is true, but violating the
Constitution is suicide.

Live free.