CALIFORNIA A NULLIFIER'S PARADISE?

Nullification. The word evokes images of white-haired men with
tri-fold hats, holding up signs about the "evils" of Obamacare and socialism.

States around the country are considering laws to reject federal laws
on health care, guns, the Environmental Protection Agency regulations
and more. The pundits scream "racism," the legal experts cite the
"supremacy clause," and the entire country - left to right - just
might be missing the point.

As executive director of the Tenth Amendment Center, the organization
which created the "Health Care Nullification Act" introduced in more
than 10 states, I see many people who fit this stereotypical
"tenther" image, too.

Whenever I speak at "Nullify Now!" events around the country, the
crowd is predominantly these folks. While a few progressives
occasionally join the protesters, one doesn't find too many
20-somethings with Che T-shirts attending such events.

While the rhetoric coming from many on the right these days includes
words like "nullification," and "state sovereignty," it has been the
left, not the right, which has been successful in putting these ideas
into practice. And, California has been at the forefront since the beginning.

When Californians voted to approve Proposition 215 to allow medical
marijuana, the word "nullification" was not part of the argument, but
it most certainly was the result. Opponents often cited the
Constitution's "supremacy clause," saying the state had no authority
to violate federal marijuana laws. But, Californians voted to violate
those laws by the millions. And, when the Supreme Court ruled in the
2005 Gonzales v. Raich case that state-level medical marijuana laws
were, in essence, illegal, dispensaries around the state didn't start
closing shop.

In fact, by 2005, there were nine other states that had joined
California in passing medical marijuana laws. After the supremes told
the country that such laws were a big no-no, how many were repealed?
Zero. And since then, another five states - most recently, Arizona -
have joined up.

Think about that. There are now 15 states actively defying Congress
and the Supreme Court - and they're getting away with it. This, more
than anything else, is what nullification is: any action which
results in federal law(s) being rendered nearly unenforceable.

When I took a bike ride around my neighborhood in downtown L.A. the
other day, I didn't find a single Drug Enforcement Agent shutting
down an arts district grow shop. A recent trip to Venice confirmed my
hunch that there are plenty of businesses and individuals openly
nullifying federal laws with dispensaries galore. A visit to the Bay
Area last fall verified the same.

But yet, how often does one hear a legal scholar or a political
pundit spending time and energy on how these pot-dealers and
pot-smokers are bringing chaos to America? How often do you hear that
this active nullification of federal drug laws is done by people who
hate President Obama for being black? I'll assume you've that heard
just about as much as I have - never.

Medical marijuana isn't the only issue where Californians have taken
a lead in standing up to the feds. In 2006, when the Congressional
Research Service released a report on "sanctuary cities" around the
country, California was at the head of the pack, with more major
cities on the list than any other state in the country.

Oddly enough, I haven't heard about Washington, D.C., threatening to
withhold highway funds. The national guard hasn't been sent in to
force these cities to comply with federal immigration laws. But yet,
that's what some claim will happen if health care nullification laws
are passed today.

I doubt it. If today's nullification proposals follow in the path of
the left's nullification of federal drug and immigration laws, it's
quite possible we'll see the same kind of results. The feds backing off.

The real question, of course, is this - will gay marriage advocates
in Maine, health care nullification advocates in Idaho, gun rights
activists in Oklahoma, and marijuana advocates in California ever
realize that they're actually on the same side?

They likely don't agree on specific issues, but they agree with their
actions; the most difficult and divisive issues need to be dealt with
close to home, in their states. Either way, it's good to be in
California, where nullification is alive and well.