The Arizona Sentinel
It is our premise that far too many of Bills, Acts and actions passed by our government fly in the face of the state and federal Constitutions.
In January 2009, Arizona U.S. Congressional Representative John Shadegg authored the Enumerated Powers Act (HR 450), a bill that all Americans need to get behind (text: http://wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=92396 – short video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nRUBTUfPDLs).
The central concept is that all legislation should include a clear statement that all provisions of the subject Act are being passed under what specific and enumerated constitutional authority. Our suggestion is that not only should this apply on a federal level, it should also be enacted at all levels of government.
The basic premise is that any bill or administrative action to be enacted by members of an elected body (federal, state, county, etc.,) must pass a constitutionality test. This test should also apply to any Executive order by the Governor of a State or the President of the United States. This ‘constitutionality review’ would be automatically conducted by a board of constitutional judicial scholars, such as the State or Federal Supreme Court(s), the State Bar, or other appropriate non-partisan designate(s). The decision to concur with the constitutionality of the Act would require an unanimous opinion of the review board to the public, preferably after approval the Act but prior to enactment. Additionally, once put in place, the natural course of events would be to retroactively apply the principle to previously adopted legislation.
We need to find a state legislator or legislative/legal aide that will draft the language necessary to put it on the ballot for the next election.
The Arizona Sentinel 