The Supreme Court will soon decide whether Congress has the authority to dictate New Jersey’s gambling laws. The justices have just heard oral arguments in Christie v. NCAA, and their decision represents yet another opportunity for the federal government solidify its stranglehold on state sovereignty.
Congress passed a law in 1992 that prohibited all but four states from legalizing sports betting. Now New Jersey is suing to legalize betting in the state, but they’re at the mercy of the Supreme Court.
The Court might decide to grant decision-making authority to the people of New Jersey, but they might not.
Mark Brnorich explains more at The Hill:
The name “The United States of America” communicates something profound but often overlooked: the states, which predated the federal government, actually joined together to form that government. Each state was sovereign in its own right but ceded a portion of its power to create the federal government. And new states were admitted to the union on equal footing with those original states.
The key point is that the states are not mere administrative units of the federal government, but rather separate sovereigns, with powers independent of the federal government, and directly accountable to their people.
The genius of this system is that it creates two levels of government — each of which can govern within its own sphere of competence. Paradoxically, by creating two levels of government our framers secured more freedom for the people, not less, because the two governments were intended to exist in tension with each other.
The states shouldn’t have to beg the feds to create their own laws that have nothing to do with interstate commerce.
An Article V Convention of States is the only way for the states to act without the permission of Congress to regain their rightful position of power in our federalist system.
A Convention of States can propose constitutional amendments that clarify Congress’s limited power and return decision-making authority to the people and the states. These amendments can ensure that state laws are no longer at the mercy of nine non-elected Supreme Court justices.
Congress will never grant the states this power -- it’s up to the people to pass the Convention of States resolution and return the Constitution to the interpretations the Founders intended.
