July 11, 2003

The Burdens of Citizenship

Eugene Volokh points out (hat tip: InstaPundit) an extraordinary example of judicial incompetence: the Nevada Supreme Court has ordered the Nevada Legislature to ignore an inconvenient provision in the State's Constitution! While Professor Volokh brings up both impeachment and recall as possible remedies, he leaves unsaid that there are duties imposed upon citizens which come into play here:

It is the duty of the Nevada Legislature to ignore the Court's decision.
If the Legislature does not do so, it is the duty of the people to not pay the increased taxes that would result.
It is the duty of the prosecutors to not file charges against people who do not pay such taxes (assuming they pay their previous taxes.)
It is the duty of the police to not arrest people charged on such an account.
It is the duty of the duty of jurists not to convict a person so tried.

It is, in short, the duty of every citizen to respect and uphold both the national and their State's Constitution, and to not do so would be tragic, in that it would set the precedent (or reenforce the perception) that the citizens are not particularly concerned about their Constitutional rights.

Posted by Jeff at July 11, 2003 08:52 AM | Link Cosmos
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