Can Congress pass laws saying that States don't count as part of the Union?
A18:
No I don't, but this is from my History text book.
Keep in mind this is the same text book that says Hoover was a laissez-faire president, so why knows?
Peter:
Right, basically your text book is lying. The States were never kicked out.
First Reconstruction Act 1867
It basically says:
The governments of these States aren't Republican and therefore we are declaring them illegal.
We're instituting martial law until we're done there.
We'll recognise State governments as Republican and legal again when they ratify Constitutions that we like and also ratify the 14th.
No State was ever expelled from the Union, they just suspended their governments. The Congress was within its powers.
A18:
I didn't say they were kicked out. It's just that they didn't count as sovereign States in the Union.
What you're describing is definitely illegal. It is not the job of Congress to enforce the Constitution anymore than it is the job of the States.
You can't just say "the government isn't Republican, because it won't ratify the 14th amendment."
In fact, the situation you're describing is a VIOLATION of the Republican Government clause.
Peter:
Basically it all comes down to your disagreement with Marbury v. Madison that said that the Supreme Court determines what the Constitution says.
If you assume that, then the 1849 decision that says the Congress alone gets to determine if a State is acting in a Republican manner is commanding, and therefore the Congress gets to do what it did.
Somebody has to enforce the Constituion, or else its a meaningless document that can be trampled at any moment. The Supreme Court in this case said the Congress gets to enforce the clause, which it did.
J. J.:
Keep in mind that a state cannot be deprived of its equal representation in the Senate without its own consent. It would be a violation of that clause to "remove" a state.
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