Are our State Legislatures the Achille's Heel for Our Democracy?
In the early 70's I completed an MA in Public Administration. One of the things that struck me most in that program was learning that the federal legislature, our Congress, had discovered that our country had grown too large and complex for our law-makers to cope with. To fix the problem, they created "Administrative Agencies" that would take Congressional legislation, often little more than a "theme" with little or no detail; have those agencies provide the details, and then administer those "laws". Think EPA, HHS, etc. Lobbyists "help" write the legislation, then moves their people into the agencies to "administer" the laws.
But we now learn, thanks to Trayvon Martin, that the State Legislatures in this country are even weaker, more open to corruption, more lazy, and a doorway for outside "agents" to write and enact law. It seems that ALEC, the corporate-funded American Legislative Exchange Council, has for decades created "templates" of legislation and then pushed them on the weak state legislatures. The "Stand Your Ground" law was one of the laws they succeeded in getting enacted in several state legislatures.
ALEC is not organized as a lobbying entity, they pose as a "think tank", or "educational exchange". They are a "membership" organization with very small dues paid by legislative members and huge donations from corporations. Corporate funding swamps the total funding of ALEC. Check out C-Span's coverage of ALEC on today's show (4/17/12).
Our Constitution does not recognize government legislative entities below the state level. Remember, the "Supremes" told us in Bush v. Gore that state legislatures hold all the power is selecting the state's representation in the Electoral College. In case your're wondering, that means your vote can be nullified by the state government. You can be denied the right to vote. Yet, more citizens pay attention to their School Board elections than they do to the election of state legislators.
The "Supremes" have ruled in Citizens United that corporate money is protected as free speech.
We regulate speech, however, under our Constitution. Especially speech used in the endangerment of the public (think: "shouting fire in a crowded theater"). Think also of that money as "dirty money".
If you think, as I do, that "Stand Your Ground" legislation endangers the public; then it would follow that such money would be un-protected. Anybody see a possible "Supreme" challenge here?
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