On the Side | Brad Hicks
This headline from a couple of weeks ago gave me pause: “Colorado girl sues Jeff Sessions to legalize medical marijuana nationwide.”
Most people certainly want to know why this girl wants pot legalized. It turns out that she suffers from seizures, and a marijuana treatment prevents them. She’s from Texas, where marijuana possession is illegal, so she moved – with her parents – to Colorado, where the 12-year-old can get the treatment.
It’s a human-interest story that pulls at people’s heartstrings. It is every bit the reason that medical marijuana should be legalized nationwide. And before you go all reefer-madness on me, please remember that other drugs are dangerous, too. But they are prescribed to help people. Why in the world would we not want to help people live better lives? Why would we deny a person something that would prevent life-altering seizures?
However, this story is also very revealing regarding where America stands in terms of civics instruction.
U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions cannot legalize marijuana in the United States. He is the head of the federal government’s legal enforcement system. He has no right to approve a law. He has no right to suspend a law. He has no right to erase a law. He is a member of the presidential administration, approved by Congress, given the power to execute described duties within the scope of the law.
It should have been surprising that the story didn’t explain that Sessions lacks the power to rewrite the federal law against marijuana. Unfortunately, that information was missing.
I will hesitate to say that a lot of Americans don’t have the capacity to understand the rule of law. I will not hesitate to say that most don’t care. People lack the understanding that our constitution is what separates us from authoritarian rule. They don’t count the consequences of not operating under the constitution.
Imagine what would happen if the U.S. Attorney General was able to rewrite federal regulations on a whim. You might think it’s OK if it’s someone aligned with your way of thought on a matter, but what happens when it’s not? The rule of law – the constitution and resulting legislation – should prevent wide swings of legal inconsistency that follow a person’s inclinations, rather than a nation’s.
You should be concerned when people are OK with any president who uses executive actions to implement laws that should have been approved by Congress.
You should be concerned when Congress passes laws, then allows people in a federal agency to write all of the rules, some of which are not thoroughly examined. People give Nancy Pelosi grief about “having to pass the bill to see what’s in it,” but that’s what she was describing. Congress didn’t write the rules of Obamacare – bureaucrats operating under the president’s appointees wrote the rules, out of sight of the people you elected to make these tremendous life-changing, economic-altering decisions. I would call that irresponsible leadership.
You should be concerned when Congress becomes OK with not passing controversial, difficult legislation, and instead opts to let decisions be made by the courts or executive branch, where your voice is more difficult to hear. Political dysfunction is not a legitimate excuse to continue getting a paycheck.
You should be concerned when Congress fails to exercise oversight on federal agencies, to ensure they are operating within the scope of the laws that were passed. U.S. Sen. Charles Grassley of Iowa has one of the best records of reviewing whether federal agencies are staying within the law – and often he is very alone in doing so. He is a great champion of the rule of the law.
You should be concerned when trained media – in this instance, FOX News – has reporters who fail to point out, or at least get a quote from a constitution-defending organization, that the attorney general doesn’t have that power.
You should be concerned that no one seems to care, for it’s that attitude that allows tyrants to run amuck of the rule of law.
Contact Brad Hicks at publisher@redoakexpress.com.