What States Rights Really Mean by Thomas E. Woods, Jr.

Professor Thomas E. Woods, Jr. reviews "Reclaiming the American Revolution: The Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions and Their Legacy" (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2004), by William J. Watkins, Jr.

"Nowhere had the states delegated any authority to the federal government to pass legislation pertaining to the freedom of speech or press. In doing so, then, the federal government had encroached on a state prerogative...

"As far as Jefferson could see, the only way in which a state could both remain in the Union and retain its liberties in the face of an unconstitutional act on the part of the federal government was for the state to declare that by virtue of its being unconstitutional, the federal action was null and void and would not be enforced within the borders of that state...

"You may have noticed that these ideas are rather out of fashion today on both left and right. Watkins, however, identifies these ideas as absolutely fundamental to American liberty and as legitimate means, faithful to the spirit of the Constitution, of preventing the expansion of the federal government..."

What States Rights Really Mean by Thomas E. Woods, Jr.