Article IV |
Most people have some familiarity with Articles I, II, and III and the Bill of Rights. Most people also know that there are other articles, but have no idea what these other articles establish.
Of these, Article IV will be the most frequently referenced in debates. Let's
discuss.
4.1.1 Full Faith and Credit shall be given in each State to the public Acts, Records, and judicial Proceedings of every other State. And the Congress may by general Laws prescribe the Manner in which such Acts, Records and Proceedings shall be proved, and the Effect thereof.
This clause requires each state to recognize the jurisdiction of all other states,
while maintaining that each state is still in charge within its own borders.
Contracts signed in one state are equally valid in all states. A criminal in
one state is a criminal in all states, however each state may define what is
or is not criminal.
Example: prostitution is illegal in Colorado, but not in Nevada. If a prostitute
from Colorado moves to Nevada, that makes her no less a criminal in Colorado.
However, if a prostitute from Nevada comes to Colorado-without practicing prostitution-she
can't be found guilty for doing what was not a crime in the state wherein the
act was committed.
It should be noted that I do not support the criminalization of prostitutes.
I merely used that as an example.
4.2.1 The Citizens of each State shall be entitled to all Privileges and Immunities of Citizens in the several States.
This clause appears fairly simple and straight forward, but I believe it has
the power to change this country, if only enough Americans were to realize what
it means. I warn you up front-as I seem to be doing a lot in these chapters-that
I don't have the space here to go into enough detail, but you will find a more
detailed issue analysis later in the book.
By understanding this clause, and the issues surrounding this clause, we can
gain a much better understanding of who we are as Americans.
You'll notice that we're discussing state Citizens, not citizens of the United
States. There's an important difference. But first, let's examine what this
clause does, then we can discuss who it applies to.
In chapter two, we discussed the very important and often overlooked difference
between rights and privileges. With that in mind, it might seem strange to you
that I speak so highly of a clause that entitles citizens to "privileges
and immunities" rather than protecting rights.
Really, there is no conflict at all, when you give it some serious thought.
You must remember that each state is essentially a sovereign nation, bound in
a union or confederacy.
Just as an American traveler to Germany doesn't have all the same rights as
Germans-he is, after all, a foreigner-a traveler from Colorado, staying in Texas
does not have all the same rights as Texans.
If these united States are to exist as a successful confederacy, however, one
should feel free to travel from state to state without too many concerns.
This clause guarantees that, while you, as an outsider, don't necessarily have
all the same rights as Texans, you will be treated the same. The Coloradoan
will, while in Texas, be granted privileges to equalize him with the Texans.
As soon as he returns to his home state, those privileges are no longer relevant,
because he still has all his rights intact.
By now you might be scratching your heads. This is understandable, because we've
been led to believe that we are U.S. Citizens first and state citizens second.
If that were true, we'd have all the same rights no matter which part of the
country we happen to be in.
The early Americans, however, did not consider themselves citizens of the United
States. They were state citizens. The idea of a United States citizen was something
of abstract concept until 1868 and the Fourteenth Amendment.
Citizenship is far more complicated than it should be, and will take far more
time than we have to understand. For now, simply understand that we're State
Citizens first, and U.S. citizens second. However, as we'll learn in our chapter
on the Fourteenth Amendment and in later chapters, they've pulled a fast one
on us.
4.2.2 A Person charged in any State with Treason, Felony, or other Crime, who shall flee from Justice, and be found in another State, shall on demand of the executive Authority of the State from which he fled, be delivered up, to be removed to the State having Jurisdiction of the Crime.
This establishes that if you're guilty of a crime in any state, you can't flee
from justice to another state without risk of extradition. Each state is intended
to be a sovereign nation bound into a union. This protects the union by preventing
states from fighting each other over criminal justice. You could, in theory,
gain asylum in some foreign nations, however.
4.2.3 [No Person held to Service or Labour in one State, under the Laws thereof, escaping into another, shall, in Consequence of any Law or Regulation therein, be discharged from such Service or Labour, but shall be delivered up on Claim of the Party to whom such Service or Labour may be due.]
Yet another clause that brings much shame to America. This clause established
the requirement that slaves escaping into another state were required to be
returned to their owners. For a time, the Underground Railroad tested the validity
of this law, rightly so, until slavery was formally abolished in 1865.
4.3.1 New States may be admitted by the Congress into this Union; but no new State shall be formed or erected within the Jurisdiction of any other State; nor any State be formed by the Junction of two or more States, or parts of States, without the Consent of the Legislatures of the States concerned as well as of the Congress.
We can get new states, but not at the expense of existing states. Pretty straight
forward stuff.
4.3.2 The Congress shall have Power to dispose of and make all needful Rules and Regulations respecting the Territory or other Property belonging to the United States; and nothing in this Constitution shall be so construed as to Prejudice any Claims of the United States, or of any particular State.
The United States, in its early years, wanted very much to expand and grow-particularly
in the west. The previous clause allows new states to be admitted. This clause
establishes that before a territory is inducted as a state, Congress has authority
over that territory.
4.4.1 The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government, and shall protect each of them against Invasion; and on Application of the Legislature, or of the Executive (when the Legislature cannot be convened) against domestic Violence.
Republic! Republicrepublicrepublic! This is a republic, not a democracy. We've
already discussed the difference between a democracy (bad) and a republic (good).
This is the part of the Constitution that proves my argument.
Still, for many years, every president and most other politicians have stood
up at the podium, in front of the entire nation, and declared that we want to
"make the world safe for democracy." When people hear it often enough,
it's no surprise that they come to believe it's true.
For me, I don't want to make the world safe for democracy. I want to eliminate
democracy.
I have come into possession of a pocket edition of the Constitution (actually,
I have many of them), which also includes little trivia tid-bits.
Early in the book, they point out, correctly, that the word "democracy"
does not appear once in the entire Constitution, Declaration of Independence,
or Articles of Confederation. They do not indicate that the word "republic"
does, however (except in the text of the Constitution itself, of course). Later
in the book, they list several quotations about democracy-two of which are about
"freedom" not "democracy."
I have a quote I like to use about democracy:
"Democracy is two wolves and a sheep voting on what to have for dinner.
Liberty is a well armed sheep contesting the vote." --Benjamin Franklin
In that quote, the word "Liberty" is interchangeable with "Republic."
The republic is still a government by the people. And you still get to vote
in the republic. But you cannot vote away the rights of others as you can in
a democracy.
Democracy is the form of government most dangerous to any minority-even a minority
as large as 49% of the people. If we ever wish to restore the republic, we must
first get people to stop thinking of this as a democracy.