What are some opinions that demonstrate the Constitution is the 'supreme law of the land'?

Answer 1

The Constitution of the United States of America is the Supreme Law of the Land in the United States and all subsequents laws legislated, enforced and tried must conform to the Constitution if they are to have any force of law or weight. Congress just very recently rejected the 700 billion dollar bail out proposal because the proposal itself was riddled with power grabs so clearly unconstitutional they had no choice but to reject the proposal. The rejected proposal sought to expand the powers of the Treasury Department beyond the scope of the Constitution and such legislation would only be struck down by the courts if it were passed and enacted into law. This is only one example of how the Supreme Law known as the Constitution has prevented ambitious politicians from expanding their power at the expense of the people. Another example of illegal legislation found to be unconstitutional is the recent Washington D.C. law that banned private ownership of assembled handguns within the city limits. The Supreme Court struck this 30 year old law down as unconstitutional based on their correct interpretation of the Second Amendment which clearly states that the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed upon. There are many more so called laws legislated and enacted on a Federal, State and local level that are unconstitutional. Many people believe the only way to deal with unconstitutional laws is to wait until they can find a sympathetic Supreme Court to review the law, which is exactly what happened with the Washington D.C. law that banned hand guns. But, this is not the only way for the people to reject bad law.

Jury nullification is a very effective way for the people to make clear what they think of bad laws and unconstitutional legislation. If the "law" that has been written is then being used to imprison a person and you as the people know that legislation does not conform with the Constitution, then it is your duty, as a member of that jury, to ignore the ignorant prosecutor who argues that the jury must convict because the defendant clearly broke the "law", and it is their duty to ignore the stern and dire warnings some uppity judge might give telling a jury that nullification of the law is not an option. It may not be an option for that judge on a personal level, but as a judge in an official manner he is bound to honor the jury's decision. If the "law" is bad then the defendant is not guilty. If and when enough jury's start nullifying "laws" that are unconstitutional, then it is only a matter of time before the legislators stop legislating bad laws. The simple truth is there are no bad laws only bad legislators. If it is law it is not law because a legislative body made it law but because it is law. Problems in society begin when the law is perverted into a a legislative scheme making plunder legal. Once the law has been defined as plunder then respect for the law no longer exists and lawlessness surely follows.

The Constitution of the United States is law because it quite correctly recognizes that all power flows from the people and that the government formed is beholden to the people. It is the people who must jealously guard their inherent political power for it is the nature of all governments and all government officials to expand their power. When the people forget that it is they who hold the original political power this is when the government expands and expands and expands and expands until the people so over burdened by intrusive "laws" and overtaxed, finally remember who holds the inherent political power. We can only hope the people will remember this long before desperate times start calling for desperate measures. How many people look to the President to guide us through these desperate times? How many people have said: "If only the leaders would lead, then the people will surely follow"? When the people stop looking to leaders and start looking towards self government then the leaders will surely follow. Read the Constitution for yourself and before you do, take the time to read the Declaration of Independence first. Read these great documents and the Supreme Law of the Land and learn for yourself the very real freedom you have, and how your government strongly disagrees with that freedom. Learn the law as you are presumed to know it. Use the law as it is meant to be used as truth and know that the truth will set you free.