Florida Senate - 2017 SM 1106 By Senator Perry 8-00449-17 20171106__ 1 Senate Memorial 2 A memorial to the Congress of the United States, 3 urging Congress to propose to the states an amendment 4 to the United States Constitution that allows Congress 5 to deem a law that has been declared void by certain 6 federal courts active and operational. 7 8 WHEREAS, the judicial branch of the Federal Government has 9 taken on an increasingly activist role aimed at molding 10 legislation according to the political beliefs of its members, 11 and 12 WHEREAS, such an activist posture tends to excessively 13 consolidate power in one branch of government, and, as George 14 Washington observed, such encroachments eventually create “a 15 real despotism,” and 16 WHEREAS, George Washington also wrote that the appropriate 17 method of effecting constitutional change is through amendment 18 and not by usurpation, as such encroachments would eventually 19 destroy free governments, and 20 WHEREAS, none of the members of the federal judiciary, 21 including the justices of the United States Supreme Court, are 22 elected officials subject to what Thomas Jefferson described as 23 “the elective control,” and 24 WHEREAS, the United States Supreme Court currently 25 possesses ultimate and unchecked authority on matters of the 26 constitutionality of the United States’ laws such that its 27 opinion on such matters has the same effect as amending the 28 United States Constitution, and 29 WHEREAS, Thomas Jefferson foresaw the dangers of “allowing 30 judges to be the ultimate arbiters of all constitutional 31 questions,” calling this “a very dangerous doctrine indeed, and 32 one which would place us under the despotism of an oligarchy,” 33 and 34 WHEREAS, the presence of such unchecked and plenary 35 authority on determining the constitutional validity of a law of 36 the United States must be dismantled for the sake of our 37 republic and for the continued empowerment of its people, and 38 WHEREAS, the United States Congress may submit proposed 39 constitutional amendments for consideration and ratification by 40 the states, NOW, THEREFORE, 41 42 Be It Resolved by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 43 44 That the Florida Legislature respectfully petitions the 45 United States Congress to propose to the states an amendment to 46 the United States Constitution providing that any law, 47 resolution, or other legislative act declared void by the United 48 States Supreme Court or a United States court of appeals may be 49 deemed active and operational, notwithstanding the court’s 50 ruling, if agreed to by Congress pursuant to a joint resolution 51 adopted by a 60 percent vote of each chamber of Congress within 52 5 years after the date the ruling becomes final. Such a joint 53 resolution shall take effect immediately upon passage. 54 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be 55 dispatched to the President of the United States, to the 56 President of the United States Senate, to the Speaker of the 57 United States House of Representatives, and to each member of 58 the Florida delegation to the United States Congress.