In America, we prize our independence—but the future of American independence is currently endangered by the growth of bureaucracy and by the Supreme Court’s tendency to legislate from the bench. Today on Home School Heartbeat, Michael Farris talks about a third and final threat to the principle of self-government.
Michael Farris:
The Achilles heel of our constitutional system is the phrase in the Supremacy Clause which allows treaties to become the supreme law of the land.
The principle of self-government always involves the direct consent of the people, usually through voting. We live by the laws that our elected representatives enact for us.
But no American ever votes for a member of the UN Security Council or a justice on the World Court.
Treaties are increasingly dealing with domestic issues like women’s rights, education, and child abuse. If there’s a conflict between an American law and a treaty to which the United States is a party, U.S. courts consider the newest piece of legislation to be controlling.
For example, if Congress passes a law exempting homeschoolers from national testing and then the U.S. signs a treaty requiring that all children be tested, the congressional law will be null and void, and the treaty will control. It will be as if the legislative will of the American people had never spoken.
If we don’t retain our sovereignty, we won’t retain our self-government.
I’m Michael Farris.
