Governor Hochul – “Commander General”, Secessionist?by Bob Sundius, S.C.O.P.E. Member
Governor Hochul has unilaterally decided she has ultimate authority, superior to the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS), and by implication its co-equal branches of the Federal Government. As well, she has elevated herself above all the governors of the other 49 sovereign states comprising the federation which is the United States of America.
The “Hochul Pistol Permit Restrictions ‘new Law’ (S.51001/A.41001) is titled: “An act to amend the penal law, the general business law, the executive law, the civil practice law and rules and the state finance law, in relation to licensing and other provisions relating to firearms”. The Governor’s, July 1st, 2022 announcement claims it was: “… — drafted in close collaboration with the Legislature — is devised to align with the Supreme Court's recent decision in NYSRPA v. Bruen.”
“… align with the Supreme Court's recent decision in NYSRPA v. Bruen”? As the “blind man” said: “Let’s see.”
Beyond the legal challenges already filed and the respectful approaches (begrudgingly) taken by other states affected, Hochul’s positioning of the “new Law” is obviously self-serving, inconsistent with and contradicts the “rulings” in the Bruen Opinion, or as Randy Barnett highlights in a recent post:
Legislative acts that were not good-faith exercises of such powers were considered “pretended” legislation, and not truly a law. As John Marshall explained in McCulloch v. Maryland, “should Congress, under the pretext of executing its powers, pass laws for the accomplishment of objects not intrusted to the Government, it would become the painful duty of this tribunal … to say that such an act was not the law of the land.” (https://www.scotusblog.com/2022/06/a-minor-impact-on-gun-laws-but-a-potentially-momentous-shift-in-constitutional-method/)
That this “new Law” passed without due process under another “message of necessity” is a manifestation of Hochul’s June 23rd, 2022 official statement: "In the wake of the Supreme Court's reckless and reprehensible decision on NYSRPA v. Bruen, … We are not powerless, and we will do everything in our power to protect New Yorkers."
THE GOVERNOR’S ACTION IS IN CONTEMPTUOUS DEFIANCE OF SCOTUS’ OPINION, AND A DIRECT REJECTION OF THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT’S STRUCTURE – SCOTUS IS “THE SUPREME COURT” AND ITS DECISION ARE BINDING.
As William Baude discusses ("The Judgment Power," 96 Georgetown Law Journal 1807 (2008).) “… at some point, a judgment does become final, and at that point it has a peculiar characteristic. It is legally binding, …”, and “… in the United States of America, the judicial power is a distinct, separate, independent, and co-ordinate branch of the government; expressly recognised as such … by the federal constitution, from which the courts of the United States derive all their powers. …”
Governor Hochul has with her “new Law” rejected more than the New York residents’ rights enumerated and protected by the Second, Sixth and Fourteenth Amendments (among others) she has audaciously denied the “authority” and “power” of The Supreme Court of the United States and the finality of their “judgement” (i.e., until such time as SCOTUS, itself, modifies or reverses its Opinion, or the Constitution is amended).
Is this a first step by Governor Hochul leading the NYS Legislature, with the “blessings of the swamp”, to advance a “coup d’état”, or secede from the Union?
Consider asking your NYS Assemblyman, Senator and Governor about the above, and then demand that they repeal in its entirety the unlawful and unconstitutional “Hochul Pistol Permit Restrictions ‘new Law’” (S.51001/A.41001).
