Bill of Rights: 10th Amendment “The powers not delegated to
the
United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the
states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people.”!
United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the
states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people.”!
In the cartoon the man is sitting in front of the Supreme Court,
while blowing smoke that states, “ States Rights.” He is also holding a paper
stating, “Medical Marijuana Ruling.” The Supreme Court ruled on the use of
medical marijuana and whether it should be legal or not. The problem is a
number of states have already legalized the use of medical marijuana, and the court’s
ruling would determine whether or not the state’s law would be over looked by federal
law. Although the Supreme Court’s decision
did uphold the federal law, it did not completely trump the state’s law but it
will led to future prosecution of users in the federal courts and not in the
state courts. Therefore, the cartoons statement “Up in Smoke” is partially true
because the state’s rights when it comes to making thing legal or illegal can just
be overlooked by federal law. So the carton is related to the 10th
amendment because the states have the right to all reserved powers not given directly
to the federal government. This means that the states can make the laws
legalizing marijuana but that does not mean the federal government has to
uphold the states’ laws.
This article is mostly about how the bigger question over congressional
powers reached the Supreme Court. Here Ms. Bond is arguing that the congress cannot
prosecute her with an act that is supposed to be left up to the state based on
the 10th amendment. Now the Supreme Court is ready to rule on the
extent of congressional powers, which is basically the 10th
amendment vs. Article 1 of the constitution. This article relates to the 10th
amendment because the bill of rights states that all powers not enumerated to
the federal government are reserved to the states and the defendant in this
case is arguing that the federal government should not be able to prosecute her
based on the 10th amendment. Now the entire Supreme Court is prepared
to voice and write their opinion for congressional powers and its overstepping
of state powers.