Nullification
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2008-07-15T11:29:51Z
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/* Nullification and attempts at nullification in the US */
The process of '''nullification''' may refer to:
*Declaring a law to be unconstitutional and have the chance to be nullified or invalidated
*Declaring a law to be null or void in a jurisdiction, or refusing to enforce a law.
* The [[Nullification (U.S. Constitution)|legal theory]] that a [[U.S. state|U.S. State]] has the right to nullify, or invalidate, any federal law which that state has deemed [[Constitutionality|unconstitutional]].
* [[Jury nullification]], a legal term that refers to a [[jury]]'s right to deliver a verdict in contradiction to written law.
* [[Body nullification]], the practice of removing body parts.
* [[Physical nullification]], a hypothesized process which results when ordinary mass/energy encounters "negative" mass/energy. Not to be confused with [[annihilation]] which involves [[anti-matter]].
== Nullification and attempts at nullification in the US ==
* The [[Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions]] nullified the [[Alien and Sedition Acts]] in Kentucky and Virginia.
* The [[Hartford Convention]], in which [[New England]] [[United States Federalist Party|Federalists]] nullified [[Thomas Jefferson]]'s embargo and even considered secession from the [[United States of America]].
* The [[Nullification Crisis]] in the [[United States of America]], in which [[South Carolina]] passed legislation legalizing its invalidation of objectionable [[Federal Government of the United States|federal]] laws.
*Georgia's nullification of the [[Treaty of Hopewell]], a treaty made by the US government with the Cherokee Nation. Georgia confiscated Cherokee land and improvements, violating the treaty.
* Refusal by Arkansas to enforce the [[US Supreme Court]]'s ''[[Brown v. Board of Education]]'' 1954 school desegregation ruling.
* Perhaps the most notable current example is the nullification of US drug prohibition law by over a dozen states which have legalized [[medical marijuana]].
* [[Arcata, California ]] was the first city to pass an ordinance that bars city employees (including police and librarians) from assisting or cooperating with any federal investigations under the [[PATRIOT Act]] that would violate civil liberties. Other cities and localities have acted similarly.
* In February, 2004, the city and county of [[San Francisco, California]], deemed the [[California]] statutory ban on [[same-sex marriage]] to be in violation of the equal protection clause of the California Constitution. Mayor [[Gavin Newsom]] directed the city-county clerk [[San Francisco 2004 same-sex weddings|to issue marriage licenses]] to [[same-sex couples]].
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