Nullification 235848 225784252 2008-07-15T11:29:51Z 75.42.211.68 /* 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]]. {{disambig}}