Rice County Republicans

The Importance of Constitutional Law

Bill Paulsen

Critical to individual liberty is the rule of law.  The rule of law ensures that people can live free from the fear of the arbitrary taking of their life or property.  It is the cornerstone of a republican form of government, where people elect their representatives without the fear that those elected will abuse the power entrusted to them.  The rule of law requires that citizens of a nation obey the law but more importantly that the established government obey the law.  In a free society, the law that governments must obey, the law that restricts what laws elected officials can impose, is the constitution of the state.

In Minnesota, elected representatives swear to uphold the Constitution of the State of Minnesota and the Constitution of the United States. The Republican Party of Minnesota has recognized the importance of constitutional law by stating that the purpose of the party is

“the maintenance of government by and for the people according to the Constitution and the laws of the United States and the State of Minnesota, and the implementation of such principles as may from time to time be adopted by party conventions.“

In line with that statement, on Saturday, June 13th, a resolution was presented to the Central Committee of the Republican Party of Minnesota affirming the importance of constitutional law.  The resolution affirmed that elected representatives should understand the state and federal constitutions, be able to give constitutional rationales for their votes and that the Republican Party platform should be analyzed in light of the constitution.

When we advocate a change in policy we should understand if the current policy is constitutional and what is the constitutional basis for our proposed policy.  If there is no constitutional basis for our proposal we should be forthright and propose a constitutional amendment.  Otherwise, there would be no limit to the abuses governments could impose in the name of people who elected the sitting representatives.  Elected representatives must use their own independent judgment when deciding if a proposal is constitutional.  If they are incapable of interpreting the constitution for themselves, an oath they take to uphold it will have little significance.

Some of the most hotly disputed issues in our country involve fundamental constitutional questions. At the state central meeting some delegates seemed to be under the impression that a plank to protect the lives of unborn children was unconstitutional because of Roe v. Wade.  If sitting Supreme Court justices have a right to believe that Roe v. Wade was wrongly decided, then certainly the representatives of Republican voters writing the state party platform would also have the right to believe Roe was wrongly decided but should be able to explain constitutionally why that is so.  If Republicans believe that Roe v. Wade is a correct interpretation of the constitution, then they should admit this and propose a constitutional amendment to let states decide how they will treat the unborn or to protect the unborn nationwide.  To simply ignore the constitution would leave no protection for the unborn, once born, from the overreach of the government.

Interestingly, members of State Central voted down the resolution affirming constitutional supremacy because of concerns over how it would impact the party’s pro-life plank. Rather than amend the resolution to unambiguously state a constitutional amendment is appropriate to advance Republican principles when needed, the committee decided to ignore constitutional law.  This points all the more to the need for us return to constitutional, limited government and reapply the lessons of history learned from when a government has powers unchecked by any authority.

Bill Paulsen is a candidate seeking the endorsement of the Republican Party for Senate District 25. The opinions expressed are his own and do not necessary reflect the opinion of the Rice County Republicans or the Republican Party of Minnesota.