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A JOINT RESOLUTION relating to unconstitutional acts that would undermine the 1
rights of Kentucky citizens and the sovereignty of the Commonwealth of Kentucky. 2
WHEREAS, the Commonwealth of Kentucky affirms its sovereign right to nullify 3
unconstitutional acts of the federal government, including but not limited to rulemaking, 4
monitoring, and enforcement by federal agencies or unelected boards, executive orders of 5
the President of the United States, orders or decisions of the federal courts, or the making 6
or enforcing of treaties; and 7
WHEREAS, the Kentucky Constitution establishes a "Bill of Rights"; and 8
WHEREAS, Section 1 of the Kentucky Constitution declares in pertinent part that 9
"All men are, by nature, free and equal, and have certain inherent and inalienable rights"; 10
and 11
WHEREAS, Section 2 of the Kentucky Constitution further provides that "Absolute 12
and arbitrary power over the lives, liberty and property of freemen exists nowhere in a 13
republic, not even in the largest majority"; and 14
WHEREAS, Section 4 of the Kentucky Constitution declares that "All power is 15
inherent in the people, and all free governments are founded on their authority and 16
instituted for their peace, safety, happiness and the protection of property. For the 17
advancement of these ends, they have at all times an inalienable and indefeasible right to 18
alter, reform or abolish their government in such manner as they may deem proper"; and 19
WHEREAS, when "We the People" ordained and established the Constitution of 20
the United States of America, the people and states granted only specific, limited powers 21
to the federal government, enumerated in Article I, Section 8 of the United States 22
Constitution; and 23
WHEREAS, Articles I, II, and III of the United States Constitution exclusively vest 24
legislative, executive, and judicial powers to the corresponding branches of government; 25
and 26
WHEREAS, the founding fathers did not want undue power to be combined in any 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 24 RS BR 172
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branch of government where, if left unchecked, it could become tyrannical; and 1
WHEREAS, the United States Constitution does not permit Congress to delegate or 2
confer any lawmaking power to any other branch of government; and 3
WHEREAS, no other person, agency, or department of any other branch of the 4
federal government has any lawmaking power under the United States Constitution; and 5
WHEREAS, Article I, Section 7 of the United States Constitution establishes the 6
only process by which a bill becomes a law; and 7
WHEREAS, this process requires passage by both houses of Congress followed by 8
either presidential approval or congressional override of presidential veto; and 9
WHEREAS, any action by the executive or judicial branches that purports to enact 10
law or that is treated as such is a usurpation of power; and 11
WHEREAS, federal court opinions and executive orders are often erroneously 12
interpreted as law or to have amended the United States Constitution; and 13
WHEREAS, the principle of separation of powers is so innately representative of a 14
republican form of government that it is upheld and reinforced in these United States, 15
respectively, and in Kentucky, specifically, through the establishment of three branches 16
of state government; and 17
WHEREAS, when creating a federal government through ratification of the United 18
States Constitution, the people and the states also designed a vertical separation of 19
powers between the sovereign states, which are superior, and the federal government, 20
which is inferior; and 21
WHEREAS, a vertical separation of powers is explicitly articulated in Article I, 22
Section 8 of the United States Constitution, granting to the federal government only 23
limited, enumerated, lawmaking powers; and 24
WHEREAS, this vertical separation of powers is also incorporated into the Bill of 25
Rights; and 26
WHEREAS, the First Amendment to the United States Constitution specifically 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 24 RS BR 172
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denies Congress lawmaking power within certain listed fields; and 1
WHEREAS, the Ninth Amendment to the United States Constitution specifically 2
prohibits the federal government from interfering with rights not expressly enumerated in 3
the Constitution; and 4
WHEREAS, the Tenth Amendment to the United States Constitution denies the 5
federal government powers not delegated to it in the Constitution; and 6
WHEREAS, under the United States Constitution, Congress writes the laws, not 7
unelected and unaccountable bureaucrats who do not have the constitutional authority to 8
enact regulations without representation; and 9
WHEREAS, this principle has become increasingly disregarded in recent decades, 10
as if the federal government were supreme in all areas and unlimited in its jurisdiction; 11
and 12
WHEREAS, this shift nevertheless finds no support in the United States 13
Constitution, the laws of the United States, or the Constitution of Kentucky, and is 14
therefore an illegal usurpation of power and of the inalienable rights of the people; and 15
WHEREAS, any federal action that violates the separation of powers is void as the 16
United States Constitution is the supreme law of the land; and 17
WHEREAS, in a landmark case, Marbury v. Madison, the United States Supreme 18
Court declared that "a law repugnant to the Constitution is void"; and 19
WHEREAS, an act of Congress repugnant to the United States Constitution is not 20
law; and 21
WHEREAS, in the 1879 decision, Ex parte Siebold, the Supreme Court ruled that 22
"An unconstitutional law is void, and is as no law. An offence created by it is not a crime. 23
A conviction under it is not merely erroneous, but is illegal and void, and cannot be a 24
legal cause of imprisonment"; and 25
WHEREAS, in Norton v. Shelby County, the Supreme Court stated that "An 26
unconstitutional act is not a law; it confers no rights; it imposes no duties; it affords no 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 24 RS BR 172
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protection; it creates no office; it is, in legal contemplation, as inoperative as though it 1
had never been passed"; and 2
WHEREAS, in Miranda v. Arizona, the Supreme Court further opined that "Where 3
rights secured by the Constitution are involved, there can be no rulemaking or legislation 4
which would abrogate them"; and 5
WHEREAS, as Thomas Jefferson and James Madison explained in their original 6
drafts of the Kentucky Resolutions of 1798, "whensoever the General government 7
assumes undelegated powers, its acts are unauthoritative, void, and of no force"; and 8
WHEREAS, Thomas Jefferson further added, "but where powers are assumed 9
which have not been delegated a nullification of the act is a rightful remedy: that every 10
state has a natural right, in cases not within the compact to nullify of their own authority 11
all assumptions of power by others within their limits"; and 12
WHEREAS, the United States Constitution binds federal lawmakers by oath to 13
support the Constitution, and when they fail to do so, the rightful remedy available to the 14
various states is to nullify federal usurpations and to declare their acts void; and 15
WHEREAS, every constitutional officeholder must know and understand these 16
important constitutional limitations of power and individually determine how best to 17
defend the rights of the people and fulfill his or her oath of office; and 18
WHEREAS, the citizens of the Commonwealth do not consent to any action by the 19
executive or judicial branch that purports to enact law or cede authority or sovereignty to 20
any global organization, including but not limited to the World Health Organization, 21
United Nations, World Economic Forum, International Monetary Fund, World Bank 22
Group, or any other international organization of which the United States is a member; 23
the facilitation and use of global digital passports or a central bank digital currency; or 24
any rule, regulation, fee, tax, or mandate of any kind that any of these global 25
organizations, or similar global organizations may try to implement or enforce on the 26
citizens of this Commonwealth; and 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 24 RS BR 172
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WHEREAS, the United States Constitution assures the people and the states that 1
their respective rights and powers will be respected by the federal government, and the 2
Kentucky Constitution gives the people of the Commonwealth the sovereign power to 3
regulate the affairs of the state; and 4
WHEREAS, these sacred rights shall not be infringed upon by any action of the 5
federal government purporting to wield any undue authority; and 6
WHEREAS, the Kentucky Resolution of 1799 established that when states 7
determine a law is unconstitutional, nullification by a state is the proper remedy; 8
NOW, THEREFORE, 9
Be it resolved by the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Kentucky: 10
Section 1. The General Assembly reaffirms Kentucky's sovereignty. 11
Section 2. The General Assembly further affirms the sovereign right of 12
Kentucky to nullify unconstitutional acts of the federal government. 13
Section 3. The Attorney General is directed to challenge all unconstitutional 14
acts of the federal government or members of agencies or unelected boards, which usurp 15
or diminish the sovereignty of the Commonwealth of Kentucky, and to file or join amicus 16
briefs from other state officials in support of protecting state sovereignty. 17
Section 4. State nullification of federal action may be accomplished by the 18
enactment of a bill of nullification by the General Assembly. 19