Mike- On "Is a State A Person." In 11th Amendment cases, particularly those employment law cases brought by state employees, the USSC and the Federal circuits say a State, an arm of the state, or a state actor acting under color of state law is not a person for 14th amendment (or 42 USC 1983) purposes. At least in that realm, the U.S. courts have long established the State is not a person. Whether that would transfer to the subject you outlined is unknown.
HL
Henry Lowenstein, PhD
Professor of Management and Law
E. Craig Wall Sr. College of Business Administration
Coastal Carolina University
P.O. Box 261954
Conway, SC 29528-6054 USA
(843) 349-2827 Office
(843) 349-2455 Fax
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www.coastal.edu
-----Original Message-----
From: Academy of Legal Studies in Business (ALSB) Talk [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Michael O'Hara
Sent: Tuesday, November 15, 2011 9:20 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: I hadn't watch C-Span-2 Book TV until a friend called and mentioned UT law/government prof Sanford Levinson was featured.
ALSBTALK:
I'm very accustomed to hearing from my western siblings the need to adjust the Electoral College distribution to reflect square miles in addition to people. So too with residents of big States informing me that population alone ought be the sole allocation device for the Electoral College.
Of course, any mechanisms -can- work. That's not why I write.
Is a State a person? Of what species of person is a State? When forming the USA the currency of the realm was inalienable rights alienated with respect to natural persons purchasing distribution of seats in the House of Representatives, and in turn the Electoral College. What is the currency of the realm for States, for the Senate, and in turn the Electoral College? I dare say it is sovereignty. For example, the Senate but not the House must advice and consent on treaties. Treaties anticipate and envision even greater expenditures with the coin of sovereignty, as partly reflected in the Supremacy Clause's use of "under the authority" language in place of its more constrictive domestic law phraseology "made in Pursuance thereof".
When I have been informed that square miles or have been informed not States ought determine the distribution of the Electoral College I never have been simultaneously provided with an explanation of why a purchase made no longer is valid. Why one who was a true owner is true no more. And when I have prompted those providing me with such information, as of yet I have not received an explanation. Perhaps in this venue a different pattern of discourse will ensue.
And, since we are on the topic of population and the Electoral College, I am curious whether either of two items have graced the pages of a local newspaper or filled the airwaves of local markets. I have seen no evidence of either item in any news stream I track.
As we all know immigration is a hot topic. The political continuum of its discourse is wide. There are those that take great umbrage at the presence of a goodly number of unlawful residents ascribe to federal failings the prime cause of that continuing illegal activity. And yet, when the Census inventories the population it does not tally legal and illegal, it only tallies warm bodies. Hence my two questions.
FIRST, has any one seen or heard any person in any context object to an Electoral College seat awarded to any State that is attributable to illegal immigrants (e.g., a Texan demanding rejection of a proffered seat or a New Yorker demanding return of seat wrongfully diverted)? In 2010 the USA roughly had a population of 300*10^6 (today it is 313*10^6), which apportioning across 435 members of the House yields a 1 person gets 1 vote target of 690,000 population per Representative (and in turn a Electoral College "House" vote). Since illegals are roughly estimated as 11*10^6, that translates into about 16 seats in the House of Representatives and in the Electoral College. Has any one heard or read of any State objecting in any way to either an increase or a decrease in that State's or any other State's number of House seats due to illegal residents? It's not like the illegals are randomly distributed across either square miles or States.
SECOND, and far more inside baseball, many federal grant programs are calibrated by Census data, has any one any where every heard or read of any elected official who BOTH [i] vocally laments the presence of illegal AND [2] uses that elected official's own powers to refrain from seeking federal grants based upon that fraudulent head count?
http://2010.census.gov/2010census/data/apportionment-data.php
When I look at the map on the web page above I can not be help wonder when staunch opponents of illegals will demand a recount so that their State's population is not inflated by illegals if not illegally inflated, and so that only those born in the USA are elected President of the USA.
Michael
Professor Michael J. O'Hara, J.D., Ph.D.
Finance, Banking, & Law Department
College of Business Administration
Mammel Hall 228
University of Nebraska at Omaha
6708 Pine Street
Omaha NE 68182-0048
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(402) 554 - 2823 voice fax (402) 554 - 2680
http://cba.unomaha.edu/faculty/mohara/web/ohara.htm
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