"I hold it that a little rebellion now and then is a good thing and as necessary in the political world as storms in the physical."  — Thomas Jefferson, Letter to James Madison, 1787

This column is the fifth in a series of columns which lead from the New Hampshire Supreme Court’s Claremont decisions to a statement of the New Hampshire legislature to that it will not accept those Claremont rulings. That statement is called House Concurrent Resolution (HCR) 14 and it is expected to be voted on when the legislature returns to session in January.

Previous columns dissected the Claremont decisions, showing that they were a gross distortion of our constitution and that our state constitution, constitutional history, case law, and even the English language were ravished by the Supreme Court.

We then discussed the resulting taxation which emanated from those decisions and made the case that a Constitutional Amendment was not the appropriate first remedy to this problem. We don’t need to change the constitution just because the court made an abysmal interpretation of it. We need to tell the court to stop usurping the authority of the legislature to determine the structure of education and the funding for it in the state of New Hampshire.

Which brings us to HCR 14. It originates in the NH House and, being a concurrent resolution, it must also pass the NH Senate. It does NOT warrant the governor’s signature and will not require a general ballot vote. It is a statement from the legislature to the court.

It boldly charges that the decisions of the court violate Part I, Article 37 and Part II, Article 2 of the NH Constitution and that, "accordingly, these aspect of the Claremont I and Claremont II decisions and any and all consequences that flow therefrom do not have the force and effect of law."

It goes on to say, "Whereas in furtherance of this position, the legislature finds that under Part I, Article 29...., the legislature possesses the sole authority to create law and that under (the same Article), the legislature possesses the sole authority to suspend laws."

Moreover, it says, the legislature finds additional constitutional support for its position in eight more constitutional Articles and, like Jefferson listing in the Declaration of Independence the abuses perpetrated by the king, the resolution lists the Articles in the NH Constitution violated by the Supreme Court of New Hampshire.

The resolution then cites the Constitutional Convention history and case law regarding education funding which has been previously discussed in this column. It goes on to affirm the logic of the structure and wording of our constitution. This structure and wording has not been changed in these areas since its original writing and such structure and wording support the position of the resolution. All of that information has been discussed in previous columns in this space.

Will this resolution cause a Constitutional Crisis? Will the court accept or reject it? How will it be enforced? Who will enforce it?

To understand what the ultimate result of the passage of HCR 14 would be, pick up a copy of the InterTown RECORD next week for my answer to those questions.