Document Type
Article
Publication Date
6-7-2025
Abstract
Supporting the Constitution not only requires submission to constitutional authority but implies resistance to powers that are exercised unconstitutionally. Such resistance might take the form of brave individuals living up to their oath of office or courts defending the rule of law and the Constitution. But while the Supreme Court plays a key role in interpreting the Constitution and holding a president in check, it has long been recognized that others besides the court have always been necessary to help monitor America’s constitutional order. The practice of resisting unconstitutional acts of the federal government by sounding the alarm was described by James Madison and Alexander Hamilton in the Federalist Papers, and that practice was often used from the beginning of our republic. State-based resistance to perceived constitutional overreaching by the federal government has immediate relevance today and is urgently needed to challenge all unconstitutional actions of the Trump administration.
Publication Title
Albuquerque Journal
Keywords
American constitutionalism, Federal government overreach, Sounding the alarm resistance, Checks and balances, State legislatures
Recommended Citation
Christian G. Fritz,
Opinion: The Constitution - not Trump - demands our allegiance,
Albuquerque Journal
(2025).
Available at:
https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/law_facultyscholarship/958