— Randy Barnett, in Restoring the Lost Constitution: The Presumption of Liberty
Addendum: Brad Delong replied to this quotation post with “No, State Governments Have Not Been the Sacred Hearths of Human Liberty in America. Why Do You Ask?” making the excellent point that states rights in the US have historically been used for ignoble ends and should not be accorded the same respect as individual rights. Asserting the supremacy of the federal government over state governments can easily enhance, rather than diminish, individual rights. The reason I posted this quotation is because I lament the decisions gutting the “Privileges and Immunities Clause” and the Ninth Amendment–both of which are about individual rights, not states’ rights.