Today we filed an amicus brief in the U.S. Supreme Court attacking the notion that once a treaty has been ratified by the U.S. Senate it vests in Congress new powers not enumerated in the U.S. Constitution to implement that treaty. Specifically, we ask the Supreme Court to overrule Missouri v. Holland, 252 U.S. 542 (1920), the infamous case involving the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, which disregarded the limited nature of the federal government, and the text of the Tenth Amendment.
Our brief was filed on behalf of Steve Stockman, who is a Member of the United States Congress representing Texas’ 36th Congressional District. Of particular relevance to the constitutional treaty power at issue in this case, Congressman Stockman serves as a Member of the Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights, and International Organizations of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
Other amici on the case were: Gun Owners Foundation, Gun Owners of America, Citizens United’s American Sovereignty Action Project, U.S. Justice Foundation, The Lincoln Institute, Institute on the Constitution, The Abraham Lincoln Foundation, Downsize DC Foundation, DownsizeDC.org, Policy Analysis Center, Conservative Legal Defense And Education Fund, and Tenth Amendment Center.
This is the second time this case has come to the Supreme Court. On December 10, 2010, we filed an amicus brief on behalf of Gun Owners Foundation, Gun Owners of America, Inc., and Conservative Legal Defense and Education Fund in support of the petitioner in that case: Bond v. United States, 546 U.S. ___, 131 S.Ct. 2355 (2011).
Congressman Steve Stockman’s article about our brief was published by the American Thinker.