Aug. 14, 2018
HARRISBURG — Rep. Cris Dush (R-Jefferson/Indiana) announced today that the Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s decision to create legislation to rewrite the 2011 Congressional District map outside the bounds of the Pennsylvania and United States Constitutions has drawn the attention and disapproval of state lawmakers from around the country.
In sharp contrast, Dush’s constitutional response of introducing House Resolutions
766,
767,
768 and
769 calling for the impeachment of four Pennsylvania Supreme Court justices, who refused to abide by the congressional redistricting process explicitly written in both the Pennsylvania and federal Constitutions, drew immediate approval from those who understand the severity of allowing the court’s actions to become case law.
Dush was asked by members of the Federalism Task Force of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) to create a draft resolution “Reaffirming the Right of State Legislatures to Determine Legislative Districts” for adoption during its annual conference last week. The resolution serves notice to the Supreme Courts of every state and the United States that state legislatures are reserving to themselves sovereignty under Article IV, Section 4 of the United States Constitution.
“I was humbled to have been asked to produce this resolution by the august group of members who make up the Federalism Task Force and present it before the Constitutional scholars who were present,” said Dush. “To have not only legislators, but scholars from the likes of George Mason University giving unanimous approval to my arguments and the resolution is an experience I will never forget.”
In supporting the Legislatures’ supremacy, when defending their exclusive authority to create law through the impeachment process, Dush also cited Federalist 51, wherein James Madison declared “But, it is not possible to give to each department an equal power of self-defense. In republican government, the legislative authority necessarily predominates.”
Dush’s draft resolution is now available for state legislatures nationwide to introduce and adopt within their respective states.
Representative Cris Dush
66th Legislative District
Pennsylvania House of Representatives