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Paxton Files Amicus Brief Defending States? Constitutionally-Designated?
Authority Over Their National Guard Units?
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AUSTIN ??Attorney General Paxton has joined a Mississippi-led merits-stage amicus brief in the U.S. Supreme Court to prevent the federal government from overregulating and unduly exercising authority over state National Guard units, which are the modern-day versions of what the U.S. Constitution identifies as ?militias.??
The brief was filed after the Cincinnati-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit incorrectly ruled that the Federal Labor Relations Authority has the power to regulate labor practices of state National Guards.?
While our country?s national security is protected and defended by members of the U.S. military, the U.S. Constitution established a system of federalism where largely autonomous ?militias? or state National Guard units operate to safeguard states? ability to deal with emergencies.???
The Sixth Circuit?s decision follows an increasingly radical departure from the inherent checks and balances our Founders envisioned when they established state militias as entities separate from our national military. The Supreme Court should reverse the lower court?s judgment and return to the system outlined in the U.S. Constitution that secures the states? freedom to regulate their own National Guards.??
As the amicus brief states: ?Military matters?including raising an army?are mainly entrusted to the national government, but States retain primary control over the militia. In the last century, this design was eroded. Limits on national power vanished and state powers were hobbled. The decision below exacerbates this trend?threatening liberty, sapping political accountability, and endangering States? citizens.??
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To read the full brief, click here.??
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