Abstract

Madison and "Nullification"

Virginians promoting the state amendment to evade school integration by using public money in private schools are well aware that the Supreme Court is likely to strike the move down as a subterfuge. To salvage their plan in that event, they are resurrecting the 1830 doctrine of "nullification" under the name of "interposition." A set of resolutions modeled on the famous Virginia Resolutions of 1798 against the Alien and Sedition laws is being promoted in the Virginia General Assembly, which opened its session on January 11. Resolutions call on other states to, exercise a supposed right to "interpose" against the Supreme Court's integration decrees. The idea is that the states shall severally ask the U.S. Congress to submit a constitutional amendment legalizing racial integration.