Alaska’s attorney general, Treg Taylor, had a commentary in the April 15 ADN ostensibly dealing with “federal overreach.” The column was troubling in many ways.
In his opening paragraph, Mr. Taylor claimed the 10th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution establishes the sovereignty of the states. I realize much of the U.S. Constitution uses diction and grammar of the 18th century, but it is clear even to me, that the 10th Amendment means exactly the opposite. It states that the states are “not sovereign,” since all the powers given to Congress, plus other governmental powers, are forbidden to the states. Maybe Mr. Taylor also just forgot about the Civil War.
Mr. Taylor, along with Sen. Dan Sullivan, Gov. Mike Dunleavy and most Republican office holders, seem to have a confused understanding of the rights afforded property owners. An analogy may work here: If my well runs dry and I want to drill a well on my neighbor’s property, Mr. Taylor would likely agree that the neighbor/owner has full rights to either grant me the right to drill or not. On the other hand, Mr. Taylor seems to think that if the owner is the federal government, denial of what the state wants to do on the federal government land is “federal overreach.” The same confusion exists regarding the right of an employer to require masks for their employees. Many privately owned businesses have made this requirement as has the federal government. According to Mr. Taylor, the former is permissible, the latter is “federal overreach,” resulting in expensive lawsuits paid for with state money.
It is alleged the Submerged Lands Act “allows Alaska to own and regulate the waters and submerged areas of the state.” Mr. Taylor again plays the “federal overreach” card which causes the state to instigate several more expensive lawsuits. I do reserve the right to be wrong, but Section 1313 of the Submerged Land Act lists exceptions to the submerged land the state owns. The submerged lands owned by the federal government are excepted. Mr. Taylor omitted this little detail.
Many of these lawsuits, allegations and omissions look suspiciously more like “state overreach.”
— Tom Nelson
Anchorage
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