Haynes views on feds draw skepticism CHEYENNE - A gubernatorial candidates assertions that he could kick agencies out of Wyoming are not based in reality, several legal experts say. Taylor Haynes, a Republican candidate for governor, has made several statements on the campaign trail that he would prevent federal officials from carrying out their duties in Wyoming. During a recent interview with the Wyoming Tribune Eagles editorial board, Haynes said upon being elected he would tell agencies that include the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management that they are no longer welcome in the state. If you live here and are a citizen, you are free to travel about and free to go to work, he said of federal employees who work for those agencies. But you are not free to take any official action, and you will remove any hint of law enforcement from your vehicles or from your person. And if they refuse to do that, Haynes said he would call for the arrest of those federal officials. We will buy them jail food, he said. Im not bluffing. Haynes said his actions are justified under Article 1, Section 8, Clause 17 of U.S. Constitution. He said this provision gives the federal government jurisdiction and sovereignty over just 10 miles within Washington and in other limited areas, including the buildings of military forts, arsenals and dockyards. He also has cited several court cases, including New York v. United States and Printz v. United States. He says they affirm states rights. But legal experts in Wyoming, as well as out of state, say he is misinterpreting the law. This includes Kermit Roosevelt, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania Law School who specializes in constitutional law. It is pretty clear that states cannot block federal agencies, he said. If he is saying that he would use state resources to stop federal officials from carrying out their duties, that would not work. Roosevelt said this is because of the supremacy clause in the Constitution that says federal statutes trump state laws. Two former Wyoming attorneys generals also have weighed in, saying Haynes views are inaccurate. Pat Crank, who served as attorney general from 2002 to 2007, said kicking out the federal agencies would be defying more than 100 years of legal precedent. He said no matter how much Wyoming officials disagree with the federal government, they still have to follow the rule of law by challenging the federal agencies in court or by other legal means. Dont get me wrong, when I was attorney general, I was horribly frustrated with how the federal regulators treated Wyoming, he said. That being said, the solution is not to threaten the arrest of federal employees. Gay Woodhouse, a former attorney general and former Laramie County commissioner, added that Haynes would be turning Wyoming into a police state if he actually did what he proposes. We proudly have 14,000-plus citizens of this great state who work for a variety of federal agencies - from agriculture to roads, F.E. Warren Air Force Base to Social Security, she said in an emailed statement. Arresting Wyoming citizens simply because they work for the federal government and are doing their jobs is not only irresponsible in the extreme, it is unconstitutional (and is) a violation of our rights as Americans. Haynes is running against Gov. Matt Mead and Superintendent of Public Instruction Cindy Hill in the upcoming Aug. 19 GOP primary. All three candidates have been critical of the EPA and other federal regulatory agencies. But Mead and Hill have said they support using lawsuits as the main way to fight the federal government in these cases. Haynes, meanwhile, said during last Tuesdays candidate forum that he doesnt need the courts to assert Wyomings authority on both state and federal lands within its borders. Im your guy to start managing those lands for Wyoming and its people, he said. I dont have to go to court to do it because it has been fought in the court since 1885, and we win. Haynes has been no stranger in recent months to making controversial statements. For instance, last month he drew national attention when he said he would open up Yellowstone National Park for energy development. He has since walked back that comment, saying he was mostly trying to make a point. He also has sought to soften his stance on arresting federal workers by saying he would only arrest lawbreakers. Some of those people with Wyoming hearts will be allowed to come work for us, he said. We are not going to put them in jail; we are going to put them to work. Roosevelt with the University of Pennsylvania said these anti-federal government statements are becoming increasingly common, especially during election seasons. Although he said sometimes these bring up legitimate grievances of federal overreach, Roosevelt added that this type of political rhetoric does little to serve the public. It does mislead people of the relations between the federal government and the states, he said. That is unfortunate because Americans should have a better understanding of the Constitution. Published on: Saturday, Aug 02, 2014 - 11:40:05 pm MDT
Posted on: Mon, 04 Aug 2014 03:31:29 +0000
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