From the archive
The State Sovereignty Question Again Rears Its Head
Tom McDonough argues that Governor JB Pritzker’s recent appeal to “state sovereignty” misreads the Constitution. Revisiting the works of Orestes Brownson, McDonough warns that treating the Constitution as a tool of convenience risks reviving old errors about sovereignty and federal authority.
In an August speech in downtown Chicago’s River Point Park—flanked by Mayor Brandon Johnson, both United States Senators from Illinois, and numerous local officials—Illinois Governor JB Pritzker defiantly accused President Donald Trump of "circumventing our democracy." He also demanded “justice under our constitutional rule of law.” In doing so, Governor Pritzker disclosed a fundamental misunderstanding of that Constitution by referring to the “sacred sovereignty of our state.” Illinois is not a sovereign state, nor is Chicago a sovereign city, as the Governor further asserted. States do have rights, under the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution. Crucially, however, there is only one sovereign, and it is the federal government.
Governor Pritzker warns against constitutional rights being trampled by “a dangerous power grab.” Governor Pritzker has every right to ask the courts to clarify the constitutional issue, but he alarmingly goes on to urge his fellow governors to rally around his cause of state sovereignty. The ghost of Jefferson Davis emerges once again.
It should be clear to Governor Pritzker and all Americans that we fought a civil war to resolve the issue of sovereignty. We should not have to do that again.
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