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Legality has nothing to do with enforcement. We can say that X Y or Z is illegal according to the laws of the Roman Empire, despite the fact that it hasn’t been

Legality has nothing to do with enforcement. We can say that X Y or Z is illegal according to the laws of the Roman Empire, despite the fact that it hasn’t been able to enforce anything for more than 1000 years. Similarly, weed is illegal in the US — whether it’s unenforced because the feds choose not to do so, or because they can’t, is perhaps an interesting question but has nothing to do with whether it’s legal.

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benatkin 4y ago
When I disagreed with "California cannot override the federal government." I didn't mean to override their law on a theoretical level but their authority on a practical level. Sanctuary cities have shown that the state/local governments partially override the federal government on an overall basis, though not so much directly in individual cases (though they are able to request, not demand, and get their way in a lot of individual cases).
- dragonwriter 4y ago
  > Sanctuary cities have shown that the state/local governments partially override the federal government on an overall basis No, they don’t. Sanctuary cities are not sanctuaries from the federal law the “sanctuary” status references, merely ones where the city has prohibited public resources from being used to provide extra, nonmandatory, help to the feds. “Not actively helping” isn’t “overriding”.
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