During an appearance on this week’s broadcast of Alabama Public Television’s “Capitol Journal,” Attorney General Steve Marshall explained the fight against the Biden administration over vaccine mandates had dual purposes.
According to Marshall, the question of the mandate itself was not the only issue. He argued the balance of power between the state and federal governments was also at stake.
Marshall told host Don Dailey the pushback was akin to “standing up for the rule of law.”
“That’s absolutely right, and standing up for the rule of law,” he said. “If you look historically, you know, with the states’ role versus the federal role in the public health area, vaccination regimes or the requirements for immunization historically always belong to the states. It’s about why we assert our interests in these cases — to be able to maintain Alabama’s sovereignty and role in what has historically been the role of the states.”
“So, when we talk about this concept of federalism and we look at the Tenth Amendment, which reserved the majority of powers to the states — one of the reasons you fight the specific fights is not only the issue on hand, in this case, the vaccine mandates, but also the broader spectrum of what is the role of the federal government versus the states?” Marshall continued. “Sometimes the federal government has to be reminded the states form the federal government and not the other way around. And so, we’re going to continue to stand up for Alabama’s sovereignty.”
@Jeff_Poor is a graduate of Auburn University and the University of South Alabama, the editor of Breitbart TV, a columnist for Mobile’s Lagniappe Weekly, and host of Mobile’s “The Jeff Poor Show” from 9 a.m.-12 p.m. on FM Talk 106.5.
