While the local government oversees the DC Metropolitan Police Department, the DC National Guard reports to the president. This hierarchical structure differs from that of any other National Guard reporting to its state or territory governor. The consequences of this inequality have been particularly evident in the protests against police brutality in the wake of the killing of George Floyd: in June 2020, President Trump deployed DC National Guard troops to quell a peaceful Black Lives Matter rally, a move considered a “hostile invasion” by many DC residents. Months later, amid law enforcement`s belated response to the January 6, 2021 Capitol riot, help likely would have come sooner if the D.C. mayor had authority over the DC National Guard. Thus, according to Esconaba, even when Congress exercises its legitimate powers, it is obliged to respect the constitutionally mandated sovereign equality of all states. Congress cannot use its powers in a way that gives some states more sovereign authority than others. “The entire federal system is based on the fundamental principle of the equality of the states before the Constitution. The idea that one state is excluded [from Congress] while others are granted the privilege of amending its organic laws to accommodate the wishes of its inhabitants is so repugnant to the theory of its equality under the Constitution that it cannot be supported. Bolln v. Nebraska (1900). Supporters have long pushed to remedy this democratic deficit. After years of frustration, the movement has recently reached an important milestone.
In 2020 and again in 2021, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 51, the Washington, DC Admission Act. If passed by the Senate and signed by the president, it would give voters in the nation`s capital the opportunity to participate fully in our democracy by allowing the Washington, Douglass Commonwealth to be the 51st state. The admission of the Douglass Commonwealth as the 51st state by ordinary legislation is not only permissible, but also consistent with how the other 37 non-original states were admitted from Vermont in 1791 to Hawaii in 1959. The claim that Washington, D.C.`s admissions law is somehow different, ongoing or politically impactful, is not true. Congress has no obligation to admit states, even in areas whose populations express a desire for a state. In one case, Mormon pioneers in Salt Lake City attempted to establish the state of Deseret in 1849. It existed for just over two years and was never approved by Congress. In 1905, the chiefs of the five civilized tribes (Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek and Seminole) of Indian Territory proposed creating the State of Sequoyah to maintain control of their lands. [18] The draft constitution ultimately failed in Congress. Instead, Indian Territory was incorporated into the new state of Oklahoma in 1907.
Territories existed only for a short time before becoming states, while others remained territories for decades. The shortest lifespan was the Alabama Territory with 2 years, while the New Mexico and Hawaii Territories both existed for over 50 years. The accession of several States to the Union has been delayed by complicating factors. Among them, the Michigan Territory, which applied to Congress for statehood in 1835, was not admitted to the Union until 1837 due to a border dispute with the neighboring state of Ohio. The independent Republic of Texas requested annexation to the United States in 1837, but fears of a possible conflict with Mexico delayed Texas` admission by nine years. [19] Statehood for Kansas Territory was also delayed for several years (1854–1861) due to a series of violent internal conflicts with anti-slavery and pro-slavery factions. If it were allowed DC, it would have the highest proportion of black residents of any state. For decades, beginning in the 1960s, the city had a predominantly black population, which still made up nearly half of its residents. The new states were generally admitted after a period of territorial government, during which Congress and the President have broad powers under the property clause, including in Article IV, Section 3. An act of Congress established a territorial government and often provided greater self-government (for example, in the form of an elected territorial legislature) as the territory`s population grew over time.
However, some states, such as California and Texas, were admitted without ever being territories. The slogan “End taxation without representation” on DC license plates highlights one of the major damages caused by the lack of proxy voting in Congress. DC residents pay more federal taxes per person than any other state — and more than 22 states combined. Similarly, lower courts have consistently concluded that the doctrine does not require states to be equal in any manner other than in the fundamental attributes of sovereignty. The doctrine does not involve questions of economic power or effective political power. This has nothing to do with the doctrine that most land in states like Nevada is federally owned, but there is very little federal land ownership in states like New York. Nor does it have anything to do with the doctrine that, because of the supremacy clause and the power of Congress to legislate for states under the property clause, the federal government actually has far more regulatory powers in a state like Nevada than in a state like New York. The doctrine of equality applied only to matters within the jurisdiction of States, and not to economic, geographical or environmental conditions, which, however, might give some States more resources than others. For example, the fact that the federal government owns more than 80 percent of Nevada`s land does not mean that Nevada has not been accepted on an equal footing with other states such as New York, where the federal government owns less than one percent of the land.