Mississippi forgot to outlaw slavery...seriously.

[Erttheking]

http://news.yahoo.com/thanks-lincoln-mississippi-finally-definitely-ratified-thirteenth-amendment-024920825.html

The title says it all. Mississippi...FORGOT to ratify the 13th amendment and they just recently did it....there are no words.

 

[Basement Cat]

Well, lessee...

Mississippi was rated as the MOST religious state in the USA recently.

It's also foremost in coming up with contrived excuses to outlaw abortion state wide which is why it leads the nation in teenage pregnancies.

Jackpot juries have resulted in ANY doctor being sued being hit with humongous punitive punishments which led to medical insurance companies all but pulling out of the state. This has lead to a major medical problem in that the state is hurting for M.D.'s more than any other--doctors who live there have often quit practicing medicine because they literally cannot afford to pay the take-it-or-leave-it bloated price of insurance necessary to practice medicine.

So the fact that the state is this far behind one something like the 13th Amendment...well, let's just say that a lot of my fellow Alabamians like Mississippi because it keeps us from being on the VERY bottom of the US in so many categories.

 

[dyre]

Does it even matter if they ratified it or not? I thought the Constitution was the law of the land

 

[BrassButtons]

Does it even matter if they ratified it or not? I thought the Constitution was the law of the land

It's a purely symbolic act at this point.

Seems like it was massive oversight...

Not really. It's not like them ratifying the amendment or not would have made a difference in it becoming official. If every other state had already ratified it that meant Mississippi's ratification of it would be purely symbolic. And while symbolism can be good for PR, it isn't terribly important otherwise. Definitely doesn't count as a "massive oversight".

 

[Dangit2019]

Does it even matter if they ratified it or not? I thought the Constitution was the law of the land

The state still has power, but it can be overruled by the national law. This was obviously just a local oversight, happens everyday.

 

[Dead Seerius]

I actually find it most funny that they decided to go ahead and ratify it now, after all those years of people being completely ignorant and uncaring of the fact that it was never instated to begin with.

Must've been an awkward day in the capital of Miss.
"Uh, hey, so did we, like, ever ratify the 13th Amendment here in Mississippi?"
"Of course. It's in the Constitution."
"Well, uh, some guys claim that we didn't. We did some research, and it doesn't look like it's actually a state ratification. See?"
"..."
"...Sir?"
"Yeah, let's get on that."

 

[soren7550]

If it were any state above the Mason-Dixie Line, I'd say that it was a weird oversight. But since it happened below the Line - in Mississippi no less - one has to wonder if this was initially intentional.

 

[Ryotknife]

the state is basically one giant swamp (filled with effing fire ants it would seem), what do you want from them?

 

[Eclectic Dreck]

http://news.yahoo.com/thanks-lincoln-mississippi-finally-definitely-ratified-thirteenth-amendment-024920825.html

The title says it all. Mississippi...FORGOT to ratify the 13th amendment and they just recently did it....there are no words.

Actually it wasn't necessary for them to ratify as sufficient states threw in their support. There are plenty of amendments that didn't achieve universal ratification but universal was never a requirement - simply an overwhelming majority.

To put it another way, when the vote mattered, Mississippi didn't ratify, a move that is not the least bit surprising. They did just finish having a war based in large part on fear of that very amendment. They were still bound by the amendment regardless of if they agreed or not.

 

[piinyouri]

*I turn to my boyfriend*
"Your state's full of shit!"
*He points to Arizona, my homestate*
"Ah fuck."

 

[Twilight_guy]

Yeah, it's Mississippi, not surprised. There are some people in southern states who have yet to realize that the south lost. No, I'm serious.

 

[Dimitriov]

Yeah, sure. They "forgot."

It's Mississippi y'all

 

[Zombie Sodomy]

Um, amendments aren't by state. As long as 3/4ths of the states ratify an amendment all the states have to treat it as law. Seeing as the 13th amendment already passed, they shouldn't be able to ratify anything. There's nothing to ratify anymore. That's like me saying that I'm just now voting for Obama.

edit: Also, it's not like this is some mandatory thing that they had to do and just put off, None of the states had to ratify anything. However, what it looks like happened is that they did ratify the 13th amendment and just never told the federal government about it. This seems almost more ridiculous.

 

[Realitycrash]

Does it matter? As far as I know, it's outlawed at federal level, so the fact that they haven't doesn't really matter.

 

[etnavningenhar]

I wouldn't put too much into this, there are many "hidden", strange laws out there, that makes no sense.

In my hometown for example, i remember reading an article about a law that states you will be fined if you cover your face after nightfall. For example, wearing a hoodie after dark would make the police stop you and fine you, should they feel like doing so. I do not know if they ended up abolishing this or not, but I would guess it has been practiced just as much as slavery has been practiced in Mississippi in the last decades.

 

[Nieroshai]

Does it even matter if they ratified it or not? I thought the Constitution was the law of the land

The state still has power, but it can be overruled by the national law. This was obviously just a local oversight, happens everyday.

Any power not guaranteed the federal government by the Constitution is guaranteed to the states. Amendments to the Constitution are included, of course. Therefore, the states have no say in slavery whatsoever, and have not since ratification. The state's doing so now is pointless and being done just so they can say "we're not racist anymore, see?"

So to your statement, federal law does NOT supersede state law... except for where the Constitution says so. That's why medical marijuana laws stand in the face of a federal ban: to put it bluntly (ha!), the feds can't do shit.

 

[Nieroshai]

I wouldn't put too much into this, there are many "hidden", strange laws out there, that makes no sense.

In my hometown for example, i remember reading an article about a law that states you will be fined if you cover your face after nightfall. For example, wearing a hoodie after dark would make the police stop you and fine you, should they feel like doing so. I do not know if they ended up abolishing this or not, but I would guess it has been practiced just as much as slavery has been practiced in Mississippi in the last decades.

That's not as weird as the fact that I'm not allowed to put a donkey in my bathtub. You have to keep your face visible so people know you're on the level? Well here in Arizona, I have to wash my ass outside! The nerve...