[James M. Banner Jr., a historian in Washington, is a founder of the National History Center.]

There's a move afoot to give the states the authority to repeal measures enacted by Congress and signed by the president. It's a bad idea. It's also dishonorable.

The measure, led by Republican Rep. Rob Bishop of Utah and taking the form of a proposed amendment to the Constitution, would allow the dis-enactment of "any provision of law or regulation" upon the vote of two-thirds of the state legislatures....

In 1832, South Carolina tried nullification, attempting unilaterally to refuse to abide by a federal law within its borders. It sought to undo a tariff enacted by Congress to protect American manufacturing, a policy that was good for the industrialized North but not beneficial to the agrarian South. It was only by virtue of the granite nationalism of President Andrew Jackson, himself a champion of the states, and Congress, which obliged him with appropriations for military action coupled with a reduction in tariff rates, that the Palmetto State was persuaded to back down.

Nullification was a mild and limited protest compared with the secession of 11 Southern states, an attempt to undo the electorate's decision to make Abraham Lincoln president. In the name of states' and minority rights (the very rights cited by Bishop and his followers), and in defense of slavery, the South dis-enacted a decision of the nation's majority. We know the consequences in lives lost and enduring bitterness.

There's no reason to think that Bishop is trying to constitutionalize nullification (or, as it was earlier known, interposition). He has other aims in mind, and he may never have considered his amendment's relationship to the past. But what he's seeking carries with it a heavy burden of historical failure and contempt. It also suggests that he's not confident of the ability of his party or his policies to gain legislative majorities in their favor by congressional action....