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The Collaborative International Dictionary
Interposition

Interposition \In`ter*po*si"tion\ (?; 277), n. [L. interpositio a putting between, insertion, fr. interponere, interpositum: cf. F. interposition. See Interpone, Position.]

  1. The act of interposing, or the state of being interposed; a being, placing, or coming between; mediation.

  2. The thing interposed.

Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
interposition

late 14c., from Old French interposicion (12c.), from Latin interpositionem (nominative interpositio), noun of action from past participle stem of interponere "to put between, place among; put forward," from inter- (see inter-) + ponere "to put, place" (past participle positus; see position (n.)).

Wiktionary
interposition

n. 1 The act of interposing, or the state of being interposed; a being, placing, or coming between; mediation. 2 The thing interposed.

WordNet
interposition
  1. n. the action of interjecting or interposing an action or remark that interrupts [syn: interjection, interpolation, interpellation]

  2. the act of interposing one thing between or among others

Wikipedia
Interposition

Interposition is a claimed right of a U.S. state to oppose actions of the federal government that the state deems unconstitutional. Under the theory of interposition, a state assumes the right to "interpose" itself between the federal government and the people of the state by taking action to prevent the federal government from enforcing laws that the state considers unconstitutional. In Cooper v. Aaron (1958) the Supreme Court of the United States rejected interjection explicitly. It and the lower federal courts have consistently held that the power to declare federal laws unconstitutional lies with the federal judiciary, not with the states. The courts have held that interposition is not a valid constitutional doctrine when invoked to block enforcement of federal law.

Interposition is closely related to the theory of nullification, which holds that the states have the right to nullify federal laws that are deemed unconstitutional and to prevent enforcement of such laws within their borders.

Though interposition and nullification are similar, there are some differences. Nullification is an act of an individual state, while interposition was conceived as an action that would be undertaken by states acting jointly. Nullification is a declaration by a state that a federal law is unconstitutional accompanied by a declaration that the law is void and may not be enforced in the state. Interposition also involves a declaration by a state that a federal law is unconstitutional, but interposition as originally conceived does not result in a declaration by the state that the federal law may not be enforced in the state. Rather, the law would still be enforced. Thus, interposition may be seen as more moderate than nullification.

There are various actions that a state might take to "interpose" itself once it has determined that a federal law is unconstitutional. These actions include communicating with other states about the unconstitutional law, attempting to enlist the support of other states, petitioning Congress to repeal the law, introducing Constitutional amendments in Congress, or calling a constitutional convention.

Interposition and nullification often are discussed together, and many of the same principles apply to both theories. In practice, the terms nullification and interposition often have been used indistinguishably. John C. Calhoun indicated that these terms were interchangeable, stating: "This right of interposition, thus solemnly asserted by the State of Virginia, be it called what it may — State-right, veto, nullification, or by any other name — I conceive to be the fundamental principle of our system." During the fight over desegregation of the schools in the south in the 1950s, a number of southern states tried to preserve their segregated schools by passing so-called "Acts of Interposition" that actually would have had the effect of nullification, if they had been valid. These acts were stricken down by the courts, whether labelled acts of interposition or nullification.

Interposition (disambiguation)

Interposition is an asserted right of a U.S. state to oppose actions of the federal government.

Interposition may also refer to:

  • Interposition trunk, a type of telecommunications channel
  • Interposition (grammar), a usage of a preposition between identical words

Usage examples of "interposition".

But we are still assured by monuments of brass and marble, by the Imperial medals, and by the Antonine column, that neither the prince nor the people entertained any sense of this signal obligation, since they unanimously attribute their deliverance to the providence of Jupiter, and to the interposition of Mercury.

When Barnett made his interposition speech on September 13, 104AN AMERICAN INSURRECTION Bobby Kennedy and his Department of Justice team assumed that Mississippi state officials and police forces could try to block Meredith and the marshals, possibly triggering widespread public disorder, which would require a much larger military force.

That they did so is to be found in the debates both of the General and the State Conventions, where State interposition was often declared to be the bulwark against usurpation.

Providential interpositions, read in these words an indisputable sign of salvation.

Besides the occasional prodigies, which might sometimes be effected by the immediate interposition of the Deity when he suspended the laws of Nature for the service of religion, the Christian church, from the time of the apostles and their first disciples, ^73 has claimed an uninterrupted succession of miraculous powers, the gift of tongues, of vision, and of prophecy, the power of expelling daemons, of healing the sick, and of raising the dead.

It has been suggested that the major ice ages on our planet, which recur every hundred million years or so, may be due to the interposition of interstellar matter between the Sun and the Earth.

I have a dream That one day-down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification, one day right there in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.

He was against an immediate complaint to government, and thought the proprietaries should first be personally appli'd to, who might possibly be induc'd by the interposition and persuasion of some private friends, to accommodate matters amicably.