Even when he was a young child TJ Martinell had a natural yearning for freedom and independence. Those desires were further cemented by reading voluptuously about America’s early history and the War of Independence.
Perhaps these desires were hereditary; his first known ancestor in America was Thomas Joy, who arrived in the Massachusetts Bay Colony in the 1630s. Joy’s “stand for liberality and progress” got him put in the stocks for five days at the order of Governor John Winthrop.
As Martinell’s interest in writing grew his passion for liberty intensified. Individualism and freedom became major themes in his fiction.
Eventually he realized the two were intertwined. It was then he became to look for ways to use his writing to promote human freedom.
In 2014 he started writing for the Tenth Amendment Center, the world’s foremost think tank promoting the doctrine of nullification articulated by James Madison and Thomas Jefferson.
Since then Martinell has written dozens of articles on modern political matters ranging from gun rights and jury nullification to the War on Drugs and state marriage licenses. He’s also analyzed research papers reexamining historical Supreme Court cases and the Second Amendment.
Recently Martinell also helped write the script for Nullify!, TAC’s 25-episode video series explaining the modern need and use of nullification. The first season can be purchased or viewed on Youtube.
Tenth Amendment Center Work
Constitutional Issues
- Constitutionally, Slavery was not a “National Institution”
- What About the States?
- Jury Nullification: A Final Rampart Against Tyranny
- Refuting Objections: But Nullification Isn’t In The Constitution!
- But Doesn’t Federal Law Supersede State Law?
Modern Political Issues
- Massive US Prison population a Result of Unconstitutional Laws
- How the Local Police State is Caused by the Federal Government
- SCOTUS Opinion: Time for States to Get Out of Licensing Marriage
- Marriage Outside of Government Control Is Not “Utopian”
- If George Washington Were Alive Today, He’d Be a Federal Criminal
- “Extreme Nationalism” is the Natural Product of a Powerful Centralized Government
Research Paper Analysis
- When Nullifiers Were Abolitionists: Vermont vs the Fugitive Slave Act
- Is the Bill of Rights Just “Legal Fiction”?
- Originalism All the Way Down?
- The Myth of Marbury v Madison
- Can States Keep Secrets from the Federal Government?
- Uncooperative Federalism: State Resistance and Noncompliance is Essential
- Edward Snowden and the Treason Clause of the Constitution
- State Regulation and the Necessary and Proper Clause
- Misreading McCulloch v. Maryland
Second Amendment
- 2nd Amendment: Original Meaning and Purpose
- Not Given, Not Granted: Your Right to Keep and Bear Arms
- Self-Defense: A Right Worth Fighting For
- The Right to Keep and Bear Arms Is A Natural Right, Not One Granted by Government
- How States Can Protect the 2nd Amendment from Federal Abuse
- The Right to Own a Gun Is the Right to Own Yourself
- The Fairytale of the Criminal Who Didn’t Pass a Gun Background Check and Ceased Being a Criminal As a Result
- Gun Safety is a Code Phrase for Gun Control
- All Federal Background Checks Violate Your Right to Keep and Bear Arms
- Rebuttal: Can states exempt themselves from federal gun laws?
- Anti-commandeering to Protect the 2nd Amendment
- The Battle of Athens: An Important Lesson on the Right to Keep and Bear Arms
- The 2nd is not in Force: An Overview of Federal Gun Control Already on the Books
Research Paper Analysis
- How the British Gun Control Program Precipitated the American Revolution
- The 2nd Amendment: Individual, not Collective Rights
- What Did “Bear Arms” Mean in the Second Amendment?
- The Great Gun Control War of the 20th Century
- The Great Gun Control War of the 20th Century Part II
- The Great Gun Control War of the 20th Century, Part III