A little history...
Critics of nullification point to the fact that it has been used to suppress civil liberties. In the 1950s and 1960s, many southern states invoked the principles of states’ rights by resisting federal attempts to provide civil and voting rights to blacks. This sparked the Civil Rights Movement, and despite southern attempts to suppress the political voice of blacks, the right to life, liberty, and property under natural law trumped states’ rights. This followed the model of power the founders intended when drafting the Constitution—first individual liberty under natural law, then local government, then state government, and finally federal government.
Applying the Resolutions Today
The main point of the Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions was that a national government allowed to determine the scope of its own power will almost always decide to enhance its power at the expense of the people. And the founders knew that as government grows, liberty shrinks. States asserting their right to nullify federal laws under their Tenth Amendment power could go a long way in limiting the power of the federal government, which would enhance individual liberty.
A nullification movement has recently taken shape in the U.S. One of the movement’s primary targets is the Health Care Reform Act of 2010. Many state legislatures have passed resolutions refusing to enforce the law within their borders. This is a direct application of the Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions written 212 years ago. Thus, the “principles of ‘98″ meant to keep the power of the federal government in check and guarantee individual freedom are alive and well today.
http://waltercoffey.wordpress.com/2013/04/04/the-founders-on-nullification/