supreme court ensures that the states abide by constitutional and federal law.
supreme court ensures that the states abide by constitutional and federal law.
who ensures that the states abide by constitutional and federal law?
supreme court
as noted above, the supreme court indicated in "prigg v. pennsylvania", 41 u.s. 539 (1842), that the states cannot be compelled to use state law enforcement resources to enforce federal law. the supreme court reaffirmed this principle in cases such as "printz v. united states", 521 u.s. 898 (1997) and "new york v. united states", 505 u.s. 144 (1992), which held that the federal government may not enact a regulatory program that "commandeers" the state's legislative and administrative mechanisms to enforce federal law. states therefore may refuse to use their legislative or administrative resources to enforce federal law. this should be distinguished from nullification. states that withhold their enforcement assistance, but do not declare the federal law unconstitutional or forbid its enforcement by the federal government, are not declaring federal law invalid and therefore are not engaging in nullification. as "prigg" held, the federal law still is valid and federal authorities may enforce it within the state. the states in this situation, rather than attempting to legally nullify federal law, are attempting to make enforcement of federal law more difficult by refusing to make available their legislative and administrative resources.
nullification (u.s. constitution)
the supremacy clause of the constitution of the united states (article vi, clause 2), establishes that the constitution, federal laws made pursuant to it, and treaties made under its authority, constitute the "supreme law of the land". it provides that state courts are bound by the supreme law; in case of conflict between federal and state law, the federal law must be applied. even state constitutions are subordinate to federal law. in essence, it is a conflict-of-laws rule specifying that certain federal acts take priority over any state acts that conflict with federal law. in this respect, the supremacy clause follows the lead of article xiii of the articles of confederation, which provided that "every state shall abide by the determination of the united states in congress assembled, on all questions which by this confederation are submitted to them." a constitutional provision announcing the supremacy of federal law, the supremacy clause assumes the underlying priority of federal authority, at least when that authority is expressed in the constitution itself. no matter what the federal government or the states might wish to do, they have to stay within the boundaries of the constitution. this makes the supremacy clause the cornerstone of the whole american political structure.
supremacy clause