View Single Post
Old 11-11-2002, 11:27 AM   #3
MaggieL
in the Hour of Scampering
 
Join Date: Jan 2001
Location: Jeffersonville PA (15 mi NW of Philadelphia)
Posts: 4,060
Quote:
Originally posted by Cam
The federal Government in the US has been known to interfere with state law.
Absolutely. But there must be an interest based in one of the enumerated powers to give the Feds standing. In your example, any state that felt strongly enough about the issue could turn down Federal highway money and go their own way.

Why highway money should pass through the Federal government at all is a debatable issue on it's own, of course.
Quote:

Any state laws that people feel are unconstitutional can be brought to the Supreme Court. This may not be the easiest thing to do but it is a possibility that prevents the states from passing unjust laws, which in return brings about decent uniformity throughout the system.
*Any* law, state or federal, can be challenged for constitutionality. This doesn't actually prevent the passage of unjust laws, only enables the nullification of unconstitutional ones. However, there's often a cause of action under equal protection clause when a law is "unjust".
__________________
"Neither can his Mind be thought to be in Tune,whose words do jarre; nor his reason In frame, whose sentence is preposterous..."

MaggieL is offline