Determining whether state or federal law takes precedence in a given situation
was a central debate among the drafters of the U.S. Constitution, and it
continues to be a critical legal issue. Some powers are reserved to the states,
in other areas the Congress can overrule state law, and in some areas neither
the states nor the Congress may freely make law. The Constitution determines
which sovereign, if any, may make laws on a topic.
The Constitution is a general document, drafted over 200 years ago, so there is
a practical problem of resolving disputes over the meaning of the various
sections. Fortunately, the Constitution created the U.S. Supreme Court as a
referee between the Congress and the states. Shortly after its creation, the
Supreme Court reserved to itself the right to determine the meaning of the
Constitution. It is through this power of interpretation that the Court can
declare that a law is unconstitutional--that is, that it violates the
protections that are part of the Constitution.
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