Constitutional Basis
Article VI, Clause 2 of the United States Constitution, known as the Supremacy Clause, establishes the U.S. Constitution, Federal Statutes, and U.S. Treaties as "the supreme law of the land. " The text decrees these to be the highest form of law in the U.S. legal system and mandates that all state judges must follow federal law when a conflict arises between federal law and either the state constitution or state law from any state. The Supremacy Clause only applies if the federal government is acting in pursuit of its constitutionally authorized powers, as noted by the phrase "in pursuance thereof" in the actual text of the Supremacy Clause itself.
The Federalist Papers and Ratification
The Federalist Papers are a series of 85 essays advocating the ratification of the Constitution. Two sections of the essays deal with the Supremacy Clause, in which Alexander Hamilton argues that the Supremacy Clause is simply an assurance that the government's powers can be properly executed. James Madison similarly defends the Supremacy Clause as vital to the functioning of the nation, noting that state legislatures were invested with all powers not specifically defined in the constitution, but also having the federal government subservient to various state constitutions would be an inversion of the principles of government.
The Federalist Papers
The Federalist Papers, which advocate the ratification of the Constitution.
Case Law Helps Define Ratification
In Ware v. Hylton (1796), the Supreme Court relied on the Supremacy Clause for the first time to strike down a state statute. The state of Virginia passed a statute during the Revolutionary War allowing the state to confiscate debt payments to British creditors. The Court found this Virginia statute inconsistent with the Treaty of Paris with Britain, which protected the rights of British creditors. The Court held that the Treaty superseded the Virginia statute and it was the duty of the courts to declare the Virginia statute "null and void. "
In McCulloch v. Maryland (1819), the Supreme Court reviewed a tax levied by the state of Maryland on the federally incorporated Bank of the United States. The Court found that if a state had the power to tax a federally incorporated institution, then the state effectively had the power to destroy the federal institution, thereby thwarting the intent and purpose of Congress. The Court found that this would be inconsistent with the Supremacy Clause, which makes federal law superior to state law.
In Martin v. Hunter's Lessee (1816) and Cohens v. Virginia (1821), the Supreme Court held that the Supremacy Clause and the judicial power granted in Article III give the Supreme Court power to review state court decisions involving issues arising under the Constitution and laws of the United States.
In Ableman v. Booth (1859), the Supreme Court held that state courts cannot issue rulings contradictory to decisions of federal courts, citing the Supremacy Clause, and overturning a decision by the Supreme Court of Wisconsin.
In Pennsylvania v. Nelson (1956) the Supreme Court struck down the Pennsylvania Sedition Act, which made advocating the forceful overthrow of the federal government a crime under Pennsylvania state law. The Supreme Court held that when federal interest in an area of law is sufficiently dominant, federal law must be assumed to preclude enforcement of state laws on the same subject; and a state law is not to be declared a help when state law goes farther than Congress has seen fit to go.
In Cooper v. Aaron (1958), the Supreme Court rejected attempts by the state of Arkansas to nullify the Court's school desegregation decision, Brown v. Board of Education. The state of Arkansas had adopted several statutes designed to nullify the desegregation ruling. The Court relied on the Supremacy Clause to hold that the federal law controlled and could not be nullified by state statutes or officials.
In Edgar v. Mite Corporation (1982), the Supreme Court ruled that a state statute is void to the extent that it actually conflicts with a valid Federal statute.
There has been some debate as to whether or not some of the basic principles of the United States Constitution could be affected by a treaty. In the 1950s, a Constitutional Amendment known as the Bricker Amendment was proposed in response, which would have mandated that all American treaties shall not conflict with the manifest powers granted to the Federal Government.