How does the Supreme Court delineate between federal and state power?
The Supreme Court is responsible for determining which powers are held by the federal government and which powers are held by the states. This is known as delineating between federal and state power. When a law is enacted by Congress that is found to be in violation of the Constitution, the Supreme Court can rule it unconstitutional. This is an example of the Supreme Court delineating between federal and state power; by ruling a federal law unconstitutional, the Supreme Court is stating that the federal government cannot exercise that particular power. In addition, the Supreme Court can also determine whether a state law should be allowed to stand. This is known as the doctrine of “preemption”. If a state law conflicts with a federal law, the Supreme Court may determine that the federal law is superior and should override the state law. This is an example of the Supreme Court ruling in favor of federal power over state power. The Supreme Court also plays an important role in determining which powers the states hold by deciding if a particular state law is constitutional. If a state law is found to be unconstitutional, then the Supreme Court is ruling that the state does not hold that particular power. To conclude, the Supreme Court plays a critical role in delineating between federal and state power by ruling on which laws should stand and which laws should not. Without the Supreme Court, the balance of power between the federal government and the states would be impossible to maintain.
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