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Federal Preemption Should Be Easily Decided

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David Gorhan
MBA 610 Business Law
Final Paper: Federal Preemption
January 25, 2015

Cases about federal preemption should be easily decided. The basis of the concept is written clearly in the Supremacy Clause of the United States Constitution. Article VI, Paragraph 2 states:
This Constitution, and the laws of the United States which shall be made in pursuance thereof; and all treaties made, or which shall be made, under the authority of the United States, shall be the supreme law of the land; and the judges in every state shall be bound thereby, anything in the Constitution or laws of any State to the contrary notwithstanding. (Cornell University Law School, n.d.)
Essentially, the Supremacy Clause states that the laws promulgated by the U.S. government take priority over any laws that the individual states have enacted. The forefathers of the United States understood that while some issues should be under the states’ discretion, others have more of a national concern. Based on the Supremacy Clause, states are prohibited from passing laws that are inconsistent with federal law. In turn state constitutions have also inserted Supremacy Clauses in their own constitutions that prohibit the municipalities from enacting laws that are inconsistent with state laws. However obvious and simple this concept sounds, the Supreme Court of the U.S. (SCOTUS) has seen over twelve cases in the last five years concerning federal preemption and the balance between state and federal power and

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