The Supremacy Clause and Law Enforcement
Occasionally we get asked the question, “Can the federal government force a state government to enforce state laws?” It’s an interesting question, so we thought it would make a good blog post.
In general, the state governments and the federal government each have the constitutional authority to write and enforce their own criminal laws. This is part of America’s federalist system where the drafters of the Constitution gave the federal government specific enumerated powers but made federal law supreme over state law (often referred to as the Supremacy Clause) when the federal law is in conflict with a state law.
The Necessary and Proper Clause of the Constitution also gives Congress the power to write laws that are “necessary and proper” for undertaking the various federal government responsibilities. In contrast, under the Tenth Amendment, states have broad powers to write laws about anything “not delegated to the United States, nor prohibited by it to the states.” For example, with the exception of the shared responsibility of the National Guard, creating and maintaining a military is an exclusive federal power (like printing money, immigration, or writing treaties with other countries), so any state law that attempted to create a state air force or navy would be unconstitutional.
In general, the federal government is not responsible for making state governments follow their own laws. There are exceptions, including civil rights violations or violations of U.S. Constitutional Rights. 18 U.S.C. § 242, for example, makes it a federal crime for state or local officials to violate someone’s civil rights. Information about this law can be found at the FBI’s website. It is one of the statutes used to prosecute police brutality crimes in federal court. 42 U.S.C. § 1983 is the civil equivalent used to sue governments for monetary damages for civil rights abuses. The Washington State Law Library has a sizeable collection regarding federal civil rights litigation. Federal criminal laws are in Title 18 of the U.S. Code. Washington criminal laws are mostly in Title 9 and Title 9A of the RCW.
In 2020 the Congressional Research Service outlined ways in which Congress might assist states, within the constitutional confines of federalism, to reform police practices. They note that the Spending Clause is another area where the federal government can have influence over state law enforcement:
Congress may spend for the general welfare and thereby encourage states to take or refrain from various activities. In doing so, however, the encouraged state action must relate to the purpose for which federal funds are spent. Moreover, state action may be encouraged, not commandeered or compelled.
This “fiscal federalism” happens when the Department of Justice or another agency makes monetary grants to state or local governments to do specific things, like extra narcotics enforcement. When state or local governments take federal money, the money comes with federal regulations and oversight.
The library can help you find Washington and federal criminal laws about various issues. Please contact us at library.requests@courts.wa.gov or 360–357–2136. Find books on this blog topic in our catalog or in our LexisNexis Digital Library eBook Collection. (RM)
