State Law versus Federal Law - Which rules? THE
SUPREMACY CLAUSE Article. VI. 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, any thing in the Constitution
or Laws of any State to the Contrary notwithstanding.
'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 of any state. (Note that the word "shall"
is used, which makes it a necessity, a compulsion.) However, 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 "supremacy
clause" is the most important guarantor of national union.
It assures that the Constitution and federal laws and treaties take
precedence over state law and binds all judges to adhere to that
principle in their courts. - United States Senate.
Any federal law does trump any conflicting
state law
Issues like credit reporting and debt collector abuse are researched
by millions of consumers each and every day. Commonly, there is
confusion as to whether the law to consider is a state or federal
law and which one will finally rule. The Supremacy Clause
in the Constitution explains that federal law always trumps state
law which means federal always wins if there is a conflict between
the two. If there is no conflict then the state law will be used
but if there is any question or conflict of the two reading as the
same, then the federal rule would win.
A common purpose of this would be if the federal
Fair Credit Reporting Act offers more protection than a state fair
credit act. The law with the most protection will rule.