Document Type
Article
Publication Title
Northeastern University Law Review
Abstract
The Supreme Court unanimously stripped 47 of the 50 states of their authority to regulate key commerce. In Hughes v. Talen Energy Marketing, the Court withdrew from state authority the power over law applicable to, and now controlling, what is identified as the second most important invention in history.
The transcendent constitutional question is whether this unanimous Supreme Court decision expands constitutional “field preemption” to permanently withhold from 47 states this power, or only employs “conflict preemption” to preempt this one single challenged state regulation. This article examines and esolves that the Court chose “field preemption” to permanently crimp and disable state authority in 47 of the 50 states over critical U.S. technology.
This article examines in detail how the Court arrived at its unanimous decision, focusing on how key issues were briefed and presented by both sides and amici. This article analyzes two critical concurring Supreme Court opinions “bracketing” and further defining implied constitutional field preemption.
First Page
143
Last Page
203
Publication Date
Spring 2018
Recommended Citation
Steven Ferrey, The Supreme Court's Constitutional "Bright Line": Preempting Authority of 47 of 50 States, 10 Northeastern U. L. Rev. 143 (2018).
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