Crosby v. National Foreign Trade Council

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Crosby v. National Foreign Trade Council
Seal of the United States Supreme Court.svg
Argued March 22, 2000
Decided June 19, 2000
Full case nameStephen P. Crosby, Secretary of Administration and Finance of Massachusetts, et al. v. National Foreign Trade Council
Citations530 U.S. 363 ( more )
120 S. Ct. 2288; 147 L. Ed. 2d 352; 2000 U.S. LEXIS 4153
Case history
PriorNatl. Foreign Trade Council v. Baker, 26 F. Supp. 2d 287 (D. Mass. 1998); affirmed sub. nom., Nat'l Foreign Trade Council v. Natsios, 181 F.3d 38 (1st Cir. 1999); cert. granted, 528 U.S. 1018(1999).
Holding
The state Act is preempted and its application unconstitutional, under the Supremacy Clause.
Court membership
Chief Justice
William Rehnquist
Associate Justices
John P. Stevens  · Sandra Day O'Connor
Antonin Scalia  · Anthony Kennedy
David Souter  · Clarence Thomas
Ruth Bader Ginsburg  · Stephen Breyer
Case opinions
MajoritySouter, joined by Rehnquist, Stevens, O'Connor, Kennedy, Ginsburg, Breyer
ConcurrenceScalia, joined by Thomas
Laws applied
U.S. Const. art. VI

Crosby v. National Foreign Trade Council , 530 U.S. 363 (2000), was a unanimous case in which the Supreme Court of the United States used the federal preemption doctrine to strike down the Massachusetts Burma Law, a law that effectively prohibited Massachusetts' governmental agencies from buying goods and services from companies conducting business with Myanmar (Burma), essentially a secondary boycott. [1] The Massachusetts Burma Law was modeled after similar legislation that had targeted the apartheid regime of South Africa.

Founded in 1914, the National Foreign Trade Council (NFTC) is an American trade association advocating an open, rules-based international trade system. It serves its hundreds of member companies in activities encompassing international trade policy, international tax policy, and human resources. The NFTC is headquartered in Washington, D.C. and has an office in New York City. Its current president is Rufus Yerxa

Supreme Court of the United States Highest court in the United States

The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all federal and state court cases that involve a point of federal law, and original jurisdiction over a narrow range of cases, including suits between two or more states and those involving ambassadors. The Court holds the power of judicial review, the ability to invalidate a statute for violating a provision of the U.S. Constitution. It is also able to strike down presidential directives for violating either the Constitution or statutory law. However, it may act only within the context of a case in an area of law over which it has jurisdiction. The Court may decide cases having political overtones, but it has ruled that it does not have power to decide non-justiciable political questions.

In the law of the United States, federal preemption is the invalidation of a U.S. state law that conflicts with federal law.

Contents

The Court reasoned that since the United States Congress passed a law imposing sanctions on Myanmar, the Massachusetts law "undermines the intended purpose and 'natural effect' of at least three provisions of the federal Act, that is, its delegation of effective discretion to the President to control economic sanctions against Burma, its limitation of sanctions solely to United States persons and new investment, and its directive to the President to proceed diplomatically in developing a comprehensive, multilateral strategy towards Burma." [2]

United States Congress Legislature of the United States

The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, and consists of two chambers: the House of Representatives and the Senate. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C. Both senators and representatives are chosen through direct election, though vacancies in the Senate may be filled by a gubernatorial appointment. Congress has 535 voting members: 435 representatives and 100 senators. The House of Representatives has six non-voting members representing Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the District of Columbia in addition to its 435 voting members. Although they cannot vote in the full house, these members can address the house, sit and vote in congressional committees, and introduce legislation.

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The Massachusetts Burma Law was a law enacted in 1996 by the Massachusetts legislature limiting state entities from purchasing services from companies doing business with Myanmar (Burma). A "restricted trade" list was compiled by the Commonwealth, which included 34 members of the National Foreign Trade Council (NFTC). The NFTC filed suit against then-Massachusetts Secretary of Administration and Finance, Stephen Crosby, in Crosby v. National Foreign Trade Council, 530 U.S. 363 (2000), arguing that the Massachusetts law infringed upon the federal government's foreign affairs and foreign commerce powers, and that it was already pre-empted by federal law. Massachusetts was also charged with violating the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution. The NFTC won the case with U.S. Supreme Court Justice David H. Souter ruling that "the state Act is preempted, and its application unconstitutional, under the Supremacy Clause." The law was thus nullified.

Perpich v. Department of Defense, 496 U.S. 334 (1990), was a case decided by the United States Supreme Court concerning the Militia Clauses of Article I, Section 8, of the United States Constitution in which the court held that Congress may authorize members of the National Guard to be ordered to active federal duty for purposes of training outside the United States without either the consent of a state governor or the declaration of a national emergency. The plaintiff was Rudy Perpich, Governor of Minnesota at the time.

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References

  1. ↑ Young, Ernest A. 2006. "Crosby v. National Foreign Trade Council." Federalism in America: An Encyclopedia.
  2. ↑ Crosby v. National Foreign Trade Council, 530 U.S. 363 (2000).

Further reading

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