Summary: The Supremacy Clause

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In a limited government, the power of government to intervene in the exercise of civil liberties is restricted by law used sometimes by a written constitution. The idea is a principle of classical liberalism, free market libertarianism, conservatism in the United States. The theory of limited government contrasts with the idea that government should intervene to promote equality and opportunity through the regulation of property and wealth redistribution. In the United States, the idea of limited government explains the idea of a belief of separation of powers and the system of checks and balances are promoted by the U.S. Constitution. This principle of limited government maintains that government is coming from the system of checks and balances, …show more content…
This clause is the section of the Constitution stating that the Constitution and federal laws are the most holy laws of the country. The constitutional framers wanted to ensure that the states wouldn't overpower the federal government. The Supremacy Clause is a guarantee that no laws will interfere with the goals of the Constitution. The Supremacy Clause is found in Article VI, Section 2, where the Constitution specifies which powers the federal government has and does not have. When a state law conflicts with a federal law, the Supremacy Clause operates to invalidate the state law in favor of the federal one as long as the federal law is found to be in relation of the Constitution. The Supremacy Clause operates to further limit state governments. It means that states can't regulate, interfere with or control federal issues. This principle is in the famous 1819 Supreme Court case of McCulloch v. Maryland. In the case, the Court held that Maryland could not constitutionally tax the operations of the Bank of the United States, since that was a federal …show more content…
Ernesto Miranda was arrested on suspicion of rape in 1963. During interrogation, Miranda confessed to the crime without being told that he had a right to representation by a lawyer and to remain silent. On appeal, Miranda claimed that he should have been made aware of these rights. The government objected, claiming that they had no obligation to explicitly inform him of his rights. The Supreme Court, however, disagreed, and this was the birth of someone being read their “Miranda Rights’, which means to have your rights read to you, and is now required after every arrest.
The freedom of religion is a controversial civil liberty. When is prayer allowed or not allowed? In the case of Engel vs Vitale in 1962, families in New York filed a lawsuit over what they saw was a violation of their First Amendment rights to be free of an established religion. Every day public schools in Hyde Park, a prayer was read over the intercom which had families of other religions view this an endorsement of religion. The Supreme Court ruled in favor of the families and stated that the school had to remain nonsectarian and that sponsored prayer was