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Statutory Interdependence In Severability Analysis, Rachel J. Ezzell
Statutory Interdependence In Severability Analysis, Rachel J. Ezzell
Michigan Law Review
According to conventional wisdom, when a court rules a statutory provision unconstitutional, it must sever that provision or strike down the entire statute. This understanding is incomplete. In practice, courts may engage in compound severance: invalidating additional, otherwise constitutional provisions of the statute without striking down the entire statute. They reason that the degree of interrelation between those provisions is so significant that severance of one compels severance of the other. As a result, a subset of the statute remains law. The power to craft such subsets raises constitutional concerns, and yet the jurisprudence concerning statutory interdependence is inconsistent and …
Preemption And Choice-Of-Law Coordination, Erin O'Hara O'Connor, Larry E. Ribstein
Preemption And Choice-Of-Law Coordination, Erin O'Hara O'Connor, Larry E. Ribstein
Michigan Law Review
The doctrine treating federal preemption of state law has been plagued by uncertainty and confusion. Part of the problem is that courts purport to interpret congressional intent when often Congress has never considered the particular preemption question at issue. This Article suggests that courts deciding preemption cases should take seriously a commonly articulated rationale for the federalization of law: the need to coordinate applicable legal standards in order to facilitate a national market or to otherwise provide clear guidance to parties regarding the laws that apply to their conduct. In situations where federal law can serve a coordinating function but …