State and Local Government Law Commons^™

State Vehicle Electrification Mandates And Federal Preemption, Matthew N. Metz, Janelle London

Michigan Journal of Environmental & Administrative Law

By requiring that new vehicles sold after a certain date be electric, states can lower drivers’ vehicle operating costs, boost local employment, and lower electric rates. But there’s a widespread perception that states can’t take advantage of these opportunities because a state vehicle electrification mandate would be preempted by federal law.

Not so.

While the Federal Clean Air Act (CAA) prohibits state regulations “relating to” the control of emissions in motor vehicles, and the Federal Energy Policy and Conservation Act (EPCA) prohibits state regulations “related to” fuel economy standards, there is a strong rationale for federal courts to reject preemption …

Why The Copyright Act Expressly Preempts State-Level Public Performance Rights In Pre-1972 Recordings, James Fahringer

Michigan Telecommunications & Technology Law Review

Over the past several years, two former bandmates in the 1960s rock group, The Turtles, have initiated several lawsuits against the popular music streaming services, Pandora and Sirius XM, arguing that the band owns common law copyrights in the sound recordings of its songs, and that these state-level copyrights grant the band an exclusive public performance right in its sound recordings. If accepted, this argument has the potential to significantly distort federal copyright policy because states would not be constrained by any of the balancing features of the Copyright Act, including Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) safe harbors for Internet …

The Creeping Federalization Of Wealth-Transfer Law, Lawrence W. Waggoner

Articles

This article appears in a symposium issue published by the Vanderbilt Law Review on The Role of Federal Law in Private Wealth Transfer. Federal authorities have little experience in making law that governs wealth transfers, because that function is traditionally within the province of state law. Although state wealth-transfer law has undergone significant modernization over the last few decades, all three branches of the federal government—legislative, judicial, and executive—have increasingly gone their own way. Lack of experience and, in many cases, lack of knowledge on the part of federal authorities have not dissuaded them from undermining well-considered state law. The …

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 …

Inside Agency Preemption, Catherine M. Sharkey

Michigan Law Review

A subtle shift has taken place in the mechanics of preemption, the doctrine that determines when federal law displaces state law. In the past, Congress was the leading actor, and courts and commentators focused almost exclusively on the precise wording of its statutory directives as a clue to its intent to displace state law. Federal agencies were, if not ignored, certainly no more than supporting players. But the twenty-first century has witnessed a role reversal. Federal agencies now play the dominant role in statutory interpretation. The U.S. Supreme Court has recognized the ascendancy of federal agencies in preemption disputes-an ascendancy …

When And How To Defer To The Fda: Learning From Michigan's Regulatory Compliance Defense, Jason C. Miller

Michigan Telecommunications & Technology Law Review

Michigan's regulatory compliance defense properly recognizes that an FDA-approved drug carrying an FDA-approved label should not be considered defective. However, the statute's absolute immunity provides no compensation for injured parties in any circumstance, including situations where the FDA process has failed. Nevertheless, it is possible to treat the FDA's approval as significant without eliminating the possibility of all state actions against drug makers by providing a litigation back-up through state attorneys general ("AGs"). This Note examines the question of FDA approval in state tort actions in Part I, discusses Michigan's answer to that question in Part II, and offers a …

The Significance Of The Local In Immigration Regulation, Cristina M. Rodríguez

Michigan Law Review

The proliferation of state and local regulation designed to control immigrant movement generated considerable media attention and high-profile lawsuits in 2006 and 2007. Proponents and opponents of these measures share one basic assumption, with deep roots in constitutional doctrine and political rhetoric: immigration control is the exclusive responsibility of the federal government. Because of the persistence of this assumption, assessments of this important trend have failed to explain why state and local measures are arising in large numbers, and why the regulatory uniformity both sides claim to seek is neither achievable nor desirable. I argue that the time has come …

A Presumption Against Agency Preemption, Nina A. Mendelson

Articles

Federal agencies are increasingly taking aim at state law, even though state law is not expressly targeted by the statutes the agencies administer. Starting in 2001, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) issued several notices saying that state laws would apply to national bank operating subsidiaries (incorporated under state law) to the same extent as those laws applied to the parent national bank. In 2003, the OCC specifically mentioned state consumer protection laws and took the position that the state laws were preempted and did not apply to mortgage lenders owned by national banks. In December 2006, …

A Tale Of Conflicting Sovereignties: The Case Against Tribal Sovereign Immunity And Federal Preemption Doctrines Preventing States' Enforcement Of Campaign Contribution Regulations On Indian Tribes, Paul Porter

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

This Note will discuss whether Indian tribes can assert tribal sovereign immunity to avoid compliance with state campaign finance regulation and whether such regulations should be preempted by federal law. Tribal sovereign immunity is not an enshrined constitutional imperative; it exists only under federal common law and can be limited by the courts from blocking state suits to enforce campaign finance regulations against tribes. This Note will also argue that state campaign finance regulations should not be preempted by federal law because states have a compelling interest in protecting their political processes from corruption that outweighs tribal interests in flouting …

Chevron And Preemption, Nina A. Mendelson

Articles

This Article takes a more functional approach to reconciling preemption doctrine with Chevron when Congress has not expressly delegated preemptive authority to an agency, an approach that considers a variety of concerns, including political accountability, institutional competence, and related concerns. The Article assumes that federalism values, such as ensuring core state regulatory authority and autonomy, are important and can be protected through political processes." It argues that although Congress's "regional structure" might hint at great sensitivity to state concerns, it actually may lead Congress to undervalue some federalism benefits that are more national in nature. Meanwhile, executive agencies generally have …

Federal Preemption Of Tort Claims Under Fifra: The Erosion Of A Defense, Valerie Watnick

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

With the growth of federal regulation in the last century, federal preemption of state law has been an evolving issue in the area of toxic torts litigation. The preemption doctrine occupies a particularly prominent place in the area of pesticide-related litigation as the judiciary has struggled to decide what, if any, tort claims are preempted by the Federal Insecticide Fungicide and Rodenticide Act of 1972 ("FIFRA "), the federal statute governing the sale and labeling of pesticides in the United States. In Etcheverry v. Tri-Ag Serv. Inc., 22 Cal. 4th 316, 93 Cal. Rptr2d 36 (2000), a case heard by …

The Securities Litigation Uniform Standards Act Of 1998: The Sun Sets On California's Blue Sky Laws, David M. Lavine, Adam C. Pritchard

Articles

It is often said that California sets the pace for changes in America's tastes. Trends established in California often find their way into the heartland, having a profound effect on our nation's cultural scene. Nouvelle cuisine, the dialect of the Valley Girl and rollerblading all have their genesis on the West Coast. The most recent trend to emerge from California, instead of catching on in the rest of the country, has been stopped dead in its tracks by a legislative rebuke from Washington, D.C. California's latest, albeit short-lived, contribution to the nation was a migration of securities fraud class actions …

Nlra Preemption Of State Law Actions For Wrongful Discharge In Violation Of Public Policy, Thomas Bean

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

This Note considers the circumstances under which the NLRA should preempt state law tort suits for discharge in contravention of public policy by employees covered by a collective bargaining agreement, and by at-will employees. Part I discusses the rationale behind the preemption doctrine and outlines the tests the Supreme Court has adopted for determining when the NLRA preempts state laws. Part II argues that the specific rationale behind the Court's preemption tests are inapplicable to the typical public policy wrongful discharge action. Part III identifies the ways in which public policy wrongful discharge actions might infringe on the NLRA. It …

Erisa Preemption: Judicial Flexibility And Statutory Rigidity, Leon E. Irish, Harrison J. Cohen

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

This Article attempts to describe the ways in which, and the reasons why section 514(a) has caused the courts and Congress so much difficulty. Part I reviews the legislative history of section 514(a), with emphasis on the ambivalence Congress has shown toward its 1974 draftsmanship. Part II attempts to provide a coherent description of the case law that has developed under section 514(a). Part III completes the legislative history by examining the two instances in which experience compelled Congress to revise section 514. Finally, Part IV discusses examples of problems courts have faced when crafting a federal common law of …