Law Commons^™

On Preemption, Congressional Intent, And Conflict Of Laws, Mary J. Davis

Law Faculty Scholarly Articles

Conflicts scholars and jurists for centuries have sought an answer to the question of "what law controls?" by balancing a number of considerations. Chief among those considerations are the legitimate political and policy concerns of conflicting sovereigns. This article analyzes the Supreme Court's recent preemption decisions with an understanding of these theories and their underlying considerations. That analysis reveals that the Court's recent preemption decisions incorporate two modem conflict of laws theories: Governmental Interest Analysis and its corollary, Comparative Impairment. Each of these theories builds on the notion that a choice of law analysis should be motivated by selecting the …

Legislative Process And Commercial Law: Lessons From The Copyright Act Of 1976 And The Uniform Commercial Code, Harold R. Weinberg, William J. Woodward Jr.

Law Faculty Scholarly Articles

Overlap and conflict are inevitable in any legal system in which a federal government and state governments both have authority to enact laws. In our federal system, the Constitution's Supremacy Clause identifies federal law as preeminent in case of conflict. When conflict develops and litigation is required to determine whether state or federal law controls the issue at hand, our system analyzes the problem using the term preemption as a basis for analysis.

This Article explores the federal legislative process that precedes judicial preemption decisions. By studying the legislative process for its sensitivity to preemption issues, possible ways to modify …