State Court Judges are Not Bound by Nonoriginalist Supreme Court Interpretations
FIU Law Review, Vol 11, p.327, 2016.
University of Toledo Legal Studies Research Paper No. 2016-04
23 Pages Posted: 17 May 2016
Date Written: May 16, 2016
Abstract
In this brief Essay, I provide a tentative argument for modest state court interpretative independence. I argue that state courts possess interpretative independence from nonoriginalist U.S. Supreme Court interpretations. I also argue that state courts must follow all U.S. Supreme Court judgments (within the Court's jurisdiction) and originalist Supreme Court opinions. I close by suggesting that this modest state court interpretative independence is likely to advance federalism’s three primary values.
Keywords: originalism, supremacy, federalism, state court, precedent, stare decisis, federal courts
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