Different laws in different states and equality
<p>Could someone throw light on the following, or refer me to appropriate cases.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Where in the US Constitution does it allow different states to administer different laws?</p>
</li>
<li><p>Doesn't this contradict the 14th amendment (or similar) which guarantees equal treatment under the law?</p>
</li>
<li><p>How do courts (esp the supreme court) reconcile these incompatible ideas?</p>
</li>
<li><p>Has the supreme court ever addressed this?</p>
</li>
</ol>
<p>In particular, I am thinking in relation to capital punishment.</p>
<p>Of course, this is completely theoretical - the reality is obviously that the supreme court and its interpretation of the constitution are politically driven, and I do not want to get into this.</p>
<p>May thanks,
Sven</p>

<blockquote>
<ol>
<li>Where in the US Constitution does it allow different states to administer different laws?</li>
</ol>
</blockquote>
<p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Article_Four_of_the_United_States_Constitution" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Article IV</a> outlines the relationship between the various states, as well as the relationship between each state and the United States Federal government.</p>
<blockquote>
<ol start="2">
<li>Doesn't this contradict the 14th amendment (or similar) which guarantees equal treatment under the law?</li>
</ol>
</blockquote>
<p>No. Each person subject to, say, Arizona law is treated exactly the same irrespective of if they reside in Arizona or not.</p>
<blockquote>
<ol start="3">
<li>How do courts (esp the supreme court) reconcile these incompatible ideas?</li>
</ol>
</blockquote>
<p>They aren’t incompatible. Every federal country (of which there are several worldwide) deals with them in much the same way: the states or provinces have the exclusive right to make law in some areas and the Federal government has the exclusive right to make laws in others and there are areas of overlap with some kind of tie breaking mechanism (usually it’s along the lines of Federal law wins).</p>
<p>In most federations, because the components existed first, this is usually done by detailing what powers the Federal government has. Everything it doesn’t have remains with the states.</p>
<p>So, for example, in the United States, states have the right to make laws about buildings and the Federal government has the right to make law about immigration. Both have the right to make laws about contracts and state law applies if the contract is entirely within the state and Federal law applies if it crosses state borders.</p>
<blockquote>
<ol start="4">
<li>Has the supreme court ever addressed this?</li>
</ol>
</blockquote>
<p>All the time.</p>

us-constitution