States v. Feds :: essays research papers

One of the most important cases pending before the Supreme approach this term is Printz v. United States. On the surface, Printz appears to be a gun misrepresent matter because it involves a entire challenge to the hotly debated Brady fairness, but the rudimentary extend transcends the debate over gun control. The Printz case is, at bottom, a bare-knuckle fistfight between the federal official and claim organisations over their single turf. Make no mistake, the ruling in this case will shake off profound consequences for constitutional federalism in America.The provisions of the Brady law are straightforward. The law requires the prospective buyer of a handgun to wait five stemma daytimes before taking physical possession of the firearm. During the five day waiting period, local law enforcement officials are supposed to check the scope of the prospective buyer for a criminal record or moral instability. The ostensible purpose of the law is "to keep guns out of the hands of criminals."The import before the Supreme Court is whether Congress can saddle state and local officials with federal legal responsibilities. The constitutional challenge was brought by Jay Printz, who is a sheriff in Ravalli County, Montana. Sheriff Printz claims that his understaffed office will be dangerously overextended if it mustiness conduct time-consuming background checks on individuals who wish to purchase handguns. Printzs county has thirty thousand residents spread over 2,400 square miles further cardinal deputies are on patrol at any given moment. fit in to Printz, deputies will have to be taken off patrol and investigatory duties in order to do "Brady work." The Justice Department has countered that the Brady law only requires local law enforcement officials to make "reasonable" efforts at background checks.The conclusion in Printz, however, will not turn upon whether the Brady Law is "unduly" burdensome. The issue to be resolv ed is one of principle Can the federal brass conscript state agencies and resources for its own purposes? The answer to that question is resolvable for anyone who takes severely the text, history, and structure of the Constitution.The Constitution creates a federal government of enumerated powers. Most of the federal governments powers are set forth in term I, section 8, and a few others are dispersed throughout the constitutional text. The Tenth Amendment was appended to the Constitution to make it clear that the powers not delegated to the federal government "are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.