Intergovernmental immunity

In United States Constitutional Law, intergovernmental immunity is a doctrine that prevents the federal government and individual state governments from intruding on each other's sovereignty. It is also referred to as a Supremacy Clause immunity or simply federal immunity from state law.

The doctrine was established by the United States Supreme Court in McCulloch v. Maryland (1819),^[1] which ruled unanimously that states may not regulate property or operations of the federal government. In that case, Maryland state law subjected banks not chartered by the state to restrictions and taxes. In McCulloch's case, state law had attempted to impose these restrictions on the Second Bank of the United States.^[2] The Court found that if a state had the power to tax a federally incorporated institution, then the state effectively had the power to destroy the federal institution, thereby thwarting the intent and purpose of Congress. This would make the states superior to the federal government.

See also

• States' rights
• Supremacy Clause

References

External links

• Law Library - American Law and Legal Information
• HeinOnline: 112 Yale L.J. 2195 (2002-2003) What Kind of Immunity - Federal Officers, State Criminal Law, and the Supremacy Clause; Waxman, Seth P.; Morrison, Trevor W.
• Google Books: Excerpt from "The Supremacy Clause: A Reference Guide to the United States Constitution" by Christopher R. Drahozal
• Intergovernmental immunity doctrine, thefreedictionary.com