미합중국헌법과 연방 및 주의 권한 - 연방최고법원의 판례를 중심으로 -

Due to its federalism, the legal system of United States is not unified unlike single national legal system of the Republic of Korea. Each state has independence and has own law area (jurisdiction). The state also has a duality of state structures which leads to the duality of their legal system. While discussing the law of United States, it’s important to keep in mind that the legal system of the United States is dual as well as that it does not have a unified legal system. According to the Article Ⅵ of the United States Constitution, the United States Constitution is the supreme law of the land, so federal laws state constitutions, and state laws which are in conflict with the Constitution of the United States are considered as unconstitutional. However, it’s not always easy to determine the unconstitutionality of the laws that are in conflict with the Constitution. This paper discusses the solution to conflicting legal authority of United States. First of all, it elaborates relevant constitutional provisions which are considered as an important basis in allocation of authority between the federal and the states. Second of all, it reviews the Federal Supreme Court cases deciding whether different state statues infringe upon the federal rights under the major provisions of the United States Constitution. At last, it presents major decisions of the Supreme Court about limiting the authority of different states under the Commerce Caluse, the most important rights of the Congress of the United States.