- Under the Supremacy Clause, all state laws that conflict or interfere with an act of Congress are invalidated. State judges are mandated by law to uphold the federal laws under the Constitution. The 14th Amendment to the Constitution prohibits states from making laws that "shall abridge the privileges or immunities" of U.S. citizens.
- In January 2009, San Diego County asked the U.S. Supreme Court to throw out California's law, approved in 1996 as Proposition 215, legalizing the use of marijuana for medical purposes. The county argued that the state law conflicts with the federal law making possession of marijuana illegal. The Supreme Court did not throw out California's law.
- Many states have different minimum wage laws than the federal government's. In these cases, employers are required to apply the stricter standard, or whichever standard is fairer to the employee (even if the state's wage is higher). This is because the Supremacy Clause doesn't apply to state laws that further advance the goals of the federal law (rather than conflicting with it).
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