State laws in countries with single states are separate from national laws and cover various legal areas. The US model allows states to govern independently, but federal laws may override state laws. Discrepancies can occur, such as with medical marijuana laws, and states may not honor each other’s laws.
Countries with single states often have legal codes for each state. These are separate from the laws of the whole country, and while many of them are similar, some are at odds with the statutes of the whole country. State law addresses many different legal areas and often establishes the state’s government structure, a penal code, and civil statutes. Persons residing in the state or even visiting must obey state law.
The structure of federal and state law in the United States is a good model for understanding state laws. Even when states were colonies, it was recognized that each area should be able to govern independently to some degree, regardless of what other government it might obey. Small matters of daily life in a particular place are usually best handled locally, especially in areas encompassing a huge geographical space, and particularly when traveling to those areas used to take months.
When Britain controlled colonies in America, it would have been difficult for Britain to get directly involved in all day-to-day affairs, and a system of laws for each colony or even smaller areas made sense. The administrators of these laws were often directly linked to the British government, and given any colonial resistance, new oppressive laws could easily be written.
In creating the United States, there was concern about a strong central government oppressing each state, so states were given a lot of latitude in constructing their own laws. The position on this has changed over the centuries, with the federal government sometimes overriding state laws and at other times minimizing involvement in them. A change from colonial legal structures is that state residents participate in the creation of state law, which was rarely the right of most settlers.
It’s hard to decide when people are subject to federal or state law. In some cases, regardless of state, federal statutes apply. For example, federal income tax laws apply to all citizens, and some constitutional rights cannot be overridden by a state. Many day-to-day legal matters, such as those involving divorce or child custody, are governed by the state, and most crimes committed within a state are prosecuted under that state’s laws. The federal government prosecutes crimes that occur in more than one state.
Discrepancies have been found between federal and state law on similar matters. For example, some of the state statutes that permit the use of medical marijuana conflict with federal laws, and people with marijuana possession may be acting in accordance with state standards, violating federal ones. The federal government determines whether or not it will ignore the intentional violation of its rules, and this may change with the different political groups in power.
Also, states don’t necessarily have to honor each other’s laws. California drivers found out by receiving tickets for making a right turn at a red light in Nevada. Married same-sex couples in one state are not necessarily married in another. Your basic property rights in a divorce can change based on your state residency.
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