Also known as: sovereign · sovereigns · sovereignties · supreme authority · state independence
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
Supreme dominion, authority, or rule of a state or nation.
Simone Sanders faces drug charges in State A and is acquitted after trial. State B then indicts her for identical conduct under its separate criminal code. Each state acts as an independent sovereign, so the second prosecution moves forward without double jeopardy violation.
Solomon Silver challenges a federal statute that imposes preclearance on only certain states using coverage formulas from the 1960s. The statute treats states differently without extraordinary justification tied to current conditions. Principles of equal sovereignty require the formula to be updated or struck down.
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Stella Shapiro, a nonresident, owns shares in a Delaware corporation. A plaintiff attempts to assert quasi in rem jurisdiction over those shares in a Delaware court to adjudicate an unrelated claim. Sovereignty principles require minimum contacts with the forum. Mere presence of property does not supply authority for the attachment.
Sydney Santos, a newspaper editor, publishes criticism of a public official. The official sues for libel under state law. Ultimate sovereignty rests with the people, who retain the right to examine public characters and measures through a free press.
Stephen Shaw, a state tax collector, attempts to tax the operations of a federally chartered bank. The federal government created the bank under its enumerated powers. State sovereignty yields to the federal authority that established the institution.
Sentinel Security operates a local school zone where a student brings a firearm. Federal prosecutors charge the student under a national gun-free school zones statute. State sovereignty over traditional areas of criminal law prevents Congress from regulating this non-economic, intrastate activity.
Two governments may prosecute the same conduct when each acts as a separate sovereign. A state and the federal government qualify as distinct sovereigns, as do two different states. Each sovereign defines its own offenses, so successive prosecutions do not place the defendant in jeopardy twice for the same offense.
Supporting sources
Equal sovereignty requires extraordinary justification when Congress subjects some states but not others to special burdens. Outdated coverage formulas relying on decades-old data fail this test. The Tenth Amendment and Fifteenth Amendment enforcement power together prohibit such disparate treatment without current justification.
Supporting sources
A state may not tax a federally created bank because the federal government exercises sovereign power in establishing the institution. State taxation would interfere with federal operations. The federal power to create the bank prevails over any conflicting state authority.
State sovereignty prevents federal regulation when the activity is non-economic and occurs entirely within one state. Congress may not reach such conduct under the commerce power. The division of authority between federal and state governments protects state control over traditional local matters.
Supporting sources
…premise was that the Constitution created a form of government under which "The people, not the government, possess the absolute sovereignty." The structure of the government dispersed power in reflection of the people's distrust of concentrated power, and of power itself at all levels. This form of government was "altogether…