FEDERAL GOVERNMENT AND THE STATE COURTS - AN ADDRESS BY DANIEL J MEADOR, ASSISTANT ATTORNEY GENERAL, OFFICE FOR IMPROVEMENTS IN THE ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE, US DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

• NCJ Number: 43536
• Author(s): D J MEADOR
• Date Published: 1977
• Length: 25 pages
• Corporate Author: US Dept of Justice
• Sale Source: National Institute of Justice/
• Publication Type: Historical Overview
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: THE ROBERT HOUGHWOUT JACKSON LECTURE BEFORE THE NATIONAL COLLEGE OF THE STATE JUDICIARY, OCTOBER 14, 1977, RENO, NEVADA

Annotation

THE EVOLUTION OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE STATE COURTS AND THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT IS TRACED, AND TRENDS THAT HAVE COME ABOUT IN THAT RELATIONSHIP DURING THE MID-20TH CENTURY ARE IDENTIFIED.

Abstract

THE GERERAL THESIS OF THE DISCUSSION IS THAT THE STATE COURTS OCCUPY A POSITION RELATIVE TO THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT RADICALLY DIFFERENT FROM THAT WHICH THEY OCCUPIED ORIGINALLY, AND THAT THE COURTS ARE IN A PERIOD OF TRANSITION THAT COULD LEAD TO A JUDICIAL STRUCTURE QUITE DIFFERENT FROM THE ORIGINAL STATE-FEDERAL DESIGN. FOR NEARLY A CENTURY AFTER THE FOUNDING OF THE FEDERAL UNION, THE ONLY IMPINGEMENT OF THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT ON THE STATE COURTS WAS THE OCCASIONAL REVIEW BY THE U.S. SUPREME COURT OF STATE SUPREME COURT DECISIONS. THIS SITUATION BEGAN TO CHANGE AS A RESULT OF THE CIVIL WAR AND THE RECONSTRUCTION PERIOD THAT FOLLOWED. SINCE THAT TIME, THE GROWTH AND RELATIVE POWER OF THE FEDERAL JUDICIARY HAS BEEN, FOR THE LARGE PART, CONSISTENT WITH THE GENERAL PATTERN OF GROWTH OF FEDERAL POWER, PARTICULARLY IN THE MOST RECENT DECADES OF THE 20TH CENTURY. IN ADDITION TO THE GROWTH OF FEDERAL JURISDICTION, MORE POINTS OF CONTACT BETWEEN THE STATE AND FEDERAL JUDICIAL SYSTEMS AND MORE OVERLAPPING OF JURISDICTION HAVE COME TO BE. HOWEVER, THE MOST RADICAL DEVELOPMENT HAS BEEN THE RISE OF FEDERAL FUNDING FOR THE STATE JUDICIARIES. OTHER SIGNIFICANT DEVELOPMENTS INCLUDE THE CREATION OF NATIONAL CENTERS FOR BOTH THE FEDERAL AND STATE JUDICIARIES, AND THE ENTRY OF THE FEDERAL EXECUTIVE BRANCH INTO THE STATE-FEDERAL PICTURE. IT IS SUGGESTED THAT, IN VIEW OF THE INCREASED CENTRALIZATION AND UNIFORMITY CHARACTERISTIC OF CONTEMPORARY AMERICAN LIFE, IT SHOULD NOT BE SURPRISING TO SEE THIS PHENOMENON REFLECTED IN AMERICAN JUSTICE SYSTEMS. THE POSSIBILITY THAT JURISDICTIONAL AND FINANCIAL DEVELOPMENTS MAY LEAD TO THE EMERGENCE OF A UNITARY, NATIONAL SYSTEM OF COURTS, TO A QUASI-MERGER OF THE FEDERAL JUDICIARY AND STATE COURT SYSTEMS, TO A REALLOCATION OF JUDICIAL BUSINESS BETWEEN THE TWO SYSTEMS, OR TO SOME OTHER MODIFICATION IN THE DESIGN OF THE JUDICIAL PROCESS IS RAISED. THE IMPORTANCE OF NOT LOSING SIGHT OF THE PRIMARY ROLE OF THE COURTS DURING THE PROCESS OF REORGANIZATION IS EMPHASIZED.