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Danforth's articulation of criminal justice federalism

By Douglas A. Berman

There is so much of interest in the Supreme Court's Danforth opinion (basics here), and I'm not sure where to begin my analysis.  So, to start, I'll just highlight this great passage from the majority opinion:This interest in uniformity, however, does not outweigh the general principle that States are independent sovereigns with plenary authority to make and enforce their own laws as long as they do not infringe on federal constitutional guarantees.  The fundamental interest in federalism that allows individual States to define crimes, punishments, rules of evidence, and rules of criminal and civil procedure in a variety of different ways ? so long as they do not violate the Federal Constitution ? is not otherwise limited by any general, undefined federal interest in uniformity...continue to full post

Full post as published by Sentencing Law and Policy on February 20, 2008 (boomark / email).