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Does the U.S. Constitution Apply to the States?

I recently heard, yet again, that the U.S. Constitution only applies to the federal government and not to the states, and that each state has it’s own Constitution it must follow.  And that got me thinking: What does the Constitution say about that?

Based on some very simple observations, I picture the current landscape of public opinion on this question as a bell curve.  A few people believe that the U.S. Constitution applies only to the federal government, a few people believe it applies only to the states, while the vast majority apply parts to the feds and other parts to the states.  A perfect example of this are those who believe the first amendment applies to the states, but the second amendment does not.  What are these ideas based on and how does that compare to the Constitution?

The “feds only” group correctly states that the U.S. Constitution is a contract between the states that establishes the framework of and determines the jurisdiction of what was then referred to as the “central government” and is now called the “federal government”.  While I have seen some who apply the Constitution completely to the states, I have not seen a reason given that has the credibility and documentation to support it.  The rest seem to apply the Constitutional standard haphazardly, based either on their emotions or their preferred outcome.  (Most people agree that freedom of speech should be protected everywhere, but not everyone believes the right to the tools of self protection should be.)

But as I researched this idea further, I came across an interesting clause that got me thinking:

This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in Pursuance thereof; and all Treaties made, or which shall be made, under the Authority of the United States, shall be the supreme Law of the Land; and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, any Thing in the Constitution or Laws of any State to the Contrary notwithstanding.

U.S. Constitution, Article VI

So if the Constitution is the supreme law of the land, and the judges of all the states are bound to it, doesn’t that mean it applies to the states?  If these state judges are bound regardless of the Constitution and laws of their state, does that not mean that the U.S. Constitution applies to the states?  (I base this on the legal definition of “notwithstanding” I found in the Legal Dictionary at Freedictionary.com.)

If I look at the Constitution within this frame of mind, it quickly becomes obvious that the seven (7) articles of the original document primarily describe the framework, functioning, and jurisdiction of the federal government.  It is also obvious to me that most of the amendments, especially the first ten, could just as easily apply to the States as the the Federal government.

So here is my challenge to you.  What do you think?  Read and study the Constitution and related documents and post your comments on which interpretation you believe to be correct and the evidence you have for you position.  (You are entitled to your own opinion, but we are looking for a discussion of facts not just opinions.)  I’ll look at the comments and summarize my analysis of them once we get a good sampling.

This is why John Jay said we should read and study our Constitution.  Let’s take his advice and dive in!

Paul Engel

Like many of you, I am a product of the public schools. Like many of you I thought the Constitution was for lawyers and judges. One day I read the Constitution, and was surprised to find I didn't need a law degree to understand it. Then I read the Declaration of Independence, the Federalist Papers and even the Anti-Federalist Papers. As I learned more and more about our founding fathers and documents I saw how little we know about how our country was designed to work and how many people just didn't care. I started The Constitution Study to help those who also want read and study our Constitution.