New York v. Miln
A state law required that all ships that docked in New York had to make sure they had a list of all the passengers that rode with them and also had to provide other personal information to New York. Miln decided not to comply with this law and the case was brought to the Supreme court.
The state of New York won this case. SCOTUS decided to uphold this law because a state has "the right to take all necessary steps to protect the health, safety, and welfare of its citizens." This law was later reversed in 1941.
Significance: It said that states had the ability to regulate commerce
McCulloch v. Maryland
When Congress chartered the Second Bank of the United States in 1818 Maryland imposed taxes on the Second Bank. Baltimore refused to pay the tax, so the case went up to the Supreme Court.
McCulloch won the case.The Supreme Court decided that Congress had the authority to create the bank but Maryland had no right to tax instruments of the national government
Significance: Federal laws have supreme authority over state laws
Printz v. United States
The Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act required that background checks had to be done on prospective handgun purchasers. Two sheriffs challenged the policy and in both cases district court found the background check portion of the law was unconstitutional but the rest of the law was okay. They appealed this decision
The Supreme Court sided with Printz, since state legislatures are not subject to federal direction.
Significance: The Supreme Court regulation of the federal government to protect the states sovereignty.
Alden v. Maine
A group of probation officers sued the state of Maine for not paying them overtime. The court dismissed the case because they said that "states are immune from private suits in federal courts" so they said the state again but in state court this time. The state court said the same thing.
In a 5-4 decision the state sided with Maine stating that "Congress can not use its Article I powers to abrogate the state's sovereign immunity."