If you’re involved in a dispute that goes to court, then the odds are that your case will be started in a California Superior Court instead of a federal court, but do you know why? It all begins with the U.S. Constitution, which set up a national government and state governments. This division of power is called “federalism,” and it gives states control over many local issues.
The federal and state governments then create laws to carry out their separate powers. States can create laws that cover a broad range of subjects, but have to stay within the limits of state power. The national government’s law making power is even more limited, because the Constitution outlines the specific areas that federal law can address.
While there can be some overlap, the Constitution is clear that federal laws trump state law when there’s a conflict between the two. Even federal laws can be struck down if they run counter to the U.S. Constitution.
Creating Federal and California Laws
● Elected law-makers
How these laws are created depends on the system. Nationally, Congress creates federal laws that the President must usually approve. As for the states, each state government has a legislature to pass its own laws. Add to that “city ordinances” that create rules that apply only on a local level (such as the San Diego Municipal Code).
● Propositions
Here in California, we’ve also had many laws passed directly by voters through propositions – with the latest proposition to generate a lot of news being Proposition 8 that banned gay marriage in California. As mentioned earlier, laws can be challenged as unconstitutional. Maura Dolan of The Los Angeles Times reports on the recent claims made by lawyers in federal court on whether California’s gay marriage ban violates the U.S. Constitution. The current case focuses on our national constitution, since last year’s challenge based on our state’s constitution failed in California’s Supreme Court.
● Judge-made laws
Another source of law comes directly from the courts. Many of our legal rights have roots in the “common law.” These are laws and rules created by judges. An example is negligence law that holds a person responsible for injuring someone else. These judge-made laws are sometimes “codified” – meaning that the legislature puts a judge-made rule on the books, and might even expand on it. Many of our California “statutes” or “codes” (the laws passed by the legislature) have come about this way. Yet there are times when lawmakers are less than pleased with the common law, and pass statutes to change a judge-made law. Common law also varies from state to state, although the law in one state can sometimes influence judges in another state.
Jurisdiction: Dividing Power Between the National and State Court Systems
As a result of the division between the national government and the states, the issue of “jurisdiction” comes up for courts. In other words, since there are federal and state laws that apply to different cases, a federal court may not have the authority to decide your case, or vice-versa. Generally, a federal court will only hear a case if the dispute relates to federal laws like bankruptcy or copyrights, if a state law allegedly violated a federal law, or if the people in the case are from different states and more than $75,000 is at stake.
Just about any other kind of case will be heard in a state court, such as in one of California’s Superior Courts. Even then, there can be issues over which state should hear the case. Many times, both federal and state laws apply. When this happens, the case could potentially go to either state or federal court. There’s a lot more that goes into jurisdiction, and many battles have been waged over which court should hear the case.
If you’re involved in a business or personal legal dispute, we’ll examine which court has jurisdiction over your case. There is a lot to navigate in any lawsuit, but you can feel confident in having a skilled personal legal representative from San Diego Law Firm handle your case step by step. Contact us at (619) 794-0243.
