2 ms·
> force guidance on the state court and compel them to re-hear the case. How could they enforce this? If a state jails a criminal, and his friends on a federal
by ModernMech 4y ago
> force guidance on the state court and compel them to re-hear the case.
How could they enforce this? If a state jails a criminal, and his friends on a federal court tell the state to rehear the case of their friend, what’s stopping the state from saying no?
- jfengel 4y agoThe Supremacy Clause (Article VI, clause 2) lets the federal court dictate how the state court must read the law. If the federal court says, for example, "The law under which he was convicted is unconstitutional", then the first thing that will happen is that the criminal's lawyers will ask the state court to dismiss the suit since there's no law to be violated. And the court would grant it unless the prosecutors have some major ace up their sleeve. The state court could just ignore it, and kick off a massive constitutional crisis. Which could well be justified, if the only reason for it was a federal court packed with friends of the criminal.
- skissane 4y agoFederal courts can order someone released from state custody using habeas corpus. If the state court refuses to hold a retrial after a federal court tells them to, the federal court will order the person released. If the state prison/jail refuses to obey a federal court order, in theory the US Marshals turn up and use physical force to make the state officials free the person. Of course, that never happens, because state officials aren’t so dumb as to refuse to obey a federal court order. Also, if they did, they could end up personally facing federal criminal charges.