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Law in Business and Society

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Law in business and society
The United States Constitution states in Article VI that the Constitution, and all laws made under it, “shall be the supreme Law of the Land”. These laws affect all persons and entities on a daily basis. In this paper I will specifically deal with the laws related to business and the authority bestowed upon the Congress under Article 1 section 8 of the Constitution, also known as the Commerce clause, and how those powers are addressed in the case of Cipollone v. Liggett Group, Inc. et al., 505 U.S. 504 (1992).
Cipollone v. Liggett Group, Inc. et al., 505 U.S. 504 (1992). In the case of Cipollone vs. Liggett, the plaintiff, Cipollone, filed a lawsuit against tobacco manufacturer Liggett for violating New Jersey State statutes dealing with consumer protections (Melvin, 2011). The case was heard by the United States Supreme Court because of the contention that the New Jersey statutes were in conflict with United States federal law. The authority of the Court to hear a case of conflict between federal and state laws was spelled out in the case titled Marbury vs. Madison(1803) which gave the Court the power of judicial review of any laws thought to be in conflict with the US Constitution. The court ultimately ruled against the plaintiff finding that the New Jersey statutes did conflict with Federal law and were preempted because of this conflict.
Commerce Clause The Commerce Clause of the US Constitution is found in Article 1, section 8 which states that the US Congress will have the power to regulate commerce between the States. As the Constitution also states that laws made under the authority of the Constitution are the “supreme law of the land”, any laws passed by the individual States are subject to scrutiny if they are in conflict with Federal law. Melvin (2011) tells us that this is what is known as the supremacy clause and State

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