[sheyboer]

Question 1: Can a state exercise a power that was delegated to the federal government in Article 1 section 8?

Question 2: Let’s say that the federal government decides to abolish all patent laws. Would that mean the federal government forfeits that power and now the states can create their own patent laws?

Question 3: The states delegated to the federal government the power to “raise and support armies…to provide for calling forth the militia to execute the laws of the Union… Since the states delegated this power to the federal government, does that mean states individually cannot have an army, or state soldiers?

I hope these questions make sense. Thank you for your time.

Sherwin

[gutzmank]

1) That depends whether the power seemingly must by its nature be unitary.
2) This has never come up. It’s an interesting question. See “1.”
3) Militiamen at the time of the Constitution’s ratification were state soldiers. There had been state regular-army units during the Revolution, but having those units, militia units, and congressional units proved unworkable, and so the power to raise regular army units was delegated to Congress.

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