I AM(not) DA LAW! A question...

[Tulsa_Fireman]

Studying for Captain. Going over the bare bones basics of the law as per IFSTA's Company Officer manual. And as I perused a discussion of different types of law, specifically statutory and common law, my word addled face actually formed a coherent question, and wouldn't you know it, the first thing I thought of was you guys here at Soonerfans.

Which takes priority?

Example being, if there is statutory law on the books at the state level, yet there's precedence in case law at the federal level that's contradictory to the statutory law of the state. Does the federal case law essentially negate the statutory law of the state? Or will the state law stand as written until addressed via statutory law at the federal level? How are differences in statutory law between states addressed in regards to the Full Faith and Credit Clause?

If you guys can help clear this up for me, I'd appreciate it a ton.

[Okla-homey]

Which takes priority in questions involving statutory or common law? It depends.

Federal law trumps contradictory or non-existent state law. That's because of the preemption clause in the federal Constitution. IOW, if Oklahoma has a law that says you can't sell cold high-point beer in a liquor store, you can't, because there is no federal law that says you can and neither has the Constitution been interpreted to mean you can.

Alternatively, if Oklahoma passed a law that says everyone in the state has to be a Baptist or they must pay more state taxes than everyone else, that law would be unenforceable because there is federal law in the form of the First Amendment that has been interpreted to mean states can't single out a particular religion for special treatment.

common-law: judge-made law based on court decisions on a set of facts.

statutory law: the constitution and statutes passed by Congress or a state legislature.

generally statutory law trumps the common law. However, you should realize that even though there seems to be a ton of statutes, there are lots of scenarios people sue or get sued over that don't involve statutory law. For example, if you break a statutory law, you are prolly guilty of a crime. OTOH, if you do something offensive to someone, like spread maliscious rumors about them in the community that causes them emotional pain and their business to drop off, they might sue you for defamation. That's pretty much a common-law offense because there is generally no state or federal statute making that sort of thing a crime.

Does that help?

[Tulsa_Fireman]

It helps a ton. And thanks for stepping up on this one, Homey.