Assume that the state of Ohio passed a hazardous waste statute, ...

[Haya94]

Assume that the state of Ohio passed a hazardous waste statute, seeking to protect the general public and workers. The state statute did not violate the Commerce Clause because it imposed no restriction on interstate commerce. Both the state statute and the federal Occupational Safety and Health Act established job safety standards and specified worker training and employer licensing, but the requirements differed. Discuss which statute(s) Ohio corporations had to obey, and identify the source of the answer.

Question 2

Discuss the Miller test to determine if a creative work is obscene.

[aidanmbrowne]

Answer to Question 1

Article VI of the Constitution provides the answer to this question. The Supremacy Clause states that the Constitution, and federal statutes and treaties, shall be the supreme law of the land. If there is a conflict between federal and state statutes, the federal law preempts the field, meaning that federal law controls the issue. The state law is void. Even in cases where there is no conflict, if Congress demonstrates that it intends to exercise exclusive control over an issue, federal law preempts. Thus, state law controls only when there is no conflicting federal law and Congress has not intended to dominate the issue. In a similar Illinois case discussed in the textbook, the Supreme Court concluded that Congress intended to regulate the issue exclusively. Federal law therefore preempted the field, and local employers were obligated to obey only the federal regulations.

Answer to Question 2

In Miller v. California, the court developed a three-part test:

 whether the average person, applying contemporary community standards, would find the work taken as a whole appeals to a prurient interest.
 whether the work depicts or describes, in a patently offensive way, sexual conduct specifically defined by applicable state law.
 whether the work taken as a whole lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value.
If all three tests are met, the work may be considered obscene and may be prohibited.