Legal Definitions - our federalism

OUR FEDERALISM

Our federalism is a doctrine that states that federal courts should not hear a constitutional challenge to state action if it would be considered an improper intrusion into the state's right to enforce its own laws in its own courts.

For example, if a state passes a law that is challenged as unconstitutional, the federal court may choose not to hear the case if it believes that the state court is better equipped to handle the matter. This is because the state has the right to enforce its own laws and the federal court should not interfere unless absolutely necessary.

Another example could be a situation where a state court is already handling a case involving a constitutional challenge to state action. In this case, the federal court may choose not to hear the case in order to avoid interfering with the state court's proceedings.

These examples illustrate how our federalism doctrine seeks to balance the power between the federal government and the states, allowing each to exercise their own authority without unnecessary interference from the other.