Question

In the 1950s, Illinois enacted legislation requiring trucks to have curved mud flaps. There was no federal law about mud flaps at the time, but the Illinois statute was enacted because state legislators asserted that the curved mud flaps were more effective in preventing accidents than the straight mud flaps. Several trucking companies brought suit, because the Illinois statute conflicted with the laws of other states that required straight mud flaps. Was the Illinois statute constitutional?

Answer 1

Answer:

No because it violated the Commerce Clause.

Explanation:

As you may already know, the states that make up the US have the autonomy to formulate their own legislation that must be obeyed within state boundaries. However, even with its own legislation, each state is subject to federal laws, which must be obeyed by all. There is a federal law that prohibits states from violating trade clauses, so state laws should be made so as not to violate that federal law, for example.

There was no federal law dealing with truck mud flaps, so the state of Illinois decided to create its own legislation that required trucks to move around the state to use curved mud flaps because it guaranteed road safety. Although the state of Illinois intended to be good and there was no federal law barring that law, the state of Illinois violated a trade clause by preventing trucks from other states from unloading goods to local trade. For this reason, we can say that the statute formulated by the state of Illinois was not constitutional because it violated a federal clause.