MU hosts law symposium

By Campbell Massie

Published Feb. 19, 2008

Law professors and other professionals from across the country came to MU this weekend to participate in a symposium dedicated to discussing the relationship between international law and federal and state governments.

MU hosted the fifth Missouri Law Review Symposium at the MU School of Law on Friday and Saturday to talk about the U.S. Supreme Court case Missouri v. Holland, which questions the relationship between federalism and international law.

The Missouri v. Holland case was decided in 1920, when justices upheld the federal government’s right to regulate activity that would normally be attributed to the states by exercising the federal government’s right to make treaties.

The controversy started when the United States and Great Britain made a treaty on behalf of Canada, which was under Great Britain’s rule, to control hunting of migratory birds, said Taavi Annus, editor-in-chief of the Missouri Law Review.

“Missouri took up the cause of the states and said that was outside the powers of the federal government to do that,” Annus said.

The implications of the case still affect the relationship between federal and state governments as well as the ability to make treaties.

“The Supreme Court ruled that the national government could do so, raising concerns in subsequent years that the national treaty power would be used to limit the power of states in a whole host of areas, including criminal law,” MU Law Professor Margaret McGuinness said.

McGuinness chose the topic to show the ability of states, like Missouri, to affect the federal government’s foreign power and to demonstrate the role international law plays in federal and state government. The discussions it raises about Federalism were also a motivating factor.

Three panel hearings occurred on Friday with commentators to discuss the treaty power and how it interacts with federal and states jurisdiction.

Yale Law Professor Judy Resnik gave a lecture Friday and spoke about the internationalism of American federalism. She spoke about what Missouri v. Holland brought about and the effects it has today in government treaty making.

The treaty power’s effects could be used with issues such as the death penalty, greenhouse gas emissions and access to medical care, the symposium’s description stated.

An academic debate has been questioning the accuracy of the Supreme Court’s decision and whether the federal government should have the right to adopt laws and enforce treaties in cases like Missouri v. Holland, Annus said.