Jeremiah W. (Jay) Nixon, Attorney General of Missouri v. Missouri Municipal League et al. (541 U.S. 125)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided March 24, 2004 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 541 U.S. 125 · 124 S. Ct. 1555
- Decided
- March 24, 2004
- Term
- October Term 2003
- Vote
- 8–1
- Majority author
- Justice Souter
- Issue area
- Federalism
- Disposition
- Reversed
- Outcome
- Petitioning party won
- Ideological direction
- Conservative
Opinion excerpt
Justice Souter delivered the opinion of the Court. Section 101(a) of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, 110 Stat. 70, 47 U. S. C. § 253, authorizes preemption of state and local laws and regulations expressly or effectively “prohibiting the ability of any entity” to provide telecommunications services. The question is whether the class of entities in-eludes the State’s own subdivisions, so as to affect the power of States and localities to restrict their own (or their political inferiors’) delivery of such services. We hold it does not. I In 1997, the General Assembly of Missouri enacted the statute codified as §392.410(7) of the State’s Revised Statutes: “No political subdivision of this state shall provide or offer for sale, either to the public or to a telecommunications provider, a telecommunications service or telecommunications facility used to provide a telecommunications service for which a certificate of service authority is required pursuant to this section.” On July 8, 1998, the municipal respondents, including municipalities, municipal organizations, and municipally owned utilities, petitioned the Federal Communications Commission (FCC or Commission) for an order declaring the state statute unlawful and preempted under 47 U. S. C. § 253: “No State or local statute or regulation, or other State or local legal requirement, may prohibit or have the effect of…
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