Stephen P. Crosby, Secretary of Administration and Finance of Massachusetts, et al., v. National Foreign Trade Council (530 U.S. 363)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided June 19, 2000 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 530 U.S. 363 · 120 S. Ct. 2288
- Decided
- June 19, 2000
- Term
- October Term 1999
- Vote
- 9–0
- Majority author
- Justice Souter
- Issue area
- Federalism
- Disposition
- Affirmed
- Outcome
- Petitioning party lost
- Ideological direction
- Liberal
- Constitutional ruling
- State/territorial law held unconstitutional
Opinion excerpt
Justice Souter delivered the opinion of the Court. The issue is whether the Burma law of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, restricting the authority of its agencies to purchase goods or services from companies doing business with Burma, is invalid under the Supremacy Clause of the National Constitution owing to its threat of frustrating federal statutory objectives. We hold that it is. H- In June 1996, Massachusetts adopted An Act Regulating State Contracts with Companies Doing Business with or in Burma (Myanmar),” 1996 Mass. Acts 239, ch. 130 (codified at Mass. Gen. Laws §§ 7:22G-7:22M, 40 Fié (1997). The statute generally bars state entities from buying goods or services from any person (defined to include a business organization) identified on a “restricted purchase list” of those doing business with Burma. §§7:22H(a), 7:22J. Although the statute has no general provision for waiver or termination of its ban, it does exempt from boycott any entities present in Burma solely to report the news, §7:22H(e), or to provide international telecommunication goods or services, ibid., or medical supplies, §7:221. “ ‘Doing business with Burma’” is defined broadly to cover any person “(a) having a principal place of business, place of incorporation or its corporate headquarters in Burma (Myanmar) or having any operations, leases, franchises, majority-owned subsidiaries, distribution…
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