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zsummers
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Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: New York?
 
2007-04-05, 00:24

Quote:
Originally Posted by zippy View Post
What about the right for homosexuals to marry? Aren't there a couple of States that legalized this? I know it is still against Federal law.
It is not exactly "against" federal law for homosexuals to marry. There simply isn't any federal law one way or the other, as marriage is a regulatory domain for the states. The DOMA act (federal law) simply says that one state (Texas, for example) doesn't have to recognize a same-sex marriage from another (Massachusetts, for example), not that same-sex marriage is outlawed.

As to the original question, there are plenty of acts outlawed by the feds but not by the states. Virtually any act that is illegal once done by crossing state borders, for instance (crossing a state border for the corruption of a minor is an example), or by putting something into the stream of commerce that does so. Military crimes are another example, as are immigration related violations (although these are often civil violations, not criminal). But these are made illegal by the feds and not the states simply because the states do not have the power to regulate them, not because they've explicitly said they are okay.

My sense is that you actually may be looking for something where a state explicitly says X-activity is okay but the feds say X-activity is not okay. The one that pops to mind most clearly is medical mary jane (already mentioned above). So you could look into the Angel Raich case. Also, you might look into peyote use as well, as I believe it is classified by the feds as an illicit substance but allowed by some states for religious worship. Otherwise, off the top of my head, there's nothing I can really think of that fits. I guess you might count the states that give up federal funding to allow a higher speed limit, but technically the higher speed limit isn't made "illegal" by the feds.
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