Can State Police enforce Federal Laws?
Assuming California’s Proposition 19 passes on November 2nd, it will be legal in that state to consume marijuana and grow it for personal use–in conflict with Federal drug laws. Will state and local police be able to prosecute marijuana users under Federal law, or is jurisdiction reserved exclusively to Federal agencies?
I am aware that some states work with the national government in enforcing immigration law; is this the only area where such cooperation occurs?
The Supreme Court (in Raich v. Gonzales) has ruled that Congress was within its Constitutionally-prescribed powers in criminalizing marijuana.
Federal laws are like a Floor. State laws can GIVE you rights, but they cannot take them away. As for state police enforcing federal laws, yessir they can =)
They can hold you for federal officers to pick you up, if they want to. For immigration, they hold and notify the federal officers. They only want the prior convicted felons.
The state can’r prosecute under federal laws. They are two completely different sets of laws and courts. Some offenses, like bank robbery and marijuana in some states are both violations of state and federal laws.
Witness Rodney King. The police were acquitted under state laws for assualt, but tried under federal laws as a civil rights violation.