States claim the stimulus law assaults state sovereignty by barring local governments from using aid money to cut taxes. But the Supreme Court has consistently approved conditions on federal spending.
No one involved in local government wants to see federal law enforcement agents take over their policing. But a mayor who’s also a legal scholar says there’s history and precedent for it.
States once used their constitutional authority to argue in defense of slavery. Today, states can make a similar argument to protect immigrants from deportation, writes a legal scholar.