Also known as: strikes down · struck down · striking down · invalidate · nullify
Written by attorneys — see sources below.
A judicial declaration that a statute, regulation, or other legal provision is invalid and unenforceable because it contravenes a higher legal authority such as the Constitution.
Riley, a commercial truck driver from State A, challenged State B's rule imposing extra fees and highway restrictions only on nonresident drivers. The federal court applied the Privileges and Immunities Clause to the discriminatory measure. The court struck down the rule because it burdened nonresidents' pursuit of livelihood without adequate justification.
State officials refused to perform federal background checks required by the Brady Act. The Supreme Court reviewed the federal command to state officers. The Court struck down the provisions because they violated the anti-commandeering principle under the Tenth Amendment.
A beneficiary witnessed a will and later claimed the signature invalidated the document. The court applied the uniform probate rule on interested witnesses. The court struck down the challenge and upheld the will in full.
A Wisconsin resident with unpaid support sought to marry without court permission. The Supreme Court examined the statute's interference with the fundamental right to marry. The Court struck down the permission requirement because it was not narrowly tailored.
Sofia Stern sought to set aside a marital settlement after discovering her spouse's nondisclosure of assets. The Florida Supreme Court reviewed the fairness and disclosure standards. The court struck down the agreement because it was unreasonable and lacked full financial disclosure.
Same-sex couples in multiple states challenged laws limiting marriage to opposite-sex pairs. The Supreme Court considered the fundamental right to marry under the Due Process Clause. The Court struck down the state bans as unconstitutional.
The petitioners were fourteen same-sex couples and two men whose same-sex partners were deceased. They lived in Michigan, Kentucky, Ohio, and Tennessee. Those states defined marriage as a union between one man and one woman under their constitutions and statutes. The petitioners filed suits in federal district courts in their home states. They sought marriage licenses or recognition of marriages lawfully performed elsewhere. James Obergefell and John Arthur traveled from Ohio to Maryland to marry aboard a medical transport plane because Arthur suffered from ALS; Obergefell later sought to be listed as surviving spouse on Arthur's death certificate. April DeBoer and Jayne Rowse, Michigan nurses, adopted three children but could not both serve as legal parents under state adoption rules. Army Reserve Sergeant Ijpe DeKoe and Thomas Kostura married in New York before DeKoe's deployment to Afghanistan and later settled in Tennessee. Each district court ruled in the petitioners' favor. The respondents appealed. The Sixth Circuit consolidated the cases and reversed the district court judgments. The petitioners sought certiorari, which the Supreme Court granted. Same-sex couples had begun establishing families after substantial cultural and political developments in the late twentieth century. Earlier litigation had addressed the legal status of gays and lesbians, including challenges that reached the Supreme Court in Bowers v. Hardwick and Lawrence v. Texas.
View caseA court strikes down a law when it declares the statute or regulation invalid and unenforceable for violating a higher legal authority such as the Constitution.
Yes. When a state law discriminates against nonresidents in pursuing a livelihood without substantial justification and close tailoring, the court strikes it down as violating the Clause.
Yes. Federal statutes that command state officers to administer federal programs violate the Tenth Amendment, so courts strike down those provisions.
…(WHITE, J., concurring in result). In the recent abortion cases, cited above, courts have recognized these principles. Those striking down state laws have generally scrutinized the State's interests in protecting health and potential life, and have concluded that neither interest justified broad limitations on the reasons for…