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| Pennsylvania v. Nelson | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Argued November 15–16, 1955 Decided April 2, 1956 | |
| Full case name | The State of Pennsylvania, Appellant v. Steve Nelson, Respondent |
| Citations | 350 U.S. 497 (more) 76 S. Ct. 477; 100 L. Ed. 640; 1956 U.S. LEXIS 1730 |
| Case history | |
| Prior | Cert. to the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, Western District |
| Holding | |
| The Pennsylvania law is unenforceable because it was preempted by the federal act. | |
| Court membership | |
| |
| Case opinions | |
| Majority | Warren, joined by Black, Frankfurter, Douglas, Clark, Harlan |
| Dissent | Reed, joined by Burton, Minton |
| Laws applied | |
| U.S. Const. art. 6 clause 2 | |
Pennsylvania v. Nelson, 350 U.S. 497 (1956), was a United States Supreme Court case that established a precedent for the preemption of United States Federal law over State laws. The case was argued November 15–16, 1955 and the decision was handed down April 2, 1956. The State of Pennsylvania tried to convict a man of sedition under a state law, but a Federal law existed on the same subject. The Court ruled that the Federal law, the Smith Act, overruled the state law, the Pennsylvania Sedition Act, even though the state law was created before the federal law. Nelson, who was convicted under the state law, was therefore mistried.