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Abstract
| Granted: |
Friday, January 14, 2005 |
| Argument: |
Tuesday, April 26, 2005
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| Decision: |
Monday, June 20, 2005 |
| Issues: |
Federalism, Federal Preemption of State Regulation |
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Advocates
| Henry J. Boynton |
(argued the cause for Respondents) |
| James H. Hanson |
(argued the cause for Petitioners in 03-1234) |
| Malcolm L. Stewart |
(on behalf of the United States, as amicus curiae, supporting the Respondents in No. 03-1230 and supporting the Petitioners in No. 03-1234) |
| Robert Digges, Jr. |
(argued the cause for Petitioners in 03-1230) |
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Facts of the Case
A Michigan law imposed an annual $100 fee on each Michigan license-plated truck that operated entirely in interstate commerce. A group of interstate trucking companies sought unsuccesfully to have Michigan courts invalidate the law. The companies claimed that the federal law that had created the Single State Registration System (SSRS) preempted and prohibited such state fees. Under the federal law a trucking company could obtain a permit applicable in every state by registering once in a single state. While the initial state could demand a fee equal to the sum of its individual state fee, the law prohibited a state from imposing an additional "state registration requirement."
Question
Did federal law establishing for trucks the Single State Registration System (SSRS) preempt a separate Michigan registration fee?
Conclusion
No. In a 6-3 opinion delivered by Justice Stephen Breyer, the Court held that "reference to text, historical context, and purpose" proved that the words "state registration requirement" in the federal law applied only to state requirements concerning SSRS registration. The Michigan statute, the majority reasoned, had nothing to do with SSRS.
