AP Gov Court Cases - McCulloch v. Maryland (1819)

Article 1 Section 8 Clause 18

Necessary and Proper Clause "The Congress shall have Power... to make all alws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into execution the foregoing powers and all other powers vested by this Constitution in the government of the U.S. or in any department or office thereof"

Amendment 10

The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited bu it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively or to the people

Facts in Case

-Maryland attmepted to close the Baltimore branch of the national bank by passing a law that forced all banks chartered outside of the state to pay an annual tax -James McCulloch, chief administrative officer of the Baltimore branch, refused to pay the tax -Maryland sued McCulloch, claiming MD had the power to tax any bank -McCulloch convicted, but appealed it in the Maryland Court of Appeals; argued that Congress used the necessary and proper clause to establish a National Bank

Decision and Significance

Ruling (Unanimous): -SCOTUS determined Congress had the power to create a national bank as an implied power of the Necessary and Proper clause -also ruled that Maryland could not tax the Bank of the United States under the Supremacy Clause and since it would interfere with Congress' actions -Maryland also had no right to tax the national bank under the 10th Amendment Significance: -established the necessary and proper clause as well as the supremacy clause -limited the influence of the 10th Amendment

Article 6, Clause 2

Supremacy Clause -Any law or treat made is the supreme law of the land -All judges in every state shall be bound thereby -any state law that is contrary to a federal law will be declared "null and void"