Death of treaty supremacy an invisible constitutional change

This edition previously issued in print: 2016.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Traditionally, the Constitution's treaty supremacy rule provided that all treaties supersede conflicting state laws. The rule was designed to prevent treaty violations by state governments. From the Founding until World War II, treaty supremacy and self-execution were independent doctrines. Treaty supremacy was an aspect of federal supremacy; it governed the relationship between treaties and state law. Self-execution governed the division of power over treaty implementation between Congress and the president. In 1945, the United States ratified the U.N. Charter, which obligates nations to promote 'human rights - for all without distinction as to race.' In 1950, a California court applied the Charter's human rights provisions and the traditional treaty supremacy rule to invalidate a state law that discriminated against Japanese nationals.

Specialized.