The Last Word
Don’t Make A Federal Case Out of It!

Don’t Make A Federal Case Out of It!

Steve Byas
Article audio sponsored by The John Birch Society

Don’t Make a Federal Case Out of It!

The Constitution of the United States created a federal republic, which provided that most matters would be left to the several states. The common government of the United States, now generally referred to as either the federal government or the national government, was delegated certain enumerated powers, found mostly in Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution. 

And to make sure this was understood, the 10th Amendment said that those powers not delegated to that common government were kept, or “reserved,” by the states.

Unless committed on federal land, such as the federal District of Columbia, or a military installation, crimes such as murder, robbery, rape, and the like would be handled in the court systems of the several states. At one time it was so rare for a criminal case (or a civil case) to land in federal court that a popular expression for making too big a deal out of something was to say, “Don’t make a federal case out of it!”

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