COHENS v VIRGINIA

☆BASIC BACKGROUND☆
★ Congress created a national lottery, but Virginia already had a state lottery
★They passed a law to prohibit the sale of out of state lotteries (which included the national lottery)
★So the Cohens sold national lotto tickets in Virginia and they were sued for it :/
★Lotteries were the main ways that the government raised capital
★Challenged the free flow of commerce
Cohens hired Pinkney and Ogden

SIGNIFICANCE

• Marshall asserted Supreme Court's right to review decisions of state supreme courts
• Hurt the states' rights

OUTCOME

• Cohen was convicted for illegally selling lotto tickets
• State Supreme Court upheld this
• Marshall overturned it though

DEVELOPMENT OF NATIONALISM/ AUTHORITY OF FEDERAL GOVT

• Affirmed the constitutionality of federal review in state court decisions
• All courts must submit to federal jurisdiction