Georgia courts interact with federal law and the U.S. Constitution. Which statement is accurate?

• A. State courts interpret state law and apply federal law as binding where applicable; federal law and the U.S. Constitution prevail over state law in cases of conflict.
• B. State courts must follow federal law in all cases, even when not applicable.
• C. Federal law overrides state law only in civil cases.
• D. State courts ignore federal law.

Answer: (A)

Federal supremacy and the binding effect of federal law on state courts is the key idea. State courts interpret and apply their own state law, but when federal law or the U.S. Constitution governs the issue, they must apply that federal law. Because of the Supremacy Clause, federal law and the Constitution prevail over state law in cases of conflict. So a Georgia court will apply federal law when it is controlling and this takes precedence over any contrary state provision. If there is no applicable federal rule or constitutional protection, state law governs.

The other statements misstate how this works: federal law does not apply in every situation, and state courts do not ignore federal law; federal law overrides state law only when it is applicable and in conflict, not limited to civil cases.