ABSTRACT
The doctrine of preemption provides that federal law supersedes state law. Express preemption exists when Congress specifically states that federal law overrides state law. Complete preemption, also called field preemption, exists when Congress has occupied an entire area of the law. Under complete preemption, any state law in that field or area is trumped, regardless of whether the state law conflicts with the federal law. The idea that federal law trumps state law based on the Supremacy Clause is fairly straightforward. However, in practice, it is very difficult to determine when federal law preempts state law, and rulings in this area often appear inconsistent. For instance, one year the Supreme Court held that federal law regulating automobile safety standards preempted state tort lawsuits regarding airbags. The Court reached these apparently conflicting outcomes based on the specific language of the federal laws at issue and its interpretation of the federal government's intent in passing those laws.
