Originally posted by blackiwid
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As you can see it's a state by state thing
Also once again you cannot compare the Germany to the US, You can only compare federations to federations, and states/countries to countries, particularly on matters where the laws vary widely.
Originally posted by blackiwid
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In terms of Criminal Law the Federal government only has Jurisdiction over 2 areas:
1). Crimes involving the crossing of state borders.
2). Disputes over the constitutionality of a state or federal law
As a result of this Someone can do stuff that is illegal federally but legal inside a state, and as long as he doesn't do it while crossing state borders he's fine. Inside Colorado for example pot is completely legal, now on the other hand buying pot in Colorado and taking it to say Arizona is illegal because as by crossing state borders you're now in violation of federal law. The same is true in all due reality for all federal laws from a structural standpoint. That said it is true that in practice the federal government oversteps this bound, however this is by offering states bags of money for complying with federal program x, y, or z.
States have almost complete autonomy as regards their criminal codes as long as it is in compliance with the US Constitution
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