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Crosby v. National Foreign Trade Council
Supreme Court of the United States (2000) | 147 L. Ed. 2d 352; 120 S. Ct. 2288; 530 U.S. 363; 2000 U.S. LEXIS 4153; 68 U.S.L.W. 4545; 2000 Cal. Daily Op. Serv. 4852; 2000 Daily Journal DAR 6469; 13 Fla. L. Weekly Fed. S 441; 2000 Colo. J. C.A.R. 3538
TL;DR: The Supreme Court held that a Massachusetts law restricting state contracts with companies doing business in Burma was unconstitutional. The Court found the state law was preempted because it interfered with the flexible, multilateral sanctions scheme established by a federal statute, undermining the President's foreign policy authority.
Legal Significance: This case is a key modern precedent on conflict preemption, specifically "obstacle preemption." It demonstrates that a state law is preempted if its methods frustrate Congress's objectives and interfere with the federal government's exclusive authority to conduct a unified foreign policy, even if the state and federal laws share similar goals.