Does Congress Have Implied Powers? | McCulloch v. Maryland

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In the second episode of Supreme Court Briefs, Mr. Beat makes one of the most boring Supreme Court cases in American history somewhat more interesting. It was, after all, QUITE A FREAKING BIG DEAL.

Washington, D.C. 1816

The United States Congress gets together to create the Second Bank of the United States. I like to call it the Bank of the U.S. 2.0. The bank’s main purpose was to handle all monetary transactions for the federal government. Most who supported its creation thought that the economy wasn’t so stable without a central bank. And yet, the bank still had its critics.

The next year, it opened in Philadelphia, and everything was all groovy, until that same year the feds tried to open another branch in Baltimore, Maryland. But Maryland legislators were like, “oh, so you want to open a branch here? Ok fine, then you’ll have to pay a tax.” Well, it wasn’t quite like that. The state’s General Assembly just passed a law that said that all banks in Maryland not chartered by the state legislature had to pay a tax.

The head of the bank’s Baltimore branch, James McCulloch, said “ain’t no way we payin’ that tax.” He felt that the law had been passed to target the Bank of the United States to hurt its operation. After he refused to pay the tax, the state of Maryland sued him.

In a state court, Maryland argued that the Constitution says nothing about the federal government having the right to create a central bank. Therefore, any Bank of the United States was unconstitutional.

Maryland won the case, but eventually the case was appealed to the Supreme Court. The Court heard oral arguments on February 22, 1819. They ruled the federal government DID have the authority to create such a bank. Boom, take that Maryland. Their decision was unanimous. Chief Justice John Marshall, aka Lil’ John, argued there was precedence for a national bank. After, the First Bank of the United States came before the Second.

However, more importantly, Marshall argued that just because the Constitution does not explicitly say the federal government can create a bank, doesn’t mean it can’t. He brought up the Necessary and Proper Clause of Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution, which says Congress has the power “to make all laws which shall be necessary and proper” to help the nation. Marshall said the federal government had several powers that weren’t specifically listed out in the Constitution but still were implied.

Second, the Court said Maryland couldn’t tax the Bank because the Supremacy Clause of Article 6 of the Constitution said federal laws overruled state laws.

Finally, the Court argued Maryland’s tax violated constitutional sovereignty by throwing a penalty to all Americans in favor people of the people of just one state.

Man, Supreme Court. Mic drop. I guess McCulloch could take on an entire state after all.

McCulloch v. Maryland justified the idea of “implied powers.” After this case, the Necessary and Proper Clause meant the federal government had powers beyond what was explicitly stated in the Constitution. It also justified the Supremacy Clause, giving the federal government even more power over the states. In fact, I would argue that no other Supreme Court case has done more to strengthen the federal government compared to the state governments than this one.