Opinion ID: 2798172
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: State Constitutions

Text: The State Constitutions of Veracruz, Quintana Roo, and Tamaulipas provide that the individual states maintain a degree of autonomy and freedom. Article 1 of the Constitution of Veracruz, for example, states that it is “free and autonomous in its administration and internal governance.” Article 1 of the Constitution of Quintana Roo explains that it is a “free state as its members determine the organization, function and objectives of its community.” Article 1 of the Constitution of Tamaulipas states that it is “free, sovereign and independent in its government and internal administration,” but also notes that it is “tied to the branches of government as part of the United Mexican States, in all that the Constitution expressly sets forth.” Although the language of the constitutions is expansive, there is substantial language in these documents recognizing the superior authority of the federal government. The Veracruz Constitution may, for example, note that the state is “free and autonomous,” as Plaintiffs argue, but it also makes clear that this is the case only with respect to its “administration and internal governance.” Tamaulipas may be “free” and “sovereign” but it is “tied to the branches of government as part of the United Mexican States.” These state constitutions must yield to Article 27 of the federal constitution, which vests ownership of the relevant property “originally in the Nation.” Mexican 16 Case: 13-31070 Document: 00513028113 Page: 17 Date Filed: 05/01/2015 No. 13-31070 Constitution, Article 27, ¶ 1; see also Mexican Constitution, Article 133 (containing a supremacy clause—similar to the American version embedded in Article VI of the U.S. Constitution—providing that the Mexican Constitution and federal law bind the states “notwithstanding any provision to the contrary in the local constitutions or local laws”).