LogFAQs > #886180877

DawkinsNumber4 posted...

Federal law, Maryland law, and PA law all have the same definitions and therefore all case law regarding said matters are in pari materia.

1. You do realize that federal law only establishes a baseline, and states can feel free to legislate beyond what the federal government has?

2. PA law is only persuasive authority in MD, and they are not even in the same federal circuit. That means that if the federal courts in their different circuit have adopted different interpretations of the federal law in ambiguous areas, the interpretations of these courts are binding on PA and MD separately. That means 4th Circuit interpretations are binding on MD and 3rd on PA.

3. The PA and MD Supreme Courts are the absolute final word on any state legislation, so long as the legislation isn't in violation of federal law. That means that if the Supreme Court of Maryland rules any way differently than the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, it does matter worth a shit what the Penn Court had to say. It is the final word on its own state law in 99% of cases. See 1 & 2 for the relevance of that fact.

4. You claim that there is no Maryland caselaw on this. That is almost certainly not true, but I'm not going to bother researching it, because I, like you, am not an actual lawyer and I don't think I can do a better job than an actual professional.
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