Petition for Writ of Certiorari

TABLE OF CONTENTS
QUESTION PRESENTED ........................................................................................................................i
PARTIES TO THE PROCEEDINGS .....................................................................................................ii
TABLE OF AUTHORITIES .................................................................................................................. iv
OPINIONS BELOW ..................................................................................................................................2
JURISDICTION..........................................................................................................................................2
CONSTITUTIONAL AND STATUTORY PROVISIONS INVOLVED .......................................2
INTRODUCTION AND STATEMENT................................................................................................4
REASONS FOR GRANTING THE PETITION ..................................................................................7
I. Section 253(a) can curtail the states’ sovereignty by depriving the states of their ability to reign in the activities
of their o wn political subdivisions only if Congress there used “unmistakably clear” language.7
II. Courts have reached diametrically opposed decisions regarding whether the generality, “any entity,” is
“unmistakably clear” ..................................................................................................................................9
III. The conflict among courts determining how specific congressional language must be to carve out a portion of
the sovereign states’ authority to define the powers of their own subdivisions merits the attention of this court
......................................................................................................................................................................13
CONCLUSION.........................................................................................................................................15
CASES
TABLE OF AUTHORITIES
Alden v. Maine, 527 U.S. 706 (1999) ......................................................................................................7
Atascadero State Hosp. v. Scanlon,
473 U.S.234 (1985) ............................................................................................................................7, 8, 9
California Division of Labor Standards Enforcement v. Dillingham Construction, N.A., Inc., 519 U.S. 316 (1997)
........................................................................................................................................................................8
City of Abilene, Texas v. Federal Communications Comm’n., 164 F.3d 49 (D.C. Cir. 1999)passim
iii