its my understanding that due to the supremacy clause, federal (constitutional) law trumps state laws. in some cases, state laws can grant addiitional rights, but they can't abridge the rights granted by the constitution.
Not exactly - you're right about most of what you said, except the constitutional rights/bill of rights. The Bill of Rights defends individuals against the federal government, and did not originally apply to State governments.
To date, the first, second, fourth, partially fifth, (by and large) sixth, and partially eight amendments have been incorporated, i.e. apply equally to both State and Federal governments. The 2nd (the right to bear arms) was the most recent one, incorporated in 2010 here in Chicago.
interesting thanks. so freedom of speech and lots of other stuff has been incorporated, but not everything in the constitution applies to states automatically
One by one, the amendments have been/are being slowly incorporated to protect individual rights against State governments as well, as the result of Supreme Court rulings: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incorporation_of_the_Bill_of_Ri...
To date, the first, second, fourth, partially fifth, (by and large) sixth, and partially eight amendments have been incorporated, i.e. apply equally to both State and Federal governments. The 2nd (the right to bear arms) was the most recent one, incorporated in 2010 here in Chicago.