In South Dakota v. Dole, the validity of a federal statute granting federal funds for state highways to only those states in which 21 is the legal drinking age was questioned. What did the U.S. Supreme Court rule? The Court upheld the statute only in the case of states that could provide matching funds; and if matching funds could not be provided, the Court ruled that Congress was overreaching its power in regard to partnership between state and federal government.

The case was resolved 7-2 with the majority vote wrote by the Chief Justice William Rehnquist. It stated that the statue was a valid interpretation of the Spending Clause and that it was not unconstitutional. Congress has the authority of regulating the spends but not till the point they applied coercion.

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drpauloduarte drpauloduarte · Answer 2 · 2019-10-14T20:27:43+02:00

Answer:

The Supreme Court ruled that Congress did not violate South Dakota's right to regulate the sale of liquor under the 21st Amendment and that Congress could place conditions on federal funding if states failed to raise their drinking age.

South Dakota v. Dole, 483 U.S. 203 (1987), was a case in which the United States Supreme Court considered the limitations that the Constitution places on the authority of the United States Congress when it uses its authority to influence the individual states in areas of authority normally reserved to the states.