How to Use states' rights in a Sentence

states' rights

plural noun
  • At the very least, the minimum age to work is a states' rights issue.
    — Evie Fordham, Fox News, 9 June 2021
  • His fight was for states' rights, his loyalty not to slavery but to Virginia.
    — Paul Daugherty, Cincinnati.com, 10 June 2020
  • What does Paxton's lawsuit do in terms of setting a precedent that is contrary to states' rights?
    — Alison Medley, Chron, 11 Dec. 2020
  • Gilliam is not contesting states' rights to ban profane, sexualized or vulgar plates.
    — Maureen Groppe, USA Today, 1 Sep. 2025
  • Gilliam is not contesting states' rights to ban profane, sexualized or vulgar plates.
    — Angele Latham, The Tennessean, 3 Sep. 2025
  • Thomas is a conservative and a strict constructionist who supports states' rights.
    — CNN, 2 Nov. 2017
  • His assault is not just on our democracy, but on states' rights and the American constitution.
    — Joe Walsh, CBS News, 11 Dec. 2025
  • While some contend that the Civil War was fought over states' rights, scholars generally agree that slavery was the primary driver of the conflict.
    — The Washington Post, NOLA.com, 31 Oct. 2017
  • Luther Martin was a Founding Father who refused to sign the Constitution over states' rights objections.
    — Mike Ellis, USA TODAY, 31 Oct. 2017
  • Both of these lawmaking conventions arose in the 19th century and sprang from sentiments not all deemed worthy today, including states' rights and aversion to public debt.
    — Star Tribune, 3 Apr. 2021
  • Some have tried to argue that the Confederate flag is actually a symbol of states' rights, but this ignores its long association with white supremacy and racial violence.
    — Star Tribune, 15 Jan. 2021
  • The decision was seen as a victory for states' rights advocates, who called Obama's establishing of the monuments gross federal overreach.
    — The Tylt, cleveland.com, 8 Dec. 2017
  • The dissenting judge in the case, Eric Murphy, wrote that the ruling violated states' rights to determine their own education policies and practices.
    — John Wisely, Detroit Free Press, 10 June 2020
  • White Southerners argued that states' rights, rather than slavery, was the impetus for the men in the carving to take up arms against the federal government during the Civil War.
    — Theresa Waldrop, CNN, 30 May 2021
  • Emmer, chairman of the National Republican Campaign Committee, favors states' rights to make their own rules.
    — Jim Spencer, Star Tribune, 1 July 2021
  • Other supporters include a group of 14 Republican state attorneys general, who in their their public comment letter brushed off concerns that the rule would interfere with states' rights.
    — Jaclyn Diaz, NPR, 25 Apr. 2026
  • John Bursch of Alliance of Defending Freedom, a firm working with the defense of both cases, suggested the firm won't lean on the argument that trans athlete laws should be a states' rights issue.
    — Jackson Thompson, FOXNews.com, 14 Nov. 2025
  • Republicans have traditionally defended states' rights and lobbied for a less-powerful federal government.
    — Paloma Chavez, PEOPLE, 3 Feb. 2026
  • These are the same Republicans who talk tough about states' rights but fold the moment they're asked to actually defend them—the same politicians who campaign on conservative values but lack the courage to enforce basic legislative discipline.
    — James Bickerton, MSNBC Newsweek, 30 Aug. 2025
  • But during the Civil Rights Movement, presidents on some occasions used their authority to supersede states' rights to activate the National Guard.
    — Alana Wise, NPR, 21 Aug. 2025
  • By the end of the day, there was unanimous support among these ambitious Democrats in supporting the states' rights to legalize marijuana without federal interference - the stance of the Obama administration.
    — David Weigel, Houston Chronicle, 5 Jan. 2018
  • Republican lawmakers are universally opposed to the voting overhaul, calling it a Democratic power grab and federal intrusion into states' rights to administer elections.
    — Star Tribune, 2 Apr. 2021
  • Influential Republicans who oppose this legal gambit are invoking GOP principles about protecting states' rights, saying states should not interfere with other states' elections.
    — Aj Willingham, CNN, 11 Dec. 2020
  • Later, Black voters were alienated by the candidacy of Republican Barry Goldwater, a senator from Arizona who advocated for states' rights, which many people interpreted as pro-segregation.
    — Taylor Ardrey, USA Today, 30 Mar. 2026
  • Nineteenth-century Confederates and 20th-century segregationists cited his defense of states' rights, while Abraham Lincoln and civil rights leaders emphasized Jefferson as the author of the Declaration of Independence.
    — ABC News, 30 June 2026

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'states' rights.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Last Updated: