160
Breyer, J., dissenting
Slayer statutes—like this statute—"gover[n] the payment of benefits, a central matter of plan administration." Ante, at 148. And contrary to the Court's suggestion, ante, at 152, slayer statutes vary from State to State in their details just like divorce revocation statutes. Compare Ariz. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 14-2803(F) (1995) (requiring proof, in a civil proceeding, under preponderance of the evidence standard); Haw. Rev. Stat. § 560:2-803(g) (1999) (same), with Ga. Code Ann. § 53-1-5(d) (Supp. 1996) (requiring proof under clear and convincing evidence standard); Me. Rev. Stat. Ann., Tit. 18-A, § 2-803(e) (1998) (same); and Ala. Code § 43-8-253(e) (1991) (treating judgment of conviction as conclusive when it becomes final); Me. Rev. Stat. Ann., Tit. 18-A, § 2-803(e) (1998) (same), with Ariz. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 14-2803(F) (1995) (treating judgment of conviction as conclusive only after "all right to appeal has been exhausted"); Haw. Rev. Stat. § 560:2- 803(g) (1999) (same). Indeed, the "slayer" conflict would seem more serious, not less serious, than the conflict before us, for few, if any, slayer statutes permit plans to opt out of the state property law rule.
"ERISA pre-emption analysis," the Court has said, must "respect" the "separate spher[e]" of state "authority." Fort Halifax Packing Co. v. Coyne, 482 U. S. 1, 19 (1987) (quoting Alessi v. Raybestos-Manhattan, Inc., 451 U. S. 504, 522 (1981)) (internal quotation marks omitted). In so stating, the Court has recognized the practical importance of preserving local independence, at retail, i. e., by applying pre-emption analysis with care, statute by statute, line by line, in order to determine how best to reconcile a federal statute's language and purpose with federalism's need to preserve state autonomy. Indeed, in today's world, filled with legal complexity, the true test of federalist principle may lie, not in the occasional constitutional effort to trim Congress' commerce power at its edges, United States v. Morrison, 529 U. S. 598 (2000), or to protect a State's treasury from a private damages action, Board of Trustees of Univ. of Ala. v.
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