Commerce Clause

Question 1

Where is the commerce clause and what does it say?

Answer 1

Art. I§8→”Congress has the power to regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among the several states, and with the Indian Tribes.”

Question 2

What can congress regulate?

Answer 2

1. Channels of Commerce
2. Instrumentalities of Commerce (Anything that crosses state lines-airplanes, trucks)
3. Activities affecting interstate commerce–>Must “Substantially effect”
4. Includes Local activities that have a substantial effect on ISC

Question 3

What happened in Heart of Atlanta?

Answer 3

Hotel doesn’t allow black people, says this is local not interstate

1. Congress= ppl are increasingly mobile this action deters interstate travel
2. Allows congress to regulate to further noncommercial motives as long as regulated activity affects ISC
3. Restaurants are also included (Katzenbach)

Question 4

What is the aggregation principle?

Answer 4

Look at Class of activities Congress has sought to regulate(statute) to see if the whole group affects interstate Commerce.

1. Court will apply rational basis to eval. Congress’s conclusion that ISC
2. Regulated Activity must be economic

Question 5

What happened in Wickard v. Filburn?

Answer 5

Guy keeps some of his wheat for himself

1. Aggregate of every farmer keeping wheat for himself and that affect on ISC

Question 6

What happened in Gonzales?

Answer 6

1. We must look at the class of activities defined by the statute (Controlled Substance Act)
2. Even though weed is an illegal market it is still regulated
3. Weed is fungible, it can be bought and sold, so it does have a substantial effect on supply and demand
4. Brings back rational basis for aggregation
5. Purely intrastate that is non-commercial if failure to do so would affect ISC market

Question 7

What happened in US v. Lopez?

Answer 7

LIMITING CC AUTHORITY
Arg.- Firearms present threat to learning environment→affect education→affects ISC.
Court=can’t aggregate non-eco activity if it has nothing to do with commerce or economics
1. Court does not use rational basis test, court is concerned with finding CC limits

Question 8

What is the rational basis test for CC?

Answer 8

A court may invalidate legislation enacted under the commerce clause only if it is clear that there is no rational basis for a congressional finding that the regulated activity affects interstate commerce, or that there is no reasonable connection between the regulatory means selected and the asserted ends

Question 9

What happened in US v. Morrison?

Answer 9

Congress enacts Violence Against Women Act under their CC authority

1. Court=regulated activity isn’t economic and that congressional findings alone are not enough
2. Rational basis is in shambles bc they ignored the data
3. If you aggregate everything then nothing is local

Question 10

What is the first takeaway from Gonzales?

Answer 10

You must look to the class of activity defined in the statute

Question 11

What is the second takeaway from Gonzales?

Answer 11

Defines economic as=production, distribution, consumption (fungible commodities)

Question 12

What is the third takeaway from Gonzales?

Answer 12

Congress can regulate purely intrastate noncommercial activity if a failure to do so would undercut national regulation in that commodity.