Article 1, Section 8, Clause 3 of the United States Constitution, known as the Commerce Clause, states that Congress has the exclusive authority to manage commerce between the states, with foreign nations, and Indian tribes. The Constitution of the United States of America is the supreme Law of the United States. Courts and commentators have tended to discuss each of these three areas as a separate power granted to Congress. It is common to see the Commerce Clause referred to as "the Foreign Commerce Clause", "the Interstate Commerce Clause", and "the Indian Commerce Clause", each of which refers to the same single sentence in the constitution that covers all three.
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Article I, Section 8, Clause 1,3:
| “ | The Congress shall have power . . . To regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among the several states, and with the Indian tribes; | ” |
Significance
The use of the Commerce Clause by Congress to justify its legislative power has been the subject of long, intense political controversy. Interpretation of the sixteen words of the Commerce Clause has helped define the balance of power between the federal government and the states. As such, it has a direct impact on the lives of US citizens.
The Tenth Amendment states that the federal government of the United States has only the powers specifically delegated to it by the Constitution. The Tenth Amendment ( Amendment X) of the United States Constitution, which is part of the Bill of Rights, was ratified on December 15, Other powers are reserved to the states, or to the people. The Commerce Clause is an important source of those powers delegated to Congress, and therefore its interpretation is very important in determining the scope of federal power in controlling innumerable aspects of American life.
History
The Founders' understanding of the word "commerce" is a subject of disagreement among scholars today. The Founding Fathers of the United States are the Political leaders who signed the Declaration of Independence or otherwise participated in the
Some scholars, such as Akhil Reed Amar, argue that although commerce means economic activity today, it had non-economic meanings in late eighteenth century English. Akhil Reed Amar (born 1958 is Southmayd Professor of Law at Yale Law School, an expert on Constitutional law and Criminal procedure. For example, in 18th century writing one finds expressions such as "the free and easy commerce of social life" and "our Lord's commerce with his disciples". [1] These scholars interpret interstate commerce to mean "substantial interstate human relations" and find this consistent with the meaning of commerce at the time of the writing of the Constitution. They also argue that this expansive interpretation makes more sense for the foreign and Indian commerce clauses as one would expect Congress to be given authority to regulate non-economic relations with other nations and with Indian tribes. [2]
Other scholars, such as Robert H. Bork and Daniel E. Robert Heron Bork (born March 1, 1927) is a conservative American legal scholar who advocates the judicial philosophy of Originalism. Troy, argue that prior to 1887, the Commerce Clause was rarely invoked by Congress and therefore a broad interpretation of the word "commerce" was clearly never intended by the Founders. Year 1887 ( MDCCCLXXXVII) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common In support of this claim, they argue that the word "commerce", as used in the Constitutional Convention and the Federalist Papers, can be substituted with either "trade" or "exchange" interchangeably while preserving the meaning of the statements. The Philadelphia Convention (now also known as the Constitutional Convention, the Federal Convention, or the " Grand Convention at Philadelphia The Federalist Papers are a series of 85 articles advocating the ratification of the United States Constitution. They also point to Madison's statement in an 1828 letter that the "Constitution vests in Congress expressly. James Madison Jr (March 16 1751 – June 28 1836 was an American Politician, the fourth President of the United States (1809–1817 and one of the Founding . . 'the power to regulate trade. '"[1][2]
Examining contemporaneous dictionaries does not neatly resolve the matter. For instance, the 1792 edition of Samuel Johnson's Dictionary of the English language defines the noun "commerce" narrowly as "[e]xchange of one thing for another; interchange of any thing; trade; traffick", but it defines the corresponding verb "to commerce" more broadly as "[t]o hold intercourse". Samuel Johnson (often referred to as Dr Johnson) (18 September [3]
Early years (1800s-1930s)
In Gibbons v. Ogden (1824), Chief Justice John Marshall ruled that the power to regulate interstate commerce also included the power to regulate interstate navigation: "Commerce, undoubtedly is traffic, but it is something more—it is intercourse . Gibbons v Ogden, 22 US 1 ( 1824) was a case in which the Supreme Court of the United States held that the power to regulate interstate commerce Year 1824 ( MDCCCXXIV) was a Leap year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Leap year John Marshall (September 24 1755 – July 6 1835 was an American statesman and jurist who shaped American constitutional law and made the Supreme Court a center of power . . [A] power to regulate navigation is as expressly granted, as if that term had been added to the word 'commerce' . . . [T]he power of Congress does not stop at the jurisdictional lines of the several states. It would be a very useless power if it could not pass those lines. " However, the court placed limits on what could be considered interstate commerce. It did not include "that commerce, which is completely internal, which is carried on between man and man in a State, or between different parts of the same State, and which does not extend to or effect other States. "
In Cherokee Nation v. Georgia (1831), the Supreme Court addressed whether the Cherokee nation is a foreign state in the sense in which that term is used in the constitution. Cherokee Nation v Georgia,, was a United States Supreme Court decision Year 1831 ( MDCCCXXXI) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a The Court provided a definition of Indian tribe that clearly made the rights of tribes far inferior to those of foreign states. In part the court said:
"Though the Indians are acknowledged to have an unquestionable, and, heretofore, unquestioned right to the lands they occupy, until that right shall be extinguished by a voluntary cession to our government; yet it may well be doubted whether those tribes which reside within the acknowledged boundaries of the United States can, with strict accuracy, be denominated foreign nations. They may, more correctly be denominated domestic dependent nations. They occupy a territory to which we assert a title independent of their will, which must take effect in point of possession when their right of possession ceases. Meanwhile, they are in a state of pupilage. Their relation to the United States resembles that of a ward to his guardian. "
The court took a formalistic approach, which distinguished between manufacturing and commerce, direct and indirect effects on commerce, and local and national activities. While Congress had the power to regulate commerce, it could not regulate manufacturing, which was seen as being entirely local. In Swift v. United States (1905), the Court ruled that the clause covered meatpackers; although their activity was geographically "local," they had an important effect on the "current of commerce", and thus could be regulated under the Commerce Clause. Year 1905 ( MCMV) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year starting The Court's decision halted price fixing. Stafford v. Wallace (1922) upheld a federal law (the Packers and Stockyards Act) regulating the Chicago meatpacking industry, because the industry was part of the interstate commerce of beef from ranchers to dinner tables. Year 1922 ( MCMXXII) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. The Packers and Stockyards Act of 1921 7 USC §§ 181-229b was enacted following the release in 1919 of the Report of the Federal Trade Commission Chicago (ʃɪˈkɑːgoʊ is the largest City by population in the state of Illinois and the American Midwest of the United States. The stockyards "are but a throat through which the current [of commerce] flows," Chief Justice Taft wrote, referring to the stockyards as "great national public utilities. William Howard Taft (September 15 1857 – March 8 1930 was an American politician, the twenty-seventh President of the United States, the tenth Chief Justice "
The court would also examine the purpose behind the creation of the law, and would invalidate otherwise valid federal regulations if the purpose was to have an affect on something which was outside of the scope of the Commerce Clause.
New Deal
The clause was the subject of conflict between the U. S. Supreme Court and the Administration of Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1935-37 when the Court struck down several of the President's "New Deal" measures on the grounds that they were not authorized by the powers delegated to the federal government by the Constitution. The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest judicial body in the United States and leads the federal judiciary. The New Deal was the name that United States President Franklin D After winning the 1936 election, FDR proposed a plan to appoint an additional justice for each sitting Justice over 70. The United States presidential election of 1936 took place as the Great Depression entered its eighth year Given the age of the current justices this permitted a court population of up to 15. Roosevelt claimed that this was not to change the rulings of the Court, but to lessen the load on the older Justices, who he claimed were slowing the Court down.
There was widespread opposition to this "court packing" plan, but in the end the New Deal did not need it to succeed. The Judiciary Reorganization Bill of 1937, frequently called the Court-packing Bill, was a law proposed by United States President Franklin Roosevelt In what became known as "the switch in time that saved nine," Justice Owen Josephus Roberts and Chief Justice Charles Evans Hughes switched sides in 1937 and, in National Labor Relations Board v. Jones & Laughlin Steel Corporation, upheld the National Labor Relations Act, which gave the National Labor Relations Board extensive power over unions across the country. “The switch in time that saved nine” was the name given by the press to the apparent sudden shift by Justice Owen J Charles Evans Hughes Sr ( April 11, 1862 – August 27, 1948) was a Lawyer and Republican politician from the State Year 1937 ( MCMXXXVII) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. National Labor Relations Board v Jones & Laughlin Steel Corporation, 301 U The National Labor Relations Act (or Wagner Act) is a 1935 United States federal law that protects the rights of most workers in the Private sector The National Labor Relations Board (or NLRB) is an Independent agency of the United States Government charged with conducting
The New Deal Court drastically expanded the scope of the Commerce Clause. When examining if something was "commerce," the Court would aggragate the total effect the activity would have on commerce. Intrastate activities fell within the scope of the Commerce Clause if those activities would have any rational effect on interstate commerce. Finally, the 10th Amendment "is but a truism" US v. Darby ([1941]) and was not considered to be an independent limitation on Congressional power.
In 1941 the Court upheld the Fair Labor Standards Act which regulated the production of goods shipped across state lines. Year 1941 ( MCMXLI) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (the link will display 1941 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 ( FLSA, ch 676, June 25, 1938,) also called the Wages and Hours Bill, is United States federal In Wickard v. Filburn, (1942) the Court upheld the Agricultural Adjustment Act, stating that the act of growing wheat on one's own land, for one's own consumption, affected interstate commerce, and therefore under the Commerce Clause was subject to federal regulation. Wickard v Filburn, 317 US 111 (1942 is a United States Supreme Court decision interpreting the Commerce Clause of the United States Year 1942 ( MCMXLII) was a Common year starting on Thursday (the link will display the full 1942 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The Agricultural Adjustment Act ( enacted May 12, 1933) restricted production during the New Deal by paying farmers to reduce crop area
This change in the Court's decisions is often referred to as the Constitutional Revolution of 1937. [3] This expansion continued largely unabated until United States v. Lopez (1995). United States v Lopez, was the first United States Supreme Court case since the Great Depression to set limits to Congress's power under the
Civil rights
The wide interpretation of the scope of the commerce clause continued following the passing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which aimed to prevent business from discriminating against black customers. Origins The bill was introduced by President John F Kennedy in his civil rights speech of June 11 1963, in which he asked for legislation "giving In Heart of Atlanta Motel v. United States (1964), the Court ruled that Congress could regulate a business that served mostly interstate travelers; in Katzenbach v. McClung (1964) the Court ruled that the federal government could regulate Ollie's Barbecue, which served mostly local clientele but sold food that had previously moved across state lines; and in Daniel v. Heart of Atlanta Motel Inc v United States, 379 US 241 ( 1964) was a landmark United States Supreme Court case holding that the U Year 1964 ( MCMLXIV) was a Leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display full calendar of the 1964 Gregorian calendar. Katzenbach v McClung, 379 US 294 ( 1964) was a case in which the Supreme Court of the United States held that Congress acted Year 1964 ( MCMLXIV) was a Leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display full calendar of the 1964 Gregorian calendar. Paul (1969), the Court ruled that the federal government could regulate a recreational facility because three out of the four items sold at its snack bar were purchased from outside the state. Year 1969 ( MCMLXIX) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar.
The Rehnquist Court
In 1995, Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist delivered the opinion of the Court in United States v. Lopez (later clarified by United States v. Morrison). William Hubbs Rehnquist (October 1 1924 – September 3 2005 was an American lawyer, jurist, and a political figure who served as an Associate Justice United States v Lopez, was the first United States Supreme Court case since the Great Depression to set limits to Congress's power under the United States v Morrison, is a United States Supreme Court decision that examined the limits of Congress's power to make laws under the Commerce Clause There, the Court ruled that Congress had the power to regulate only
- the channels of commerce,
- the instrumentalities of commerce, and
- action that substantially affects interstate commerce
Thus the federal government did not have the power to regulate relatively unrelated things such as the possession of firearms near schools, as in the Lopez case. This was the first time in 60 years, since the conflict with President Franklin Roosevelt in 1936-37, that the Court had overturned a putative regulation on interstate commerce because it exceeded Congress's commerce power. Justice Clarence Thomas, in a separate concurring opinion, argued that allowing Congress to regulate intrastate, noncommercial activity under the Commerce Clause would confer on Congress a general “police power” over the Nation. Clarence Thomas (born June 23, 1948) is an American Jurist. He has been serving as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United
The Court found in Seminole Tribe v. Florida, 517 U.S. 44 (1996) that, unlike the Fourteenth Amendment, the Commerce Clause does not give the federal government the power to abrogate the sovereign immunity of the states. Seminole Tribe of Florida v Florida, 517 US 44 (1996 was a United States Supreme Court case which held that Article One of the U Case citation is the system used in many countries to identify the decisions in past Court cases either in special series of books called reporters Year 1996 ( MCMXCVI) was a Leap year starting on Monday (link will display full 1996 Gregorian calendar) The Fourteenth Amendment ( Amendment XIV) to the United States Constitution is one of the post- Civil War Reconstruction Amendments, first The Abrogation doctrine is a constitutional law doctrine expounding when and how the Congress may waive a state's Sovereign immunity and subject it to lawsuits Sovereign immunity, or crown immunity, is a type of immunity that in Common law Jurisdictions traces its origins from early English law
Many described the Rehnquist Court's commerce clause cases as a doctrine of "new federalism". The outer limits of that doctrine were delineated by Gonzales v. Raich (2005), in which Justices Scalia and Kennedy departed from their previous positions as parts of the Lopez and Morrison majorities to uphold a federal law regarding marijuana. Gonzales v Raich (previously Ashcroft v Raich) 545 US 1 (2005 was a case in which the United States Supreme Court ruled on Year 2005 ( MMV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. (born March 11, 1936) is an American Jurist and the second most senior Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States Anthony McLeod Kennedy (born July 23, 1936) has been an Associate Justice of the U Cannabis, also known as marijuana or marihuana, or ganja (from Hindi / Sanskrit: गांजा gānjā hemp) is a The court found the federal law valid, although the marijuana in question had been grown and consumed within a single state, and had never entered interstate commerce. The court held that Congress may regulate a non-economic good, which is intrastate, if it does so as part of a complete scheme of legislation designed to regulate interstate commerce.
See also
References
- ^ Both these examples are taken from the Oxford English Dictionary entry on "commerce". This article does not refer to The Constitution in Exile, a book by Judge Andrew Napolitano. The “Dormant” Commerce Clause, also known as the “Negative” Commerce Clause, is a legal doctrine that courts in the United States have inferred from the Commerce Navigable servitude is a United States constitutional doctrine that gives the federal government a property right over waterways as an extension of the Commerce States' rights refers to the idea in US politics and constitutional law, that U The Oxford English Dictionary ( OED) published by the Oxford University Press (OUP is a comprehensive Dictionary of the English
- ^ Ryerson, James (2005-11-06). Year 2005 ( MMV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Events 355 - Roman Emperor Constantius II promotes his cousin Julian to the rank of Caesar, entrusting him with 'America's Constitution': A Liberal Originalist. The New York Times Magazine. Retrieved on 2008-05-01. 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common Events 305 - Diocletian and Maximian retire from the office of Roman Emperor.
- ^ Leuchtenburg, E. (1996). The Supreme Court Reborn: The Constitutional Revolution in the Age of Roosevelt. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-511131-1
External links
- P. A. Madison, Busting Congress' Interstate Commerce Myth
- David Morris, AlterNet, June 15, 2005, The Sainted Clause
- Capsule history of Commerce Clause cases
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