Commerce clause

1. 05/14/11 1
Article I, Section 8
Clause 3
Commerce Clause
Interstate Commerce
Bill Conley

2. 2
Introduction
Interstate Commerce
Business or exchange of
commodities (trade),
between citizens of
different states across
state lines.

3. 3
Original intent
Reaction to Articles of
Confederation
Move from plural to singular
meaning of the United States of
America
“…a more perfect Union”
Insure flow of trade is free of
encumbrances and restrictions
Madison in 1928, “power to
regulate trade.”

4. 4
Historical expansion
Application of the clause has
moved from limiting states’
interference with free exchange,
to recent attempts to coerce
citizens to buy a product;
insurance.

5. 5
Early Years
Federal Plenary Power
Gibbons v. Ogden
•Chief Justice John Marshall
•Commerce includes “every species of
commercial intercourse”
•Federal government has complete
power if legislated in that area
–Ogden given exclusive rights by NY
through Livingston and Fulton, and
Gibbons rights through coasting
trade act – Congress 1793

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Unimplemented Power
“Selective exclusiveness”
Justice Benjamin R. Curtis
Cooley v. Board of Warrens of
Port of Authority
If Congress hasn’t legislated,
states may, unless there is a
need for “uniform national
control”

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Increased
Congressional Power
Interstate Commerce Act
1887 put railroads under
federal jurisdiction
Sherman Antitrust Act
(1890)prohibited
combinations or monopolies
due to restraint of trade
between states or foreign
powers

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Limits on Power
U.S. v. E. C. Knight Company (1895)
Sherman Act doesn’t apply to sugar
monopoly
Commerce succeeds to manufacture,
and is not a part of it.”
“…does not begin until goods
commence their final movement from
state of their origin to their final
destination.”
“direct effect” – local activity directly
affects interstate commerce

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Limits on Power
Next forty years of restrictive rulings
on congressional power in regards to
control of mining, farming, fishing, oil
production, and generation of hydro-
electric power
Included in Gibbons was the idea that
goods produced, transported, and sold
were out of federal reach

10. 10
Viewpoints
Some saw these rulings as
permission to Congress to
increase authority and scope
Constructionists say these actions
as keeping the trade of goods
clear of state restraints
concerning transportation of
interstate commerce.
 Most cases before 1900 found
against state regulations that
encroached on federal areas

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Early Progressives
1905 Justice Oliver Wendel Holmes,
Jr.
“stream of commerce” any local action
that becomes part of interstate
commerce can be federally regulated
1914 Justice Charles Evans Hughes
Federal dominant rule when intrastate
and interstate activities are related

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Court’s Expansion
1908 move to include labor
organizations (Loewe v. Lawlor) was
countered by congress passing
Clayton Antitrust Act
“the labor of a human being is not a
commodity or article of commerce“ of
a human being is not a commodity or
article of commerce.”

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Progressive Movement
Sought to expand power to create
extensive control in gambling (lottery
tickets), food processing, and
prostitution, and labor.
..closing the channels of interstate
commerce to objectionable material
Exception to control child labor – limit
federal control over conditions under
which goods are produced

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1930s
Supreme Court reverts back to
“production-distribution” and “direct
effect” distinctions, which angers FDR
and he tries to intimidate the court.
He succeeds and the Court rejects the
narrow interpretations of previous
courts.
NLRB v. Jones and Laughlin Steel
Corp (1937) “close and substantial
relation …protect…from burdens

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Progressive Era
New Deal Programs 1940s
Labor relations, wages, hours,
agriculture, business, and navigable
streams
U.S. v. Darby Lumber Co. –
, “prohibition of such shipment
(produced under substandard labor
conditions) ….is indubitably a
regulation of the commerce.”

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More Progressivism
Justice Frank Murphy - 1946
“The federal commerce power is as
broad as the economic needs of the
nation” (N.Am.Co. v. S.E.C)
Support of Civil rights Act of 1964
Heart of Atlanta Motel, Inc. v. U.S.
Commerce clause alone supports
statute

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Move to Conservatism
- “first principles” and federalism
U.S. v. Lopez (1995)
1990 statute making possessing gun on school
property a federal crime, that if repeated
elsewhere would “substantially affect interstate
commerce.”
Chief Justice Rhenquist argued against police
power using Commerce Clause over state or
local criminal matters.
Only second occasion since 1937 that the
Court had ruled that congress had exceeded
authority under the commerce clause.

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Continued restrictions
Struck down Violence against Women
Act
U.S. v. Morrison (2000)
Rehnquist – statute had no authority
under commerce clause, because it
did not involve economic or interstate
activity.
Both Lopez and Morrison were 5-4
decisions. Court is political and/or
ideological.

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ple·na·ry
1: complete in every respect :
absolute, unqualified <plenary
power>