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Commerce Clause
| Federalism |
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| •Key terms • Court cases •Major arguments • State responses to federal mandates • Federalism by the numbers • Index of articles about federalism |
The Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution is found in Article 1, Section 8, Clause 3. The clause gives Congress the power "[t]o regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes." Courts have generally interpreted the Commerce Clause to include an implicit prohibition against states passing legislation that negatively interferes with or burdens interstate commerce.[1]
Background
The Commerce Clause is relevant to federalism because the interpretation of the clause is important for determining the relationship between the national government and the states. Specifically, the grant of power to Congress to regulate commerce among the several states has been debated among scholars and interpreted in the courts.[1][2][3]
Commerce Clause questions related to federalism center on the extent to which the national government can regulate activities within states that affect commerce between states. Some major Supreme Court cases regarding the question of national power under the Commerce Clause include:[1][3]
- McCulloch v. Maryland (1819)
- Gibbons v. Ogden (1824)
- Swift and Company v. United States (1905)
- NLRB v. Jones & Laughlin Steel Corp (1937)
- United States v. Lopez (1995)
Supreme Court precedent related to the Commerce Clause generally allows Congress to regulate:[1][2][3]
- Avenues of interstate commerce (like airways, waterways, and roads)
- The resources necessary for facilitating interstate commerce (like vehicles, manufacturing machinery, and employees)
- Objects that cross state lines for the purpose of sale (like goods and services consumers purchase, raw materials that need manufactured into final items, and intangible items like electronic databases)
- Any commercial activity the Court considers to have a major effect on interstate commerce
See also
External links
Footnotes
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