Free Republic

Spitzer is apparently in violation of the Mann act, which prohibits transportation of women across state lines "for an immoral purpose." Apparently the justification of this law comes from the interstate commerce clause. But when it comes to guns, federal laws are enacted to prohibit or require something for guns "which have ever traveled in or affect" interstate commerce, which is essentially all of them. (Unless you mine the iron, make the steel, and then make the gun all in one state, apparently.) Most girls "have ever traveled in or affect" interstate commerce, but this isn't good enough for the...

To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes. The federal government for years has claimed expansive powers under the authority to regulate commerce – so much that the most innocent private activity can now come under federal control simply because it might have an influence on “interstate commerce.” But did the States really empower Congress through the US Constitution with such an expansive, seemingly unlimited power under the Commerce Clause? There are two fundamental principles to understand when considering Congress’ power under the Commerce Clause. The first consideration is the fact...

Bush Administration Quietly Plans NAFTA Super Highway By Jerome R. Corsi Human Events 6-14-6 Quietly but systematically, the Bush Administration is advancing the plan to build a huge NAFTA Super Highway, four football-fields-wide, through the heart of the U.S. along Interstate 35, from the Mexican border at Laredo, Tex., to the Canadian border north of Duluth, Minn. Once complete, the new road will allow containers from the Far East to enter the United States through the Mexican port of Lazaro Cardenas, bypassing the Longshoreman's Union in the process. The Mexican trucks, without the involvement of the Teamsters Union, will drive...

on March 1, lawyers for some of America's biggest corporations — and many of the politicos big corporate money supports — will be glued to arguments in Cuno vs. DaimlerChrysler, a case most people have never heard of. Also watching will be representatives of an unusual left-right, Democrat-Republican coalition that is fighting the enormous tax giveaways given to big businesses to lure them into — or keep them from leaving — specific jurisdictions. "Cuno could be a watershed, tectonic moment in the history of job subsidies and interstate relations," says Greg LeRoy, the founder and executive director of Good Jobs...

There's a new poll up on the side. Do you think the interstate commerce clause of the Constitution authorizes federal laws against narcotics and firearms? Now lest everyone forget, this isn't asking whether you personally agree with such laws. It's about whether your honest reading of the Constitution can justify them. While you're thinking it over, it might help to reflect on what James Madison had to say about federal power over interstate commerce:Being in the same terms with the power over foreign commerce, the same extent, if taken literally, would belong to it. Yet it is very certain that...

SAN FRANCISCO - A federal appeals court panel yesterday upheld the government's authority to punish Americans for patronizing child prostitutes overseas, but one judge dissented from the ruling, warning that the law in question goes beyond Congress's power under the Constitution to regulate foreign commerce. [snip] The new ruling rejected a challenge to a law passed by Congress in 2003, the Prosecutorial Remedies and Other Tools to End the Exploitation of Children Act, or PROTECT Act. The law bans "illicit sexual conduct" overseas regardless of the purpose of the trip. Under earlier statutes, a conviction required showing that an American...

SNIP - ALITO DISSENTING OPINION Maj. Op. at ----. In other words, the majority argues in effect that the private, purely intrastate possession of machine guns has a substantial effect on the interstate machine gun market. This theory, if accepted, would go far toward converting Congress's authority to regulate interstate commerce into "a plenary police power." Lopez, --- U.S. at ----, 115 S.Ct. at 1633. If there is any sort of interstate market for a commodity--and I think that it is safe to assume that there is some sort of interstate market for practically everything--then the purely intrastate possession of...

 THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION CLAIMS THE authority to stop Oregon physicians from using prescription drugs to implement that state's unique program of physician-assisted suicide. But the administration's effort to use an ambiguous federal drug statute to undermine Oregon's assisted suicide law is a betrayal of conservative legal principles. Gonzales v. Oregon, argued before the Supreme Court earlier this month, may give an early signal about the commitment of the emerging Roberts Court to those principles. And the Court's decision could have unexpected implications for a range of other issues, including future policies about abortion.Like the administration, I believe that the people...

Michigan - Some Michigan wineries have their backs against the wall. A new bill that could become law might have an expensive effect on the way business is done, and more importantly, that bill could shut down some wineries. At present, Michigan law states that wineries can directly ship to customers without going through a distributor. That may change soon and for some wineries that is bad news. Michigan’s wine industry has been successful over the last 10 to 20 years, but the new law could have a harmful effect. Tabor Hill Vice President Paul Landeck said, “Last month the...

Congress Shall Make No Law by Matt Giwer        Without going through a myriad of examples of Congress exceeding it delegated authority, let us cut to the quick. In passing laws in areas not delegated to it in the Constitution, it is not, repeat NOT, responding to new social pressures and changes in the world. I grant there have been many changes in the two hundred plus years since it was adopted. But what Congress is doing is not adapting to those changes.       What Congress is doing is exactly the state of affairs the Constitution itself was intended...

U.S. Supreme Court Declines Non-Res Cap Review As a purveyor of local, state and national information that may have significant bearing on the management of our fish and wildlife resources and public hunting and fishing opportunities, MWF is reprinting this article supplied to the Arizona Wildlife Federation, from the Arizona Game and Fish Department. U.S. Supreme Court on Jan. 10 denied Arizona’s petition to review an appellate court decision regarding the Arizona Game and Fish Department’s 10-percent cap on nonresident hunt-permit tags for bull elk and for deer north of the Colorado River. Arizona’s appeal to the Supreme Court was...

Jacob Sullum'sSyndicated Column Commercial Potential (10/8) Drug Connections (10/1) Bullets for Ballots (9/24) Earlier Columns October 8, 2004 Commercial Potential How marijuana and wine can improve our balance Jacob Sullum Two years ago a drug raid in Butte County, California, led to a three-hour standoff. It was not the sort of standoff you usually read about in the papers or see depicted on TV, pitting police against desperate criminals. It was a standoff between local and federal law enforcement officials, with implications that extend far beyond those of the typical drug bust. Deputies from the Butte County Sheriff's Department...

http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/data2/circs/9th/0210318p.pdf The 9th Circuit court has ruled on the Bob Stewart case. I'm not sure how this will effect the 1986 MG ban. Please see the link. It is a PDF file and I was unable to copy the text. Mike

<p>The provision would ease some restrictions on interstate shipments.</p> <p>WASHINGTON -- California wineries and their out-of-state fans catch a break in new legislation that would permit more direct shipments to customers.</p> <p>The legislation passed by Congress allows direct shipments to distant customers who buy wine while visiting wineries -- if the customer would have been allowed to carry the wine home personally. President Bush is expected to sign the bill into law soon.</p>