Commerce Clause
Constitutional Sleight of Hand: The Evolution of Implied Powers
The U.S. Constitution is a truly unique instrument — not least for its place as a written, and therefore limited grant of authority to the government. This is in stark contrast with all that came before it. Consider the English Constitution American colonists...
Feds Have No Constitutional Authority to Impose Wage Controls
Talk of hiking the minimum wage at the national level has ramped up in recent weeks. With the Democrats controlling the House and the Senate, and Joe Biden in the White House, it seems increasingly likely that we’ll soon see a federal $15 per hour minimum. In other...
How One Landmark Case Shaped the Commerce Clause
In some ways, John Marshall’s opinion in Gibbons v. Ogden expanded federal power using expansive definitions of various words in the Commerce Clause. But future courts ignored an important limiting principle he included in his opinion. The commerce clause...
Three Supreme Court Cases that Twisted the Commerce Clause
Despite the words that make up the commerce clause and necessary and proper clause remaining constant over the past two centuries, the Supreme Court’s interpretation of their meaning and reach has not. Over the years, the SCOTUS has used the clause to vastly expand...