Commerce Clause
Under the Constitution, Regulating Marijuana is Mostly a State Concern
A growing number of states are defying the federal marijuana ban, not only by easing their own laws, but by actively cooperating with marijuana growing, processing, and use. Many contend that pot should be a state, rather than a federal, concern. The U.S. Supreme...
Thomas Jefferson on the Misuse of the Commerce and General Welfare Clauses
Barely 8 months before he died, Thomas Jefferson wrote to the Virginia politician William Giles about the threat posed by the usurpation of states rights by a growing federal power. He identified federal powers claimed under the commerce and general welfare clauses as...
Thomas Jefferson on Congressional Abuse of Commerce and Welfare
Even by 1825, Thomas Jefferson was fearful that the growing central powers of the federal government were encroaching upon those of the states. In this insightful letter to his colleague and friend William Giles, Jefferson notes that Congress was twisting the intent...
The Commerce Clause: Not a Micromanaging Tool
The commerce clause to the Constitution is one that is possibly most-often used to justify federal action. The Congress shall have Power…to regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes. The misapplication of the...