Deck 7: The Commerce Clause

Question 1

In the wake of the constitutional crisis of 1937, the _____ nearly disappeared as a limitation on the powers of the national government.

A) Commerce Clause
B) Ninth Amendment
C) Tenth Amendment
D) Fourteenth Amendment

Answer 1

A

Question 2

_____ was among the first cases in which the Supreme Court recognized the power of the states to regulate local aspects of interstate commerce.

A) Cooley v. Board of Wardens of the Port of Philadelphia (1851)
B) Southern Pacific Company v. Arizona (1945)
C) Cohens v. Virginia (1821)
D) McCulloch v. Maryland (1819)

Answer 2

A

Question 3

The Supreme Court is most likely to declare a state regulation of interstate commerce unconstitutional if _____.

A) it regulates in an area requiring local diversity
B) it favors out-of-state industry at the expense of local industry
C) it differs substantially from similar regulations in other states
D) it produces revenue for the state

Answer 3

B

Question 4

In National League of Cities v. Usery (1976), the Court struck down a 1974 amendment to the Fair Labor Standards Act that extended the federal minimum wage to _____.

A) children
B) undocumented aliens
C) state and local government employees
D) none of the above

Question 5

Gibbons v. Ogden involved a _____.

A) bank
B) lottery
C) steamboat
D) railroad

Question 6

The justice who wrote a concurring opinion in Gibbons v. Ogden was named _____.

A) Marshall
B) Johnson
C) Story
D) Washington

Question 7

In Gibbons v. Ogden Marshall defined commerce as _____.

A) slow
B) intercourse
C) fast
D) concurrent

Question 8

According to Justice Johnson in Gibbons v. Ogden, Congress's power to regulate commerce was _____.

A) concurrent
B) resulting
C) exclusive
D) joint

Question 9

The decision in Cooley v. Board of Wardens of the Port of Philadelphia is the source of the doctrine of _____.

A) implied powers
B) selective exclusiveness
C) interstate commerce
D) exclusivity

Question 10

The majority opinion in Cooley v. Board of Wardens of the Port of Philadelphia was written by _____.

A) Justice Curtis
B) Chief Justice Taney
C) Chief Justice Marshall
D) Justice Johnson

Question 11

Lopez v. United States (1995) was noteworthy because it marked the first time since 1936 that the Supreme Court had invalidated an act of Congress as a violation of _____.

A) the Fourteenth Amendment
B) the due process clause
C) the commerce clause
D) the necessary and proper clause

Question 12

The Supreme Court last held an act of Congress unconstitutional on nondelegation grounds in _____.

A) Schecter Poultry Corporation v. United States (1935)
B) United States v. Curtiss-Wright Corporation (1936)
C) Carter v. Carter Coal Co. (1936)
D) Mistretta v. United States (1988)

Question 13

In National Federation v. Sebelius (2012), the majority upheld the validity of the individual mandate component of the Affordable Care Act as a proper use of Congress's power to regulate commerce. _______

Question 14

In National Federation v. Sebelius (2012), the majority upheld the validity of the individual mandate component of the Affordable Care Act as a proper use of Congress's spending power. _______

Question 15

South Dakota v. Wayfair (2018) concerned shipment of lumber across state lines.

Question 16

Why did Congress find it necessary to rely on the Commerce Clause in enacting Title II of the Civil Rights Act of 1964? Discuss the constitutional challenges to this legislation.

Question 17

Particularly as read in the light of McCulloch v. Maryland, why is Marshall's opinion in the steamboat case so significant?

Question 18

What difference does it make whether the commerce power is regarded as "exclusive" or "concurrent"?

Question 19

What distinction does the Court employ in Reeves to uphold the state policy in that case? Might the same distinction have plausibly been used in the garbage case to reach a different result?

Question 20

Suppose wineries in Michigan and New York were state-owned. Would the result in Heald have been different?

Question 21

Consider United States v. E. C. Knight, Champion v. Ames, Hammer v. Dagenhart, and Stafford v. Wallace. To what extent do they reflect different understandings of what "commerce" is?

Question 22

Can one logically agree with the decisions in both Hammer and Stafford?

Question 23

What is the significance of Lopez? Was the Court merely asking Congress for minor cosmetic changes in how it passes laws, or is there something more fundamental being suggested? Why?

Question 24

Although they are separated by 105 years, are there similarities between Morrison and E.C. Knight?

Question 25

Does the outcome in Raich seem inconsistent with those in Lopez and Morrison? Why?

Question 26

Assume the following: A state law imposes a tax on all timber harvested within the state. In-state timber-cutting companies pay a tax rate of 3% of the wholesale value of the timber harvested. Timber-cutting companies out-of-state pay a tax rate of 6% of the wholesale value of the timber harvested. An out of state company files suit in the United States District Court, claiming that the state's two-tier timber tax violates the Commerce Clause. How should the district court rule? Why?

Question 27

The Bureau of Forestry in the State of Myopia not only oversees the thousands of acres of state-owned forests, but also operates a lumber mill that processes rare and/or exotic woods, harvested from the state forests in a mountainous region of the state that are used in the manufacture of furniture. Bureau regulations specify that in selling the wood to furniture factories and to other consumers, the state-owned lumber mill is to supply in-state businesses first, and then to sell to out-of-state businesses only after the in-state demand has been met. Because of a beetle infestation, the state-owned mill has been unable to fill orders from out of state, but has managed to meet most in-state demand. A furniture manufacturer in another state files suit in the United States District Court, claiming that the Bureau's policy favoring in-state businesses violates the Commerce Clause. How should the district court rule? Why?

Question 28

In light of Wickard v. Filburn alone, why would the Solicitor General's office have expected an easy victory in Gonzales v. Raich? (Make sure that your essay demonstrates an understanding of both cases, including an explanation of which side prevailed when the Supreme Court decided Raich.)

Question 29

According to Justice William Day's opinion for the Court in Hammer v. Dagenhart, why was the Keating Owen Child Labor Act of 1916 "in a twofold sense repugnant to the Constitution"?

Question 30

What is the doctrine of selective exclusiveness and in what case did it originate? Explain. With what constitutional problem arising from Marshall's opinion in Gibbons v. Ogden did the doctrine attempt to deal? Explain.

Question 31

In preparing for oral argument in Gonzales v. Raich, why would the solicitor general have placed heavy reliance on Wickard v. Filburn? Explain. Be sure that your essay demonstrates a full understanding of both Filburn and Raich.

Question 32

According to Chief Justice Rehnquist's opinion of the Court in United States v. Morrison, why was section 5 of the Fourteenth Amendment insufficient constitutional authority for the Violence Against Women Act which had become law in 1994? Explain. Be sure that your essay demonstrates a full understanding of Morrison.

Question 33

Is the decision in Granholm v. Heald (2005) consistent with the decision in Philadelphia v. New Jersey (1978)? Why? Make sure that your essay demonstrates an understanding of both cases.

Question 34

The "Court-Packing" controversy of the 1930s proved to be a watershed event in American constitutional law and in the institutional development of the U.S. Supreme Court. Before President Roosevelt's New Deal legislation began to be challenged in various lawsuits,
a. What evidence did Roosevelt have that his administration's programs would probably be sustained once they reached the Supreme Court?
b. What evidence did the president have that his administration's programs might be rebuffed by the Court at least to some degree?
c. Once the president realized that he faced a decidedly unfriendly bench, what were his options (aside from the one he actually chose to follow) to enable him to achieve his policy objectives? Discuss.
d. Other than the course of action the Court chose to follow in the spring of 1937, what other options were open to the Bench?

Question 35

Discuss the evolution of the Supreme Court's Commerce Clause jurisprudence from Gibbons v. Ogden (1824) to the present. Refer to leading cases selectively to illustrate major turning points, standards, and historical trends in Supreme Court decision-making in this broad field of constitutional interpretation. To what extent do these cases reflect a different understanding of what commerce is? In what areas have the Congress and the Court been accused of "distorting" the Commerce Clause? How have the justices justified this "distortion"? What does the development of the commerce power reveal about the function of the Supreme Court as a coordinate branch of government within the American political system?

Question 36

In National Federation v. Sebelius (2012), is Justice Ginsburg correct in insisting that Wickard v. Filburn (1942) is sufficient support for the constitutionality of the individual mandate that lies at the heart of the Affordable Care Act? Explain. Or, are Chief Justice Roberts and Justices Alito, Scalia, Kennedy, and Thomas correct in their insistence that, on this point, she is plainly wrong? Explain.

Question 37

What is the effect of South Dakota v. Wayfair (2018) on the taxing authority of the states?

Question 38

How do the opinions in South Dakota v. Wayfair reflect a debate over stare decisis?