2 ms·
Has there been any case where the commerce clause has let the federal government down? It's a hole large enough to drive a country through.
by bcrosby95 5y ago
Has there been any case where the commerce clause has let the federal government down? It's a hole large enough to drive a country through.
- nradov 5y agoYes that is unfortunate. It appears that President Roosevelt forced the current expansive interpretation of the Commerce Clause by threatening to pack the Supreme Court with political cronies if the justices ruled against his New Deal legislation. Hopefully some day the Supreme Court will have the courage to overturn those precedents and limit federal government power to what the Constitution's authors originally intended.
- dragonwriter 5y ago> It appears that President Roosevelt forced the current expansive interpretation of the Commerce Clause by threatening to pack the Supreme Court with political cronies if the justices ruled against his New Deal legislation. Based on what? The expansive interpretation is usually traced to Wickard v. Filburn (1942), the court packing scheme was introduced and ultimately fizzled in 1937; the one case while it was an active issue that is sometimes credited to the threat of the court packing scheme was one weighing state police powers (in setting a minimum wage) against the Constitutional guarantee against states restricting freedom to contract, which didn't involve the Commerce Clause at all. (And even that case the decisive shift in position appears to have actually occurred before the court packing threat, in any case.)