.Why was this case so important?
2.Why did the U.S. Supreme Court develop the �effects on interstate commerce� test?
3.Is most commerce considered �interstate commerce�? Why or why not?
Interstate Commerce
The Commerce Clause of the United States Constitution states that the Congress shall
have the power to regulate interstate and foreign trade. The case was so important since
commerce clause had never been construed in its narrow sense. The clause states plainly that,
INTERSTATE COMMERCE 2
there is limited power to control trade between people in one country and people outside that
country (Brown, and company, 1907,6).
The clause and the economy of the US has progressed and turned out to be very
sophisticated. In addition, as soon as the congress engaged in addressing the social challenges in
the country, the commercial law was used as the referencing point for any law that was passed.
Consequently, the commerce law has developed into a very significant law for the congress for
the last 50 years. The clause therefore is now one of the main referencing points for the congress
authority (The Baldwin law book co, 1917,3).
Moreover, the commercial clause is very important in the US. This is simply because, a
keen look at the US code clearly shows that approximately 700 provisions of the state which
affect various issues revolve around interstate commerce. For instance, Supreme Court in United
States v. Lopez and United States v. Morrison concluded that a gun possession law and a law
concerning sexual violence were not the mandate of the congress to control. In another case
Gonzales v. Raich, later confirmed the powers of the congress to control medical marijuana. The
court decided that the consequences of the previous cases would be limited. The case of
National Federation of Business v. Sebelius, which was challenging the role of a person to
purchase health insurance, the court declared that commerce clause did not have a room for such
provision. In Sebelius, the Court provided regulations in the instances where people had already
chosen to involve themselves in commercial engagements (Washington : U.S. Govt,1910,7).
References
Washington : U.S. Govt. (1910). Hearings before the Committee on Interstate and Foreign , by
HathiTrust)Commerce of the House of Representatives on bills affecting Interstate
commerce. United States House Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce
INTERSTATE COMMERCE 3
Brown, and company, (1907). The Act to regulate commerce (as amended) and acts
supplementary thereto, indexed, digested, and annotated, including the Carriers’ liability
act, safety appliance acts, act requiring reports of accidents, Arbitration act, Sherman
anti-trust act, and others, , by Charles S. Hamlin, United States, and statutes United
States. Laws (page images at HathiTrust; US access only)
The Baldwin law book co., (1917)Gartner’s notes to the Interstate commerce commission reports
: vols. 31 to 40, and part of vol. 41 and unreported cases complete (all cases to Oct. 1st,
1916) : a judicial history of every case decided by the Interstate Commerce Commission,
together with a complete alphabetical table of cases reported / (Louisville, Ky. :), by
Karl Knox Gartner and United States. Interstate Commerce Commission (page images at
HathiTrust)
