Commerce Clause

Adam Woponscki is an army vet and he dies intestate in a veteran’s hospital in Oregon. Under Oregon law if you die intestate the money goes to the state but under Federal Law, if a veteran dies intestate it goes to the Fed. Gov’t

NY law granted a monopoly on steamboats to Ogden. Gibbons was then licensed under federal law to operate steamboats in NY. Thus there is a clash between Fed. Law and State law. Issue: Is a state statute preserving a monopoly on navigable waters unconstitutional?

RR Commission set intrastate RR rates that were cheaper than those going out of state. (Especially to Louisiana)

The Chicago Stock Yard was controlling 85% of the meat Americans ate. So a Sherman Act injunction was entered to prevent price fixing. Issue: May the Sherman Act reach meat dealers who fix prices in a wholly intrastate market?

Federal Lottery Act prohibited importing, mailing, or interstate transporting of lottery tickets. Issue: Whether Congress can exercise its Commerce Power though policing things that cross state lines even though the 10^th Amendment says that states retain control of police power over health, safety, and morals?

The Mann Act criminalizes the transportation of women across state lines for immoral purposes. Issue: Is this a constitutional use of commerce power?

Men from California travel to Las Vegas with some waitresses and one of the guy’s wife calls the U.S. Attorney General to report it. Issue: Does the Mann Act constitutionally cover private consensual sex when parties cross state lines to do the act?

Statute that makes it a crime to carry more than 5 quarts of liquor across state lines.

Federal Food and Drug Act criminalized the sale of mislabeled drugs. Drugs were manufactured in Chicago, sold to an ATL wholesaler, then to a pharmacy in Columbus, GA where the pharmacist mislabeled them. Gov’t charged the pharmacist. Question is whether it’s constitutional to charge the pharmacist even though the contents had completed their interstate journey?

There is a Federal statute making it illegal to cross state lines to engage in sex with a person under the age of 18. Guy in Montana having dirty phone calls with a 13 year old girl in NY. He travels to NY to meet her and turns out the 13 year old girl is actually an undercover cop and he is busted.

Federal Statute that makes it illegal to engage in international travel for the purpose of engaging in illicit sex. (Sex with anyone under the age of 16). Bredimus traveled to Hong Kong and then to Thailand and engages in illicit sex. Issue: Does the Commerce power reach an American citizen who did not travel in Interstate Commerce for the sole purpose of engaging in illicit sex? D first left country for business.

Federal Statute makes it a felony to travel in foreign commerce and engage in illicit sex. D traveled abroad and 2 years after leaving the U.S. he engaged in illicit sex. Issue: Should Congress be able to regulate this type of act with the Commerce Clause even though it happened 2 years after leaving the U.S.?

Congress attempted to establish compulsory retirement pension plan for all railroad carriers.

Factory accused of violating National Labors Relation Act by discriminating against workers who were involved in union activity. ISSUE: May the National Labor Relations Act reach labor disputes at a single steel plant?

Darby, a lumber company, was indicted for violation of federal labor standards act, which said you can’t ship goods if you are not paying workers minimum wage. Darby challenged the statute as being beyond Congress’ commerce power. ISSUE: May Congress prohibit the transport of goods if not paying workers minimum wage?