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To stay experimentation in things social and economic is a grave responsibility. Denial of the right to experiment may be fraught with serious consequences to the Nation. It is one [...]

In an increasingly interconnected national economy, the myriad political leanings and morals of political actors result in equally varied --and sometimes diametrically opposed--state laws. (1) Thus, tensions abound, leading to [...]

Justice Ginsburg's dissent in National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius (297) (NFIB) gave the Chief Justice a gentle lesson in legal analysis and in the politics of enacting statutes. [...]

This government is acknowledged by all, to be one of enumerated powers. The principle, that it can exercise only the powers granted to it ... is now universally admitted. But [...]

CONSTITUTIONAL LAW--FIRST AMENDMENT--EN BANC THIRD CIRCUIT STRIKES DOWN FEDERAL STATUTE PROHIBITING THE INTERSTATE SALE OF DEPICTIONS OF ANIMAL CRUELTY.--United States v. Stevens, 533 F.3d 218 (3d Cir. 2008) (en banc). [...]

CONSTITUTIONAL LAW--DORMANT COMMERCE CLAUSE--SEVENTH CIRCUIT HOLDS THAT STATE LAW DISPROPORTIONATELY BURDENING OUT-OF-STATE BUSINESSES HAS ONLY INCIDENTAL EFFECTS ON INTERSTATE COMMERCE.--Baude v. Heath, 538 F.3d 608 (7th Cir. 2008). In 2005, [...]

I. INTRODUCTION Although judicial review still has its challengers, (1) their critiques have largely focused on the practice itself. Less prevalent in the literature, although certainly no less of a [...]

Beginning with United States v. Lopez, (1) the Rehnquist Court's "new federalism" (2) put modest limits on the reach of federal criminal law under the Commerce Clause. (3) The Court's [...]

As constitutional challenges to copyright laws struggle through adolescence, (1) courts have begun to gauge the external force of the Copyright Clause's limits (2) on Congress's other enumerated powers. (3) [...]

Article IV imposes prohibitions on interstate discrimination that are central to our status as a single nation, yet the Constitution also grants Congress broad power over interstate relations. This raises [...]

Perhaps more so than ever before, Congress is the product of political gerrymandering. (1) Redistricting software has advanced to a breathtaking level of scientific precision, (2) and voters' partisan identifications [...]

The US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit failed to follow the Commerce Clause mandates of United States v. Lopez in upholding the Child Support Recovery Act (CSRA) in United States v. Sage. The US Supreme Court called for heightened attention to whether federal statutes actually regulate interstate commerce. The Second Circuit accepted that enforcement of child support orders was related to interstate commerce. Under Lopez, the Court should have employed the substantial effects test and found the statute unconstitutional.

The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit erred in ruling in Mack v. United States that provisions in the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act that required sheriffs to process handgun sale approvals did not violate the Tenth Amendment. Review of US Supreme Court jurisprudence on the extent to which the federal government can require state agencies to carry out federal programs suggests that imposing this bureaucratic burden on local officials would not promote political accountability. The Ninth Circuit also failed to distinguish between mandates aimed at judicial bodies and those that influence executive agencies.