Informed Citizens. Accountable Power.

Agenda:

• From the Last Session: (30 minutes)
  • The Travel Ban
• The Commerce Clause: (15 minutes)
  • United States v. E.C. Knight Company (1895)
  • National Labor Relations Board v. Jones & Laughlin Steel Corp. (1937)
  • United States v. Darby (1941)
  • Wickard v. Filburn, 317 U.S. 111 (1942)
  • Heart of Atlanta Motel, Inc. v. United States et al. (1964)
  • Katzenbach v. McClung, 379 U.S. 294 (1964)
• Commerce Clause, the Debate on Gun Control and the Rational Basis Test:
  • United States v. Lopez (1995)

---

Assigned Materials

• The Commerce Clause
  • How Interpretation of the Commerce Power Has Changed over Time
• The Commerce Clause and the Fourteenth Amendment
  • Summary of Heart of Atlanta Motel v. United States (1964) [VIDEO]
  • Heart of Atlanta Motel, Inc. v. United States et al. (1964)
  • Heart of Atlanta Motel Oral Pleadings [OYEZ]
• The Commerce Clause and the Debate on Gun Control
  • United States v. Lopez (1995)
  • 8 Facts about Gun Control
  • America’s Gun Culture in 10 Charts
    
• The Second Amendment (To be Continued Next Session)

---

Questions:

• What is the difference between a federal government that has general police powers and one that has enumerated powers?
• How do you tell the difference between a piece of legislation that is about the regulation of commerce and one that uses the regulation of commerce as an excuse to control the behaviour of individuals?
• What was the legal issue in the Heart of Atlanta case?
• Read Justice Douglas’ concurrence, why did the Court choose to evaluate the legislation with respect to Congress’ powers under the Commerce Clause?
• Think back to some of the cases we studied on the Fourteenth Amendment, what are the challenges in Fourteenth Amendment jurisprudence that might require the Court to rely on the Commerce Clause to evaluate the law in question in the Heart of Atlanta case?
• What is the relationship between the Fourteenth Amendment and the Commerce Clause, if any?
• Does U.S. v. Lopez aim to reduce or expand Congress’ powers under the Commerce Clause?
• Do you think the Court came to the right decision when it overturned the federal law?
  • Do you think this was the right choice from a political perspective?
  • Do you think this was the right choice from a legal perspective?
  • What is the difference, in this case, between law and politics?
• What were the strengths of using the Government’s strategy to use the Commerce as a vehicle to justify the prohibition?
• What were the weaknesses of the Government’s strategy to invoke the commerce clause as the basis of the law?
• Was there any other legal basis, from what you have studied thus far, that the Government could have advanced that justified Congress’ passage of this law?
• Read the Second Amendment. How does the Second Amendment impact the outcome in this case, if at all? (We will touch on this some more next week)

---

Optional Materials:

Supreme Court Opinions:

• United States v. E.C. Knight Company (1895)
• National Labor Relations Board v. Jones & Laughlin Steel Corp. (1937)
• United States v. Darby (1941)
• Wickard v. Filburn, 317 U.S. 111 (1942)
• Katzenbach v. McClung, 379 U.S. 294 (1964)

Media Reports:

• Trump Campaign, NRA Illegally Coordinated Ads, Groups Allege [News Article]
• Should Teachers Carry Guns? The Debate, Explained [Civil Society Magazine]
• A List of States that Allow Guns on Campus [Civil Society Website]
• Betsy DeVos Eyes Federal Education Grants to Put Guns in Schools [Newspaper Article]

Academic Articles:

• Richard Epstein, The Proper Scope of the Commerce Power
• Richard Deutsch, The Commerce Clause as a Shelter for Discrimination
• Randy E. Barnett, The Original Meaning of the Commerce Clause