Constitutional Law Flashcards
Commerce Power
The commerce power of the US Constitution is wide ranging and broad. Congress can regulate the instrumentalities of commerce such as roads and waterways. Moreover, Congress can regulate activities that are purely intrastate that, if the aggregate impact were totaled, would impact commerce.
To regulate under the commerce power, Congress has to have a rational basis in that the activity to be regulated has an impact on commerce.
Broad commerce power
Congress’ power to legislate under the commerce power is broad. Up until about 1986, Congress did not have the ability to regulate state agencies as employees under the commerce clause; however, San Antonio v. Garcia, a federal labor law case, changed that. In that case, the Supreme Court held that the commerce power enabled the federal government to apply certain wage and hour regulations on a state.
Commandeering
However, in doing so, Congress cannot commandeer a state agency and force it to carry out federal programs. Printz. Moreover, Congress cannot force states to enact certain laws. While it can resort to economic coercion by using its taxing and spending power to entice, as Justice Connor said in South Dakota v. Dole, it cannot tell the state what to enact.
11th Amendment
The 11th Amendment of the US Constitution prohibits a state from being sued in federal court by its citizens, unless it consents. It does not, however, bar a suit against the state in state court. In certain circumstances Congress can abrogate a state’s 11th Amendment power and allow for suits against it to take place in Federal court. However, the instances in which this is allowed, flow from Section 5 of the 14th Amendment. This section was enacted after the Civil War and gives Congress the power, generally when enforcing 14th Amendment rights such as equal protection and due process to abrogate a state’s 11 Amendment immunity, commonly called sovereign immunity.
