Law Commons^™

Brief Of Professors Michael Knoll And Ruth Mason As Amici Curiae Supporting Petitioners In National Pork Producers Council V. Ross, Michael S. Knoll, Ruth Mason

All Faculty Scholarship

The district court erred when it concluded that because Proposition 12 applies only to in-state sales, it could not be extraterritorial. On the contrary, because California regulates pork production based on domestic, inbound, and outbound sales, its regulation is internally inconsistent and overbroad. As an obligation of interstate comity, this Court has understood extraterritoriality to require the basis of regulation to be internally consistent. A regulation is internally consistent when, if every state regulated using the same nexus as the challenged state, cross-border commercial activity would not be regulated by more than one state. Proposition 12 cannot meet this basic …

The Federal Option: Delaware As A De Facto Agency, Omari Scott Simmons

Washington Law Review

Despite over 200 years of deliberation and debate, the United States has not adopted a federal corporate chartering law. Instead, Delaware is the “Federal Option” for corporate law and adjudication. The contemporary federal corporate chartering debate is, in part, a referendum on its role. Although the federal government has regulated other aspects of interstate commerce and has the power to charter corporations and preempt Delaware pursuant to its Commerce Clause power, it has not done so. Despite the rich and robust scholarly discussion of Delaware’s jurisdictional dominance, its role as a de facto national regulator remains underdeveloped. This Article addresses …

Put A Cork In It: The Use Of H.R. 161 To End Direct Wine Shipping Throughout The States Once And For All, Victoria H. Jones

Journal of Food Law & Policy

Due to Congress' recent agenda, oenophiles throughout the country are up in arms about the possible threat to their beloved wine. Wine lovers and other alcohol enthusiasts face the very real fear that access to their favorite products may soon be heavily restricted. This is in large part attributed to the fact that House Resolution 1161 would effectively change the ways in which states regulate alcohol shipment. The possible implications of this bill range from the forced shutdown of many wineries and distilleries due to lack of funding, to the smaller effects of regulation such as the inability of customers …

American Common Market Redux, Richard Collins

Publications

The Tennessee Wine case, decided in June of 2019, had a major effect on the path of the law for an issue not argued in it. The Supreme Court affirmed invalidity of a protectionist state liquor regulation that discriminated against interstate commerce in violation of the dormant commerce clause doctrine. Its holding rejected a vigorous defense based on the special terms of the Twenty-first Amendment that ended Prohibition—an issue of interest only to those involved in markets for alcoholic drinks. However, the Court’s opinion removed serious doubts about validity of the Doctrine itself, even though the petitioner and supporting amici …

The Constitution's Forgotten Cover Letter: An Essay On The New Federalism And The Original Understanding, Daniel A. Farber

Daniel A Farber

At the end of the summer of 1787, the Philadelphia Convention issued two documents. One was the Constitution itself. The other document, now almost forgotten even by constitutional historians, was an official letter to Congress, signed by George Washington on behalf of the Convention. Congress responded with a resolution that the Constitution and "letter accompanying the same" be sent to the state legislatures for submission to conventions in each state.

The Washington letter lacks the detail and depth of some other evidence of original intent. Being a cover letter, it was designed only to introduce the accompanying document rather than …

Another Bite At The Apple For Trade Secret Protection: Why Stronger Federal Laws Are Needed To Protect A Corporation's Most Valuable Property, Alissa Cardillo

Brooklyn Journal of Corporate, Financial & Commercial Law

Trade secrets are one of a corporation’s most valuable assets. However, they lack adequate protection under federal law, leaving them vulnerable to theft and misappropriation. As technology advances, it becomes easier and less time consuming for individuals and entities to access and steal trade secrets to a corporation’s detriment. Most often these thefts involve stealing trade secrets in an intangible form. Current legislation fails to adequately protect intangible trade secrets, leaving them vulnerable to theft. An amendment to the National Stolen Property Act that encompasses intangible trade secrets would close a loophole that currently exists relating to intangible assets, allowing …

The Keystone Xl Pipeline And The Dormant Commerce Clause: Would Action By Congress Preclude Adequate Environmental Regulation At The State Level?, S. Shane Stroud

Utah Law Review

The Commerce Clause significantly limits the ability of States and localities to regulate or otherwise burden the flow of interstate commerce, but it does not elevate free trade above all other values. As long as a State does not needlessly obstruct interstate trade or attempt to place itself in a position of economic isolation, it retains broad regulatory authority to protect the health and safety of its citizens and the integrity of its natural resources.

Regulation - The Balance Point , W. D. Brewer

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, U.S., Bert Chapman

Libraries Faculty and Staff Scholarship and Research

Provides a historical overview and contemporary analysis of the energy policymaking role played by the Energy Department's Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). FERC responsibilities include regulating the prices and interstate transmission of electricity, natural gas, and oil. Its responsibilities also include reviewing proposals to build and locate natural gas terminals, interstate natural gas pipelines, licensing hydropower projects, and regulating relevant mergers and securities acquisitions in these areas.

Napa To New York With The Click Of A Mouse: The Dormant Commerce Clause And The Direct Shipment Of Wine To Consumers As Discussed In Granholm V. Heald , Shirlene Love

Journal of the National Association of Administrative Law Judiciary

This case note examines the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Granholm v Heald. Part II will explore the history of the Dormant Commerce Clause and Twenty-First Amendment; Part III will present the facts of the case; Part IV will discuss and analyze the majority and two dissenting opinions; Part V will speculate about the future impact of this decision; and Part VI will conclude.

Commerce, Jack M. Balkin

Michigan Law Review

This Article applies the method of text and principle to an important problem in constitutional interpretation: the constitutional legitimacy of the modem regulatory state and its expansive definition of federal commerce power Some originalists argue that the modem state cannot be justified, while others accept existing precedents as a "pragmatic exception" to originalism. Nonoriginalists, in turn, point to these difficulties as a refutation of originalist premises. Contemporary originalist readings have tended to view the commerce power through modem eyes. Originalists defending narrow readings offederal power have identified "commerce" with the trade of commodities; originalists defending broad readings of federal power …

Electronic Impulses, Digital Signals, And Federal Jurisdiction: Congress's Commerce Clause Power In The Twenty-First Century, Ryan K. Stumphauzer

Vanderbilt Law Review

[W]e can think of no better example of the police power, which the Founders denied the National Government and reposed in the States, than the suppression of violent crime and vindication of its victims. Suppose that a Manhattan mafia boss contacts a hit man located in the Bronx and asks him to kill a police informant. Suppose further that the hit man commits the murder at the informant's apartment in Queens. Should the federal government care that the mafia boss contacted the hit man using a cellular telephone rather than a hand-delivered letter? Should it matter that the cellular signal …

The Constitution's Forgotten Cover Letter: An Essay On The New Federalism And The Original Understanding, Daniel A. Farber

Michigan Law Review

At the end of the summer of 1787, the Philadelphia Convention issued two documents. One was the Constitution itself. The other document, now almost forgotten even by constitutional historians, was an official letter to Congress, signed by George Washington on behalf of the Convention. Congress responded with a resolution that the Constitution and "letter accompanying the same" be sent to the state legislatures for submission to conventions in each state.

The Washington letter lacks the detail and depth of some other evidence of original intent. Being a cover letter, it was designed only to introduce the accompanying document rather than …

Foreword, Louis H. Pollak

Michigan Law Review

Introduction to the Symposium Reflections on United States v. Lopez

Enumerated Means And Unlimited Ends, H. Jefferson Powell

Michigan Law Review

United States v. Lopez can be read as a fairly mundane disagreement over the application of a long-settled test. The Government defended the statute under review in the case, the Gun-Free School Zones Act of 1990, along familiar lines as a permissible regulation of activity affecting interstate and foreign commerce.

In this essay, I do not address the question whether Lopez was an important decision. My concern instead is with the problem that underlies Lopez's particular issue of the scope of the commerce power: Given our commitment to limited national government, in what way is the national legislature actually limited? …

Commerce!, Deborah Jones Merritt

Michigan Law Review

In this article, I explore the Supreme Court's new definition of "Commerce ... among the several States."9 In Part I, I examine three new principles that Lopez announces and that could significantly rework the Court's Commerce Clause jurisprudence. Part II, however, shows that these principles must be understood in the context of almost a dozen factors narrowing the Supreme Court's Lopez decision. Part II also demonstrates that the lower courts have understood the contextual uniqueness of Lopez and already have distinguished the decision in upholding more than half a dozen broad exercises of congressional authority. Part III then shows that …

"A Government Of Limited And Enumerated Powers": In Defense Of United States V. Lopez, Steven G. Calabresi

Michigan Law Review

The Supreme Court's recent decision in United States v. Lopez marks a revolutionary and long overdue revival of the doctrine that the federal government is one of limited and enumerated powers. After being "asleep at the constitutional switch" for more than fifty years, the Court's decision to invalidate an Act of Congress on the ground that it exceeded the commerce power must be recognized as an extraordinary event. Even if Lopez produces no progeny and is soon overruled, the opinion has shattered forever the notion that, after fifty years of Commerce Clause precedent, we can never go back to the …

The Dormant Commerce Clause And State-Mandated Preference Laws In Public Contracting: Developing A More Substantive Application Of The Market-Participant Exception, Benjamin C. Bair

Michigan Law Review

This Note argues that the current focus on the relationship between states and their local governments as the key determinant of the constitutional validity of state-mandated preference laws is flawed. Instead, a court considering the validity of a state-mandated preference law should uphold such a law only if it distributes the benefits of state expenditures to state residents and does not excessively burden interstate commerce.

How To Think About The Federal Commerce Power And Incidentally Rewrite United States V. Lopez, Donald H. Regan

Articles

Almost sixty years after the "revolution" of 1937, we still do not have an adequate theory of the commerce power. The Court was right to abandon the theory of dual federalism epitomized by Carter v. Carter Coal Co.;' and it has got the right results in the major cases decided since then. But our post-1937 theory, whether before or after Lopez, is a mess. On the one hand, we have a collection of doctrinal rules that, if we take them seriously, allow Congress to do anything it wants under the commerce power. On the other hand, we continue to pay …

The Dormant Commerce Clause And State-Mandated Preference Laws In Public Contracting: Developing A More Substantive Application Of The Market-Participant Exception, Benjamin C. Bair

Michigan Law Review

This Note argues that the current focus on the relationship between states and their local governments as the key determinant of the constitutional validity of state-mandated preference laws is flawed. Instead, a court considering the validity of a state-mandated preference law should uphold such a law only if it distributes the benefits of state expenditures to state residents and does not excessively burden interstate commerce.

Untangling The Market-Participant Exemption To The Dormant Commerce Clause, Dan T. Coenen

Michigan Law Review

This article explores the market-participant rule. Part I traces the rule's evolution and shows how it has proven less rigid than some initially feared. Part II probes the roots of the rule by challenging justifications for it suggested by other observers. Part III offers an alternative theory of the market-participant doctrine, arguing in particular that it rests on a cluster of rationales that properly have led· the Court to uphold marketplace preferences as the "general rule." Part IV builds on Part III to advance a new, four-part framework for evaluating market-participant issues. Part V then uses that framework to apply …

Section 311 And 312 Of The Natural Gas Policy Act Of 1978 And Hinshaw Pipelines, Lauren Eaton

Natural Gas Symposium: Contract Solutions for the Future of Regulatory Environment (March 24-25)

5 pages.

Constitutional Law - Commerce Clause - State Taxation Of Interstate Commerce - Supremacy Clause, Comfrey Scott Ickes

Duquesne Law Review

The United States Supreme Court has upheld the constitutionality of the Montana coal severance tax finding that it does not violate the Commerce Clause and that it is not inconsistent with federal legislation.

Commonwealth Edison Company v. Montana, 453 U.S. 609 (1981).

Taxes And Bounties Burdening Interstate Commerce: Distinguishing Boston Stock Exchange From Alexandria Scrap

Washington and Lee Law Review

No abstract provided.

State Taxation Under The Commerce Clause: An Historical Perspective, Jerome R. Hellerstein

Vanderbilt Law Review

Although Congress has plenary power under the commerce clause to regulate state taxation of interstate commerce, that power remained virtually unexercised until 1959. As a consequence of the silence of Congress, the task of reconciling the competing interests of states, multistate businesses, and local businesses, and accommodating those interests to the needs of a national economy fell by default to the Supreme Court. The instrumentality available to the Court for dealing with the complex political, fiscal, and economic controversies inherent in state taxation of multistate business was the commerce clause (augmented by due process restrictions and,to a lesser extent, the …

"Solicitation" And "Delivery" Under Public Law 86-272: An Uncharted Course, Paul J. Hartman

Vanderbilt Law Review

In 1959, in response to pressure from multistate business and over the protest of state tax authorities and others, Congress passed Public Law 86-272 limiting the power of state and local governments to tax net income derived from interstate commerce.' The provisions of Public Law 86-272, briefly stated, prohibit state or local governments from imposing net income taxes on sellers of tangible personal property whose business activities in the state are limited to one or more of the following:. solicitation of orders for sales of tangible personal property by the seller or his own representative when the orders are sent …

Interstate Corporate Income Taxation-Recent Revolutions And A Modern Response, Eugene F. Corrigan

Vanderbilt Law Review

In recent years significant technical advances have enabled large corporations to sell into states from great distances and with a minimum of contact in those states. Nevertheless, the states and their political subdivisions are confronted with the claims of corporations that jurisdictional barriers to corporate income taxes should be raised, that improved enforcement techniques should be prohibited, and that certain classes of income should be immunized completely from state taxation. These revolutionary technical advances have created both major tax administration problems and tax administration opportunities for the states. Some of the latter, however, remain unexploited. This article examines the ramifications …

Recapitalizations Under Section 3 (A) (9) Of The Securities Act Of 1933, J. William Hicks

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

Usual Baggage: An Exception To The Carrier's Right To Limit Liability

Washington and Lee Law Review

No abstract provided.

Liability Of A Carrier For Loss And Damage To Interstate Shipments, Thomas R. Skulina

Cleveland State Law Review

The law governing the liability of a carrier for loss or damage to interstate shipments is set out in the Carmack Amendment. Prior to the enactment of this federal legislation, a body of law pertaining to this subject developed in the common law. The present law evolved from the earliest concepts of bailment relationship. The early statutes preserved many aspects of the common law. This article will refer to common law principles but will not focus on law as it was prior to the Carmack Amendment.