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The Market Participant Doctrine And The Clear Statement Rule, David S. Bogen Feb 2009

The Market Participant Doctrine And The Clear Statement Rule, David S. Bogen

David S. Bogen

This paper argues that the market participant exception to the dormant commerce clause reflects the same concerns that led to the clear statement doctrine for application of general legislation to the operations of state governments. The genius of the Constitution was to make federal law directly applicable to individuals instead of through state governments – this made enforcement easier and avoided confrontation between the state and nation. Confrontation in which the federal authorities order the state to act in a particular way should be a result of consideration of the need to do so. But the dormant commerce clause by …


The Supreme Courts Municipal Bond Decision And The Market-Participant Exception To The Dormant Commerce Clause, Dan T. Coenen Jan 2009

The Supreme Courts Municipal Bond Decision And The Market-Participant Exception To The Dormant Commerce Clause, Dan T. Coenen

Scholarly Works

Does it violate the dormant Commerce Clause for a state to exempt interest earned on its own bonds, but no others, from income taxation? In a recent decision, the Supreme Court answered this question in the negative. Six members of the Court found the case controlled by the state-self-promotion exception to the dormancy doctrine's antidiscrimination rule. Three of those Justices, however, went further by also invoking the longstanding market-participant exception to sustain the discriminatory state tax break. This Essay challenges that alternative line of analysis. According to the author, the plurality's effort to apply the market-participant principle: (1) invites a …


Rico Overreach: How The Federal Government's Escalating Offensive Against Gangs Has Run Afoul Of The Constitution, Matthew H. Blumenstein Jan 2009

Rico Overreach: How The Federal Government's Escalating Offensive Against Gangs Has Run Afoul Of The Constitution, Matthew H. Blumenstein

Vanderbilt Law Review

The United States has a problem with gangs. According to the Department of Justice, there are more than twenty thousand gangs in the United States today, with over one million members. There are gangs in every state and in the District of Columbia. This is a dire problem in the eyes of federal government officials. According to Attorney General Michael Mukasey, "Gangs threaten our society .... They bring a culture of violence and drugs to our doorsteps, creating an atmosphere of fear, diminishing the quality of life, and endangering the safety, well-being, and future of our children." In response, the …