Tuesday, June 07, 2005

Freedom Fighters

I don't have much to say about yesterday's Supreme Court assault on federalism/indiviudal liberty/autonomy for terminal patients that hasn't already been said (or cited) at Hit & Run, but I will add that this sort of jurisprudence, which is particularly maddening from justices like Kennedy and Stevens who allegedly have some respect for libertarian freedom, makes me sympathetic to Constitutional originalism. For those who haven't looked at the decision in depth, the Supremes essentially ruled that the federal government has the power to overturn state medical marijuana laws under the Interstate Commerce Clause even if there isn't the slightest reason to believe that the marijuana in question has or will be moved interstate, or even used commercially at all. What part of "interstate" is so fucking difficult to understand?

2 Comments:

At 4:55 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I'm not wild about the Court's decision either, but don't forget: a generous understanding of Congress's power regulate interstate commerce is what allows us to have things like federal minimum wage laws, OSHA, federal antidiscrimination laws, and environmental protection laws.

 
At 5:39 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

"a generous understanding of Congress's power regulate interstate commerce is what allows us to have things like federal minimum wage laws, OSHA, federal antidiscrimination laws, and environmental protection laws."

And those are good things?

 

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