#rehnquist

Read South Dakota v Dole today, which, as it turns out, is the case about drinking ages and interstate highway funds. It’s the one I like to vaguely reference when complaining about federal overreach, but now I’ve actually read it so my opinions aren’t just bs.

The 21st Amendment specifically says that the States, not Congress, have the power to regulate alcohol. But Congress thought they could use the power of the purse to indirectly enforce a drinking age.

Indirect regulation is a bad thing. The States have broad governing power. Congress’s powers, as given in the Constitution, are narrow. They are nevertheless extremely potent. If they can be used to bully the states, Congress can extend their reach beyond the intended boundaries. 

The Constitution limits what the US can do, not just how they can do it. The 21st Amendment makes it pretty clear that regulating alcohol is not something Congress can do. Indirect regulation is still regulation.

Right-wing people don’t want to legalize marijuana, left-wing people do. I’m disappointed that Scalia took the “conservative” stance, rather than the “small government” stance. He’s a great writer, but I think Ben Shapiro is right: Thomas is more legalistically consistent.

Finally we got to a case where the SCOTUS was right. Basically, in 1990 Congress tried to ban all guns on school zones. Under what authority? Why, the interstate commerce clause, of course! You see, children, education affects commerce. So OBVIOUSLY that means we can forbid things that are bad for your education.

Justice Rehnquist wrote the majority opinion, which can be summed up as “that’s stupid and you’re wrong.” Just because something has a butterfly-effect on commerce between the states doesn’t mean the US government has absolute power over it.

Somehow, Stevens, Breyer, Souter and Ginsburg managed to disagree with that assessment. It dumbfounds me that they seem to think the Constitution is not a limiting document. Anything they like, they will find a way to agree with. Using “muh commerce clause” as intellectual camouflage for enforcing policies they like is the very antithesis of judicial impartiality.

10 Years Ago Today: Death of Supreme Court Chief Justice William Hubbs Rehnquist (October 1, 1924 – September 3, 2005)