Re:U.S. Drops California Case Against Apple After Accessing ...
by nickff on Monday March 28, 2016 @08:11PM
(#11378567)
The problem is that the Federal Government has effectively nullified the tenth amendment, because I can't think of anything reserved to the states anymore, except perhaps the police power, though I'm not sure the police power has any meaning left, as every specific action by Congress or the Executive seems to be justifiable. I have never Verrilli say that the government lacked any power it desired, though some of the members of the Supreme Court seem to think the Federal Government only gets those powers after a balancing test (which the Government wins if it is not being overtly capricious).
If you read the enumerated powers broadly enough, you are correct, but I find the 'generosity' of these interpretations to be quite disturbing. Commerce within the states is inter-state commerce, the Federal Government has a compelling governmental interest in your treatment of your neighbors, and whatever you produce or consume in your home affects the Federal Government's compelling interest in a regulatory scheme; everything not otherwise explicitly prohibited is fair game. Even the rights explicitly protected in the Constitution are subject to different levels of scrutiny, (i.e. rational, strict, etc. depending on how much the Judicial branch cares,) even when there was no provision for the Government ever violating them.
If you read the enumerated powers broadly enough, you are correct, but I find the 'generosity' of these interpretations to be quite disturbing. Commerce within the states is inter-state commerce, the Federal Government has a compelling governmental interest in your treatment of your neighbors, and whatever you produce or consume in your home affects the Federal Government's compelling interest in a regulatory scheme; everything not otherwise explicitly prohibited is fair game. Even the rights explicitly protected in the Constitution are subject to different levels of scrutiny, (i.e. rational, strict, etc. depending on how much the Judicial branch cares,) even when there was no provision for the Government ever violating them.