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United States v. Lopez
4
United States V. Lopez (1995)
Case Study
- By Sinchana and Julianne
Key Facts
Background
- In 1992, A High school senior in Texas, San Antonio named Alfonso Lopez carried a 38-caliber pistol to school
- School Administration received a tip and found the gun
- Lopez was arrested and sent to jail as it was forbidden under texas law to carry a gun in a school zone
- All charges against Lopez were dropped due to a federal law called the gun free school zone act of 1990 which also prohibited carrying guns in school zones.
- The state chrages were dropped because federal charges were against him
- Lopez was tried and found guilty again, so he was sentenced to 6 months in prison
Arguments began on Nov 8th, 1994
Key Terms
01
Commerce Clause: Allows Congress to regulate commerce and acts as a limitation on state legislative power
Terms
02
Gun Free School Zone Act of 1990: Possesing a firearm knowingly is a federal crime
03
Federalism: Constitutional power division between fedral and state governments
Previous Decisions
Supreme Court
District Court
Court of Appeals
The Supreme Court had never struck down a law unconstitutional under the Commerce Law since 1936 (Carter v. Carter.)
Journey to SCOTUS
The District Court found Lopez Guilty of violating the Gun free school zones act and sentenced him to prison
Scotus accepted his writ of certiorari to determine whether the commerce clause allowed Congress to prohibit guns in schools
Appealed to the Court of appeals and argued that the Gun free school zones act was unconstitutional as it exceeded congress powers. The Fifth Circuit agreed and
reversed his
conviction.
Connections
Connections
Gun legislation is a state issue but Congress passed the law based on:
- Commerce Clause - "To regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among several states, and with Indian tribes."
*NOT RELATED TO THE 2ND AMENDMENT
Connections
Related Cases
McCulloch V. Maryland
- In McCulloch v. Maryland case, Maryland enacted legislation imposing a tax on all banks operating in Maryland not chartered by the state. McCulloch, the cashier of the Baltimore branch of the Bank of the United States, refused to pay the tax. So, Maryland sued McCulloch for failing to pay the taxes due.
Decision: States that federal govenrment had the power to set up a federal bank and States had no power to tax the federal government
*Both upheld Federalism in an inverse way
McCulloch V Maryland limited state's rights while U.S. V. Lopez limited Congress' Rights
Big Question
Court
Is the 1990 Gun-Free School Zones Act unconstitutional because it exceeds the power of Congress to legislate under the Commerce Clause?
Lopez's Argument
1
Gun Regulation in school zones is reserved specifically for states
Lopez
The connection between Gun violence and Commerce clause is so far off.
2
Congress had no power to pass this law (tyranny)
3
U.S. Argument
Solicitor General Drew Days argued the case for the government
U.S.
2 Gun violence will
deteriorate the learning environment.
Leads to less educated people, negatively affecting commerce.
1 If guns are allowed in schools, gun violence would increase.
More gun violence would scare people from travelling through and would cause significant economic costs nationwide.
Court Decision
Court Decision
Oral arguments from each side was presented in the Court. Based on the opinion of the court, The Supreme Court sided with Lopez in a 5-4 decision and struck down the Gun Free School Zones Act of 1990, stating that Congress had exceeded its authority under the Commerce Clause when it passed a law prohibiting gun possession in school zones. The Supreme Court reversed the previous 50 year trend of ruling which expanded Congress' powers.
Majority Opinion
William Rehnquist was the chief justice who led the majority opinion
(Concurring) Court cannot give Congress a Blank Check to pass any law they wanted
Majority Opinion
Justices
Chief Justice Rehnquist stated that even though gun possession in a school zone is a criminal act, it could only be regulated by state or local government.
Rehnquist
O’Connor
Scalia
Thomas
Kennedy
Dissenting Opinion
The 4 judges argued that the other justices substituted their private opinions on the elected officials.
Justices
Dissenting Opinion
Justice Stevens argued that The Commerce clause should allow Congress to prohibit guns not only in school but anywhere. Stevens sided with U.S. because he believed a more educated and productive citizenry would benefit the country
Stevens
Scouter
Beryer
Ginsburg
What made this a Landmark Case?
Impact
U.S. V. Lopez marked the first time in over half a century when the Court held Congress responsible for overstepping their power under the Commerce Clause
This case preserved the system of Federalism and upheld the principle that states should have control over local issues like gun possession
Importance
Importance
The Lopez case is very important because it is about the distribution of power between Federal and State Governments (Federalism) which will most likely be addressed again as the Constitutionality between state and federal government powers keep changing
Relevance
The constitutional question
of the parameters of federal and state power proves that U.S. v. Lopez case will continue to be relevent and revisited. It would be one of the Top 5 most important SCOTUS cases as it upheld
the federalism system and limited the power of Federal Government, upholding state rights.
Article
The author is a third year student at Tulane Law School in New Orleans.
https://www.thirteen.org/wnet/supremecourt/future/landmark_us.html
Summary
Summary
This article was published in THIRTEEN MEDIA WITH IMPACT with a heading "THE FUTURE OF THE COURT". This article talks briefly about the Supreme Court's decision in United States v Lopez case. Supreme court decided that Congress had overstepped its limited commerce clause powers. This is a landmark decision by the Supreme court as it limited Congress's evergrowing commerce power in more than 50 years.
I chose this article because it is related to the landmark case I had chosen ie., US v Lopez. This article briefly covers the case summary, supreme court decision which upheld the federalism and set a precedent for future cases.
Mnemonic
L V. CCC
Lopez V. the Triple C's (Congress Commerce Clause)
- Alfonso Lopez was sentenced to prison for getting a gun to school due to a federal law (Gun Free School Zone Act)
- Argues that Congress overstepped their power using the Commerce Clause and won a 5-4 majority.
- Limited Congress' power
Remember
Question
Question
What was the impact of the Court Decision?
a. Upheld Federalism, limited Conress power
b. Upheld Federalism, extended Congress power
c. Upheld Federalism, limited state power
Thank You!
Citations
Citations:
https://www.oyez.org/cases/1994/93-1260
https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/514/549/
https://billofrightsinstitute.org/e-lessons/united-states-v-lopez-1995
https://www.thirteen.org/wnet/supremecourt/future/landmark_us.html
https://www.studysmarter.us/explanations/politics/foundations-of-american-democracy/united-states-v-lopez/