Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2002
Abstract
In United States v. Lopez, the Supreme Court, for the first time in sixty years, declared an act of Congress unconstitutional because Congress had exceeded its powers under the Commerce Clause. In 2000, the Court reaffirmed the stance it took in Lopez in the case of United States v. Morrison, once again finding that Congress had exceeded its powers. Are these examples of something properly called "judicial activism"? To answer this question, we must clarify the meaning of the term "judicial activism." With this meaning in hand, the author examines the Court's Commerce Clause cases. The answer he gives to the question of whether the Rehnquist Court is an "activist" court is "no."
Publication Citation
72 U. Colo. L. Rev. 1275-1290 (2002)
Scholarly Commons Citation
Barnett, Randy E., "Is the Rehnquist Court an "Activist" Court? The Commerce Cause Cases" (2002). Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works. 851.
https://scholarship.law.georgetown.edu/facpub/851