The Commerce Clause gives Congress the power to regulate foreign and interstate
commerce (trade/business
), and commerce with the Native American tribes. This power has
been used more than
any other to expand the size and scope of federal law... and was even
used as a legal justification
to pass the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
I want you to imagine a local restaurant, Zeke's Diner, in the deep south, 1960. Zeke's only
served white people, but the federal government would soon pass a law that would end
segregation based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin, forcing Zeke's to change
their policy. How do you think Congress was able to justify this law, based on the Commerce
Clause? What about Zeke's is foreign or interstate commerce?
