"Commerce Clause Abuse, Non-Obamacare Division"

August 01, 2011 | By PACIFIC LEGAL FOUNDATION

Author: Brandon Middleton

Ilya Shapiro summarizes the Cato Institute's amicus curiae brief in support of Pacific Legal Foundation's delta smelt cert. petition and explains why the Ninth Circuit's decision to uphold the federal delta smelt regulations should be reviewed:

If left untouched, the Ninth Circuit decision opens the door to unlimited and abusive assertions of power by an assortment of federal agencies.  The Court needs to reinforce and rebuild the limits of the Commerce Clause and to reign in a federal government that continues to believe that the Constitution sets no bounds on its power.

Chapman University's Center for Constitutional Jurisprudence and former attorney general Edwin Meese joined the Cato Institute in filing this brief.