For Thursday

Monday video. Reaction Papers for Necessary & Proper (Panel I) and Commerce Before 1936 (Panel II) due before class next Monday.

On Thursday, we continue with Commerce: Civil Rights and Commerce: 21st Century (both Panel III). Consider:

    • What three options did Congress have as a power source for the public-accommodations provision of the Civil Rights Act of 1964? Why did it settle on the Commerce Power? Could it have made a different choice enacting the law today? What are the "badges or incidents of slavery" against which Congress can regulate under § 2 of the 13th Amendment?

     • Why is the public-accommodations provision a valid exercise of the Commerce power? Should Ollie's Barbecue have been treated differently from the Heart of Atlanta Motel?

    • In what ways has the Commerce Clause been narrowed through Lopez, Morrison, Raich, and NFIB? Do those limitations make sense?

    • What can Congress do via its commerce power as of 2020? Why and why not? Are we back to 1936?

We then turn to Taxing and Spending (Panel IV).

    • What can Congress do via its Spending power? How broad is it? How might limits on the Commerce power limit the scope of the Spending power?

    • Where is the line for impermissible coercion after NFIB? How limited is Congress' spending power after NFIB, if at all?