Bench Memos

Rep. Gonzalez Does Not Get It

Representative Charles Gonzalez repeats the canard that Judge Alito’s application of the Supreme Court’s Lopez opinion in his Rybar dissent could threaten civil rights laws. This is simply not so. The laws prohibiting discrimination in employment and the provision of public amenities — both economic activities — are not threatened by even a very aggressive application of commerce clause limits. Many liberal academics whose views of federalism were formed during the 1960s, inevitably assume that federalism is about civil rights, but it is not so.

Jonathan H. Adler is the Johan Verheij Memorial Professor of Law at Case Western Reserve University School of Law. His books include Business and the Roberts Court and Marijuana Federalism: Uncle Sam and Mary Jane.
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