NCJ Number
165872
Journal
Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology Volume: 86 Issue: 4 Dated: (Summer 1996) Pages: 1493-1538
Date Published
1996
Length
46 pages
Annotation
This note critiques the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in United States v. Lopez, 115 S. Ct. 1624 (1995), which held that the Federal Gun Free School Zones Act was an impermissible exercise of Congress' legislative authority under the Commerce Clause.
Abstract
The Gun Free School Zones Act of 1990 makes it unlawful "for any individual knowingly to possess a firearm at a place that the individual knows, or has reasonable cause to believe, is a school zone." In its decision, the U.S. Supreme Court emphasized the lack of express congressional findings that would link the Act to interstate commerce, as well as the traditional jurisdiction of local government over educational concerns. This note first argues that the Court, by failing to apply the well-established rational basis standard of review to its constitutional analysis of the Act, wrongly decided the fate of the Act. Under the rational basis test, the relevant judicial inquiry is whether Congress could have rationally concluded that gun possession at school affects interstate commerce. The author further argues that the Court erred in determining that gun violence at school does not substantially affect interstate commerce. The existence of guns in schools creates an intimidating learning environment that deteriorates the quality of American education. A substandard education process in turn creates a workforce that produces poorer quality goods and services. Given that these outputs are traded in interstate commerce, guns at school substantially affect interstate commerce. This note reconciles Congress' ability to regulate through its commerce power over areas traditionally left to the State or local government, such as crime and education, with States' rights under the tenth amendment. 416 footnotes