The purpose and scope of the
Commerce Clause has been the topic of debate in many court decisions. Over the years, the Supreme
Court has interpreted the
Commerce Clause as a grant of power to the federal
government and a limitation on the authority of individual states. One of the first issues to reach the Supreme Court was whether the power granted to Congress via the clause also inferred that the states are, thereby, precluded from local regulation of interstate and foreign commerce. This paper details, through case law examples, how this grant of power has been used, and sometimes abused, by the federal government.