Federalism may be the most significant standard enumerated in the Constitution, and the US Supreme Court should be encouraged to assert limits on congressional powers, as it has done in United States v. Lopez. The Lopez decision is revolutionary because the Court asserted its authority to limit commerce power for the first time in 60 years. At the same time, the Court must consider reliance on past interstate commerce rulings in fashioning theories for Commerce Clause jurisprudence. The Court should not be swayed by claims that it should focus on individual rights and not judicial review of federal statutes. Lopez, United States v., 514 U.S. 549 (1995), argued 8 Nov. 1994, decided 26 Apr. 1995 by vote of 5 to 4; Rehnquist for the Court, Kennedy filing a concurring opinion, in which O'Connor joined, and Thomas filing a concurring opinion, Stevens, Souter, Breyer, and Ginsburg in dissent. Congress in 1990 enacted the Gun-Free School Zones Act, making it a federal offense to possess a firearm in a school zone. Congress relied on the authority of the Commerce Clause of the Constitution to justify passage of the legislation as a way of stemming the rising tide of gun-related incidents in public schools. (Powell, H. Jefferson)
Alfonso Lopez, Jr., was in 1992 a senior at Edison High School in San Antonio, Texas. Acting on an unidentified tip, school authorities confronted Lopez and discovered that he was carrying a .38 caliber handgun and five bullets. A federal grand jury subsequently indicted Lopez, who then moved to have the indictment dismissed on grounds that the federal government had no authority to legislate control over the public schools. At a bench trial, the federal district court judge found Lopez guilty and sentenced him to six months' imprisonment and two years' supervised release.................
