United States v. Morrison case brief

 Morrison (2000)

• Violence Against Women Act struck down
• struck down b/c
  • gender motivated crimes not economic;
  • no jurisdictional hook
  • effects of gender motivated violence on interstate commerce too attenuated
• statute did not regulated activity that substantially affected interstate commerce nor did it redress a harm caused by the state
• slippery slope: if gender violence affects interstate commerce, surely violence as a whole has a greater effect – do we want Congress regulating that?
• Congress tried to make it an anti-discrimination statute by focusing on gender law, tried to model on Heart of Atlanta
• Court moving away from standards (substantial relationship) to formal categories (activity must be economic)