Liberals who favor gun control are apt to regard this decision as an unwelcome example of right-wing judicial activism. Civil libertarians, however, may view Lopez as welcome restriction on congressional power in general and on the harsh, unnecessarily expansive federal penal code in particular. You'd have to adopt an extremely broad notion of interstate commerce to uphold the gun-free school zone law at issue in Lopez . Consider the government's case. As the Fourth Circuit noted in Brzonkala , the relationship between sexual violence and interstate commerce is rather attenuated.
Sexual violence does have a general connection to the economy.
It affects women's employment decisions, spending habits, and mobility as well as the nation's health care expenses, as supporters of VAWA assert. But virtually all crimes and most conduct, within and outside the home, can be said to have economic impact. The Supreme Court in Lopez rightly held that the Commerce Clause is not a grant of general police power. This standard does not unduly limit congressional power, including the power to prohibit discrimination. Segregation in hotels and restaurants, on transportation systems, and in the workplace involved commercial activities with clear and substantial effects upon interstate commerce.