Source: https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/conlaw/dormant_commerce_clause/page/2/
Timestamp: 2019-04-20 11:04:11+00:00

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May a state limit its statutory Freedom of Information Act to "state citizens"?
Doesn't such a provision violate the Privileges and Immunities Clause of Article IV? Or the dormant aspect of the commerce clause?
Not according to the Fourth Circuit. In McBurney v. Young, decided earlier this month, the Fourth Circuit upheld the constitutionality of a Virginia statute that allows access to state records to "to citizens of the Commonwealth, representatives of newspapers and magazines with circulation in the Commonwealth, and representatives of radio and television stations broadcasting in or into the Commonwealth." Va. Code Ann. § 2.2-3704(A).
The challengers - - - one a former resident of Virginia with his divorce, child custody, and child support decrees from Virginia and another an information broker dealing in real estate tax assessments - - - argued that the state citizen limitation violated the Privileges and Immunities Clause of Article IV and the information broker also argued the "dormant" aspect of the Commerce Clause, Art. I §8 cl. 3.
The Fourth Circuit affirmed the district judge's rejection of both of these claims.
or trade." With regard to the less well-established rights under P&I, such as "equal access to information" or "ability to advance one's interests," the panel found these rights were not established. Having found no right sufficient to invoke P&I, the panel did not engage in any balancing of state interests and means chosen.
Regarding the dormant commerce clause (DCC), the panel again found that the clause was not properly at issue. The panel stated that although "the VFOIA discriminates against noncitizens of Virginia, it does not discriminate 'against interstate commerce' or 'out-of-state economic interests.' " Yet the panel somewhat confusingly added that "[a]ny effect on commerce is incidental and unrelated to the actual language of VFOIA or its citizens-only provision," and therefore a Pike balancing analysis, after Pike v. Bruce Church, Inc., 397 U.S. 137 (1970) is appropriate. The panel, however, does not engage in any balancing, holding that "the opening brief does not challenge the district court's application of the Pike analysis and thus the argument is waived.
There is something about an open records act being limited to state citizens that seems inconsistent with our notions of a "United States," as well as inconsistent with our notions of openness. The Fourth Circuit's lack of a discussion of the state interests and how they are being served leaves an unfortunate gap, even as P&I and DCC doctrines do not seem adequate to address the issue.
Nebraska's location in the "heartland" of the continent makes it an attractive - - - and some would say necessary - - - crossing of the controversial Keystone XL Pipeline transporting crude oil from the Athabasca Oil Sands of Canada's Alberta Province to the refineries of Oklahoma and the Gulf of Mexico states in the US.
Nebraskans, however, may not be so keen to have the pipeline crossing their state. At the moment, there are no less than 5 bills in the Nebraska legislature that seek to regulate some aspects of the pipeline. The first, LB1, introduced on Nov 1, was the subject of hearings on November 7. It would create the Major Oil Pipeline Siting Act, defining a major oil pipeline as one greater than six inches in inside diameter and establishing an application process for the routing of a major oil pipeline including public hearings regarding siting proposals and evaluating and approving applications before a company was granted eminent domain rights to build the pipeline. LB 3 and LB4 as well as LB5 and LB6 also regulate aspects of the pipeline, although somewhat less expansively. For example, LB6 would require the carrier to file proof of an indemnity bond of $500 million with the Nebraska secretary of state.
Any state law could be preempted by the Pipeline Safety Act, 49 U.S.C. § 60101 et seq., concerning safety of interstate pipeline construction. However, as the LA Times reports, amid mounting criticism of the federal government's approval of the pipeline, the State "Department’s inspector general's office announced Monday that it was opening an investigation to determine whether the department had complied with federal laws in evaluating the $7-billion project," and that this is "in response to charges by pipeline opponents that builder TransCanada Corp. has improperly influenced what is supposed to be an independent assessment of whether the pipeline is in the national interest and meets U.S. environmental standards." SEE UPDATE BELOW.
Additionally, any state law could run afoul of the dormant commerce clause. Nebraska's bills do not seem protectionist per se and seem to be for the legitimate and non-economic purpose of protecting the local environment. The most applicable case is most likely Kassel v. Consol. Freightways Corp., 450 U.S. 662 (1981), a case populating many constitutional law casebooks and involving Iowa's regulation of the length of tractor trailers. In Kassel, any discussion of the Iowa regulation's burden on interstate commerce is inextricably tied to Iowa's location and the choices of other surrounding states; recall that Iowa's safety choice appeared less "renegade" when compared to similar regulations in New England as Rehnquist argued in dissent.
Any effort by Nebraska to regulate the XL Pipeline is sure to engender litigation. The TransCanada Corporation has already made available legal memoranda arguing against the constitutionality of Nebraska regulation. And arguing for the constitutionality of possible acts by Nebraska, legal memoranda are posted on the site of Bold Nebraska.
UPDATE: 10 November 2011: The State Department has put the XL Pipeline on hold with approval from the White House.
As anticipated, the Department of Justice has filed a complaint in Arizona federal court seeking a declaration and injunction that Arizona SB 1070, the controversial statute signed into law April 23 regarding immigration is unconstitutional. The DOJ complaint has three causes of action: the supremacy clause, preemption, and the [dormant] commerce clause.
In enacting a state policy of “attrition through enforcement,” Arizona’s S.B. 1070 ignores every objective of the federal immigration system, save one: the immediate apprehension and criminal sanction of all unlawfully present aliens. See S.B. 1070 § 1. Arizona’s one-size-fits-all approach to immigration policy and enforcement undermines the federal government’s ability to balance the variety of objectives inherent in the federal immigration system, including the federal government’s focus on the most dangerous aliens. By requiring local police officers to engage in maximum inquiry and verification (on pain of civil suit) and by providing for the conviction and incarceration of certain foreign nationals in Arizona for their failure to register, for entering or traveling throughout the state using commercial transportation, or for soliciting work, the “balance” struck by S.B. 1070 is not only different from that of the federal government, but it will interfere with the federal government’s ability to administer and enforce the immigration laws in a manner consistent with the aforementioned concerns that are reflected in the INA. Despite the statute’s self serving claim that it “shall be implemented in a manner consistent with federal laws regulating immigration,” S.B. 1070 § 12, the act mandates a conflicting, Arizona-specific immigration policy – “attrition through enforcement” – and prescribes various provisions that implement that policy in conflict with federal priorities. To permit a hodgepodge of state immigration policies, such as the one Arizona has attempted in S.B. 1070, would impermissibly interfere with the federal government’s balance of uniquely national interests and priorities in a number of ways.
DOJ Memo at 23 (emphasis added). Additionally, the memo argues that the state law interferes with United States foreign relations and foreign affairs.
The memo also highlights specific provisions of SB 1070 that it argues are preempted. The memo argues sections 2 and 6 are preempted because their mandatory requirements for determining immigration status conflict with federal law and priorities: section 2 will result in the harassment of lawfully present aliens and is therefore at odds with congressional objectives and will "burden federal resources and impede federal enforcement and policy priorities;” section 6 extends Arizona’s “warrantless arrest authority to out-of-state ‘removable’ offenses and is preempted because it will lead to the harassment of aliens.” Section 3, the “complete or carry an alien registration document” provision is preempted because interferes with comprehensive federal alien registration law and “seeks to criminalize unlawful presence and will result in the harassment of aliens.” Section 4, amending Arizona’s alien smuggling statute is preempted because it conflicts with federal law. Section 5, the state criminal sanction against unauthorized aliens who solicit or perform work is preempted by the federal employer sanctions scheme, and the “transporting, harboring, or concealing provision” violates preemption and dormant commerce clause principles (the item of commerce in question being the “alien” him or herself).
This high-profile complaint joins the other lawsuits filed alleging the unconstitutionality of SB1070, including on equal protection grounds.
Do the states have a marriage monopoly?
That's the intriguing question posed by Adam Candeub and Mae Kuykendall, of Michigan State University College of Law, in their new article, E-Marriage: Breaking the Marriage Monopoly.
States inadvertently have created geographic monopolies, requiring each marriage receiving the benefits of their licensing laws to be performed within their borders. This Article's model builds upon established precedents, such as proxy marriage and choice of law for multi-jurisdictional and internet contracts. Using the power of internet communications, our proposal allows states to compete over marriage's procedures and substance. Depending on a couple's preferences for "e-ritual" and a state's desired level of regulatory control, couples could consume the trappings of a traditional ceremony before their friends and family, without travelling to another jurisdiction, perhaps with an officiant presiding on-line from a remote location. More simply, couples could have a complete marriage ceremony in the location of their choice, but would receive a license and file necessary papers with a distant state jurisdiction.
They are publicizing their proposal with a press release here and article soon to be posted on ssrn here (abstract available now).
An out-of-state driver crossing Narragansett Bay on the Claiborne Pell Newport Bridge must pay $1.75 with an E-ZPass transponder in the car, but Rhode Islanders, under a resident discount program introduced in January, pay just 83 cents with a transponder. (No break for anyone who pays cash.) Massachusetts has a similar program that reduces the cost of some bridge and tunnel tolls in Boston for those who live nearby.
And New York and New Jersey have similar discounting for state residents. Such facts, as Con Law students should know, raise "dormant commerce clause" issues as well as a possible equal protection issue. The NYT story has a link to the complaint filed in Massachusetts.
Could be a nice exam question.
Professor Edward Zelinsky (Cardozo) just posted on ssrn his very thoughtful take on the Supreme Court's recent turn in its Dormant Commerce Clause jurisprudence, The False Modesty of Department of Revenue v. Davis: Disrupting the Dormant Commerce Clause Through the Traditional Public Function Doctrine. This extraordinarily well written piece will make good reading for anyone with an interest in recent trends on the Court; but it's a must-read for those of us teaching, learning, and writing about the Dormant Commerce Clause.
Recall that last term's Davis upheld against a Dormant Commerce Clause challenge Kentucky's statute exempting interest on Kentucky municipal bonds--but not interest from other states' municipal bonds--from Kentucky residents' income tax.
Kentucky's is a familiar kind of law. In fact, thirty-six other states have laws that mirror Kentucky's, and every other state in the Union supported it at the Court. Lawyers and bond traders made good arguments that the muni market could fall apart if this near ubiquitous practice were overturned. Every pragmatic reason seemed to favor upholding the law.
And yet it seemed plainly to violate the Dormant Commerce Clause, based upon the Court's prior rulings.
The Court in upholding the law seemed to go the pragmatic route. Or, in Zelinksy's language, "By explicitly deferring to established practices and expectations, Davis is, at first blush, the kind of modest, pragmatic decision advocated today by many including, most prominently, Chief Justice Roberts."
However, on a second look, Davis has broad implications. Indeed, Davis disrupts the Court's preexisting dormant Commerce Clause doctrine by confirming the Roberts Court's use of the "traditional public function" category to immunize government activity from dormant Commerce Clause scrutiny. Over two decades ago, in Garcia v. San Antonio Metropolitan Transit Authority, the Supreme Court rejected for Commerce Clause purposes the "traditional public function" doctrine as unworkable. The Garcia Court's criticism remains persuasive today: There is no principled basis for determining when a government function is old enough to be "traditional" or "public" enough to be public.
The expansive traditional public function category undermines the Court's prior case law by extending immunity from dormant Commerce Clause scrutiny to all government activity.
Zelinsky's better solution? "[B]ite the proverbial bullet and scrap the dormant Commerce Clause test of nondiscrimination." This is an unworkable test in any event, as demonstrated by the Davis Court's determination to avoid it.
Zelinsky's article is one of those rare gems that is every bit as useful to the novice just delving into the Dormant Commerce Clause as to the expert: The article in laying its foundation patiently details the doctrine; it then presents a serious and important argument on this practically simple case with doctrinally complex implications. Both foundation and argument should have broad appeal.
Moreover, Zelinsky's smooth, easy writing makes for pleasurable reading for a wide audience. I'm delighted to be able to share the piece with Con Law profs, and I look forward to assigning portions to my first-year students. I highly recommend this article.
Even if law students comply with Justice Scalia's widely reported remark last year admonishing them not to enroll in waste-of-time courses such as "Law and Poverty," it might not be sufficient to insulate students from the legal problems of poverty - - - at least if ConLawProf Stephen Loffredo has his way.
As part of a Symposium entitled "What Is the Place of Poverty Law in the Law School Curricu lum?: Looking Back and Planning for the Future," Loffredo confronted the "place" of poverty in a traditional Constitutional Law Structures course. In his article, Poverty, Inequality, and Class In The Structural Constitutional Law Course, 34 Fordham Urb. L.J. 1239 (2007), Loffredo admits that the relevance of poverty issues are more readily apparent in the "rights" portion (or separate course) of Constitutional Law courses, but argues that while not always apparent, legal issues of poverty and economic inequality are integral to constitutional structures courses.
students might be asked to consider whether the counter-majoritarian critique operates in the same way when litigants without access to economic power, and therefore little access to the political process, seek assistance from the courts. If people living in poverty lack a democratically fair share of political access--if the ordinary channels of civic and political engagement are not open to them, so that courts are the only meaningful avenue or effective point of access--then perhaps the availability of judicial redress and the institution of judicial review in those cases does not deviate from democratic practice at all, but serves as a corrective that enhances democracy.
More provocative, perhaps, is Loffredo's suggestions regarding the dormant commerce clause. Loffredo candidly states that a notion that "the Commerce Clause has anything to say about treatment of poor people may come as a surprise to students," and perhaps some ConLawProfs. Here, Loffredo's suggestion is not so much about directing student discussion as about including different material. He suggests that " a key, though largely neglected," dormant commerce clause case, Edwards v. California, 314 U.S. 160 (1941), "speaks eloquently to the issues of poverty, inclusion, and national community, and provides a window into the shifting judicial understandings of poor people and the nation's responsibility for the economic well-being of its citizens." His extended argument for the then-relevance and the continued relevance of Edwards is quite convincing.
Loffredo also has suggestions for the Eleventh Amendment, Congressional power under section 5 of the Fourteenth Amendment, and even Martin v. Hunter's Lessee. These are all worth considering. Most of Loffredo's suggestions do not require retooling the Syllabus, but offer thoughts for teaching the structural dimensions of Constitutional Law to include poverty law issues.
These suggestions may be more timely now than when written. In some of the article's introductory passages, Loffredo observes that the norm has become obscuring economic inequality and class issues throughout Constitutional Law and the law school curriculum. Could it be that these observations are becoming less true at the beginning of 2009 given various changes in the political and economic climate? All the more reason to consider Loffredo's suggestions.

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