Opinion ID: 624033
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Tenth Amendment Claim

Text: Morris argues that the wire and mail fraud statutes, as applied to him, exceed Congress's authority to legislate in violation of the Tenth Amendment. Morris raises this constitutional challenge for the first time on appeal. Defenses not raised or litigated in the district court normally cannot be argued for the first time on appeal. Gardner v. Meyers, 491 F.2d 1184, 1190 (8th Cir.1974). This rule, however, is one of prudence and discretion. Ward v. Resolution Trust Corp., 972 F.2d 196, 199 (8th Cir.1992). Typically, constitutional challenges to the charging statute can be raised during pretrial motions, specifically, in a motion to dismiss the indictment. E.g. United States v. Smith, 655 F.3d 839, 848 (8th Cir.2011) (reviewing claim when defendant raised constitutional challenge in a motion to dismiss the indictment). In this case, presenting this argument to the district court would have been futile because, at the time, this Court denied Tenth Amendment prudential standing to individuals `absent the involvement of a state or its instrumentalities.' Id. (quoting United States v. Hacker, 565 F.3d 522, 526 (8th Cir.2009)). However, the Supreme Court recently held that criminal defendants may challenge statutes as violative of the Tenth Amendment. Id. (citing Bond v. United States, ___ U.S. ___, 131 S.Ct. 2355, 2366-67, 180 L.Ed.2d 269 (2011)). Morris did not have prudential standing until after the Bond decision conferred it upon him, and accordingly, he could not make this constitutional challenge to the charging statute. Therefore, we will address the merits of his argument. We review federal constitutional questions, such as whether Congress had the power to enact a statute, de novo. United States v. Sabri, 326 F.3d 937, 945 (8th Cir.2003). The Tenth Amendment provides that powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people. U.S. Const. amend. X. A Tenth Amendment challenge to a statute necessarily fails if the statute is a valid exercise of a power relegated to Congress. United States v. Wright, 128 F.3d 1274, 1276 (8th Cir.1997) (finding challenged statute to be valid exercise of Congress's power to regulate commerce). Article I, Section 8, Clause 7 of the United States Constitution authorizes Congress To establish Post Offices and post Roads[.] The Postal Power allows Congress to regulate the entire postal system. Ex Parte Rapier, 143 U.S. 110, 113, 12 S.Ct. 374, 36 L.Ed. 93 (1892). The overt act of putting a letter into the post office of the United States is a matter that Congress may regulate.... Whatever the limits to its power, it may forbid any such acts done in furtherance of a scheme it regards as contrary to public policy, whether it can forbid the scheme or not. Badders v. United States, 240 U.S. 391, 393, 36 S.Ct. 367, 60 L.Ed. 706 (1916) (internal citation omitted). Congress's Postal Power provides the jurisdictional basis for 18 U.S.C. § 1341, the mail fraud statute. United States v. Elliott, 89 F.3d 1360, 1364 (8th Cir.1996). Thus, Morris's Tenth Amendment challenge to the mail fraud statute necessarily fails because the mail fraud statute is a legitimate exercise of Congress's Postal Power. Wright, 128 F.3d at 1276. Regarding Morris's challenge to the wire fraud statute, 18 U.S.C. § 1343, Morris ignores Article I, Section 8 of the United States Constitution, the Commerce Clause, as a source of legislative authority. [Section] 1343 [is] within the extensive reach of the Commerce Clause. United States v. Hook, 195 F.3d 299, 310 (7th Cir.1999). Therefore, Morris's Tenth Amendment challenge to the wire fraud statute also necessarily fails. Wright, 128 F.3d at 1276.