Opinion ID: 779919
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Presence of a Jurisdictional Element

Text: 46 The presence or absence of a jurisdictional element limiting the statute's scope to those cases with an explicit connection with or effect on interstate commerce, is a second important factor in the constitutional analysis. Morrison, 529 U.S. at 611-612, 120 S.Ct. 1740. Although the Supreme Court has made it unequivocally clear that the presence of a jurisdictional element is not dispositive of the statute's constitutionality, it is equally clear that its presence may lend support for that conclusion. Id. at 613, 120 S.Ct. 1740. In short, a jurisdictional element can ensure, through case-by-case inquiry, that the [crime] in question affects interstate commerce. Lopez, 514 U.S. at 561, 115 S.Ct. 1624; see also Jones v. United States, 529 U.S. 848, 120 S.Ct. 1904, 146 L.Ed.2d 902 (2000) (analyzing the federal arson statute's jurisdictional element to avoid potential constitutional issues and ensure the requisite nexus to interstate commerce). 47 The statute at issue here does benefit from the existence of a jurisdictional element. In relevant part, § 669 criminalizes theft from a health care benefit program, the definition of which is explicitly qualified with the phrase affecting commerce. 18 U.S.C. § 24(b). Section 669 therefore criminalizes only thefts from health care plans or contracts — or medical providers under those plans or contracts — that affect commerce. See Jones, 529 U.S. at 854, 120 S.Ct. 1904 (noting that the qualifying phrase affecting commerce generally signal[s] Congress' intent to invoke its full authority under the Commerce Clause). 48 We recognize that this particular jurisdictional element could be said to be of little practical import. Given the complex state of modern health care delivery, it is difficult to envision any public or private health care plan or contract that does not affect commerce. That is, this jurisdictional element in actuality likely eliminates little from the scope of the statute's operation. If anything, however, that fact simply serves to strengthen our conclusion that Congress properly exercised its constitutional authority in criminalizing this activity under § 669. See Gregg, 226 F.3d at 263 (suggesting that a jurisdictional element is not essential where the regulated activity necessarily affects interstate commerce). And, if there is in fact a set of health care benefit programs that do not affect commerce, the presence of the jurisdictional element will properly exclude them. See, e.g., United States v. McGuire, 178 F.3d 203, 212 (3d Cir.1999) (reversing a conviction because there was an insufficient connection to interstate commerce to satisfy the jurisdictional element). Overall, then, the jurisdictional element provides support for the conclusion that the crimes at issue here are sufficiently related to interstate commerce to be validly regulated pursuant to Congress's Commerce Clause authority.