Commerce in the Commerce Clause: A Response to Jack Balkin

Michigan Law Review First Impressions, Vol. 109, No. 55, 2010

U Denver Legal Studies Research Paper No. 10-25

8 Pages Posted: 7 Nov 2010 Last revised: 15 Apr 2014

See all articles by David B. Kopel

David B. Kopel

University of Wyoming - Firearms Research Center; Independence Institute; Cato Institute; Denver University - Sturm College of Law

Robert G. Natelson

Independence Institute

Date Written: November 5, 2010

Abstract

The Constitution’s original meaning is its meaning to those ratifying the document during a discrete time period: from its adoption by the Constitutional Convention in late 1787 until Rhode Island’s ratification on May 29, 1790. Reconstructing it requires historical skills, including a comprehensive approach to sources. Jack Balkin’s article Commerce fails to consider the full range of evidence and thereby attributes to the Constitution’s Commerce Clause a scope that virtually no one in the Founding Era believed it had.

Suggested Citation

Kopel, David B. and Natelson, Robert G., Commerce in the Commerce Clause: A Response to Jack Balkin (November 5, 2010). Michigan Law Review First Impressions, Vol. 109, No. 55, 2010, U Denver Legal Studies Research Paper No. 10-25, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1703650

David B. Kopel (Contact Author)

University of Wyoming - Firearms Research Center ( email )

United States

HOME PAGE: http://firearmsresearchcenter.org/

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Cato Institute ( email )

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Denver University - Sturm College of Law ( email )

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HOME PAGE: http://www.davekopel.org

Robert G. Natelson

Independence Institute ( email )

727 E. 16th Ave.
Denver, CO 80203
United States
303-279-6536 (Phone)

HOME PAGE: http://https://i2i.org/constitution/

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