United States V. Morrison

1. By: Stacey Brands United States V. Morrison

2. Background • United States v. Morrison, is a United States supreme court decision which held that parts of Violence Against Women Act 1994 were unconstitutional because they went beyond congressional power under the Commerce Clause and under section 5 of the Fourteenth Amendment. • In 1994, the Congress passed the Violence Against Woman Act, which contained a provision at for a federal civil remedy to victims of gender-based violence, even when no criminal charges were filed. • The fall of 1994, Virginia Tech freshman Christy Brzonkala was allegedly assaulted and repeatedly raped by Virginia Tech football players Antonio Morrison and James Crawford. • During the school-conducted hearing on her complaint, Morrison admitted having sexual contact with her despite the fact that Christy had told him "no." College proceedings failed to punish Crawford, but initially punished Morrison with a suspension that was later revoked. • Virginia state grand jury did not find sufficient evidence to charge either man with a crime. • Brzonkala then filed suit under the Violence Against Women Act.

3. Rationale • United States v. Morrison invalidated the section of the Violence Against Women of 1994, gave victims of gender-motivated violence the right to sue their attackers in federal court, although program funding remained unaffected. • Congress enacted this private civil remedy because of what the minority called a mountain of data suggesting that states did not prosecute crimes against women as often as crimes against men. • The Court extended the States' power restrictions on the Commerce Clause's expansion of Congressional power which the Court had established in United States v. Lopez to Morrison. • The Court also applied States rights' restrictions to the Fourteenth Amendment expansions of Congressional power based on Court precedents, including, Civil Rights Cases.

4. Ruling • The United States District Court for the Western District Court for the Western District of Virginia held that Congress lacked authority to enact 42 U.S.C. 13981 . • The Supreme Court affirmed in a 5-4 decision. • Chief Justice Renhquist, writing for the majority, held that Congress lacked authority, under either the Commerce Clause or the Fourteenth Amendment, to enact the law. • Commerce Clause- is an enumerated power listed in the United States Constitution. The clause states that the United States Congress shall have power "To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes". • Fourteenth Amendment- an amendment to the U.S. Constitution, ratified in 1868, defining national citizenship and forbidding the states to restrict the basic rights of citizens or other persons.

5. Responses to Morrison • The United States v. Morrison decision was seen by the press as part of Chief Justice Rehnquist Court's series of federalism or state right’s decisions, mainly because of the Court's previous federalism or states' rights holdings in cases Lopez, Boerne, and other decisions. • The Washington Post came out in favor of the Morrison decision: "The court got it right. If Congress could federalize rape and assault, it's hard to think of anything it couldn't."

6. Cited • http://www.oyez.org/cases/1990-1999/1999/1999_99_5/ • http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=us&vol=000&invol=99-5 • http://lawschool.mikeshecket.com/constitutionallaw/unitedstatesvmorrison.htm