Federalism and the contrivances of public law

Explicit recognition of the contrivances surrounding federalism may lead to better statutory construction and better constitutional jurisprudence. This article focuses on two fields of social legislation - environmental laws and antidiscrimination statutes - because they are among the broadest of to...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inSt. John's law review Vol. 77; no. 3; p. 523
Main Author Boudreaux, Paul
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Brooklyn St. John's Law Review Association 01.07.2003
Subjects
20th century
Constitutional law
Discrimination
Environmental law
Family law
Federalism
Government agencies
Interstate commerce
Judicial reviews
Jurisprudence
Legislation
Libertarianism
Nationalism
Politics
Public policy
Sex discrimination
Supreme Court decisions
Welfare
United States > US
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Summary:Explicit recognition of the contrivances surrounding federalism may lead to better statutory construction and better constitutional jurisprudence. This article focuses on two fields of social legislation - environmental laws and antidiscrimination statutes - because they are among the broadest of today's public welfare regimes. Acknowledging the vulnerabilities of statutory creation would assist Congress and agencies in drafting and administering more stable and ultimately more effective public laws. The conclusion of this article proposes some potential solutions to the current federalist quagmire. The solutions range from relatively modest ideas, such as reworking agency interpretations to better explain the links to interstate commerce, to bolder proposals, such as explicitly grounding congressional power in unenumerated powers or a constitutional amendment. These new paths for nationalism would help build a more satisfying and sustainable constitutional foundation for the nation's public welfare laws.
ISSN:0036-2905
2168-8796