United States v. Nicholson

185 F. Supp. 2d 982, 2002 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3362, 2002 WL 229879
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Wisconsin
DecidedJanuary 25, 2002
DocketNo. 01-CR-152
StatusPublished

This text of 185 F. Supp. 2d 982 (United States v. Nicholson) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Wisconsin primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Nicholson, 185 F. Supp. 2d 982, 2002 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3362, 2002 WL 229879 (E.D. Wis. 2002).

Opinion

ORDER

STADTMUELLER, Chief Judge.

On August 15, 2001, an eight-count indictment was handed-up charging Michael Nicholson with various civil-rights related offenses. Counts One, Two, and Three of the indictment relate to a July 28, 1998 arson of a home inhabited by an eight-member Asian family. Count One alleges that Nicholson and a co-conspirator carried out the arson in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 241, the civil rights conspiracy statute. Count Two charges Nicholson with violating 42 U.S.C. § 3631, the criminal provision of the Fair Housing Act which prohibits the intimidation of persons occupying a dwelling because of their race or color. Count Three charges Nicholson with using fire to commit Counts One and Two, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 844(h)(1).

The indictment’s remaining five counts relate to a scheme to lure Asian people from a household by use of explosives, with the plan to shoot the people as they emerged from the home. The indictment alleges that Nicholson, three co-defendants, and several unindicted co-conspirators participated in the scheme. Counts Four and Five are charged under the same statutes as Counts One and Two, alleging a civil rights conspiracy in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 241 and the interference with the housing rights of another in violation of 42 U.S.C. § 3631, respectively. Count Six charges Nicholson with using a firearm to commit Counts Four and Five, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 924(c). Count Seven charges Nicholson with using a firearm and explosives to commit Counts Four and Five, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 844(h)(1) and (2). Count Eight charges Nicholson with the illegal possession of a firearm in violation of 26 U.S.C. § 5861(d).

On September 12, 2001, Nicholson filed a motion to dismiss Counts One through Seven of the indictment, arguing that Congress, in passing 18 U.S.C. § 241 and 42 U.S.C. § 3631, exceeded the scope of its power under the Commerce Clause, U.S. Const, art. I § 8, cl. 3, and the Thirteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution. On September 21, 2001, the government filed a responsive brief, asserting that the legislation was authorized under either constitutional provision.

Nicholson’s motion was first considered by Magistrate Judge Patricia J. Gorence. After dealing with a number of pretrial filing delays, on October 23, 2001, Magistrate Gorence issued a recommendation to this court that Nicholson’s motion to dismiss be denied.1 The same day, Nicholson [984]*984appeared before this court for a final pretrial conference. Nicholson’s jury trial was scheduled to begin on October 29, 2001. Noting the pending trial, the court provided Nicholson an opportunity to review the recommendation and advise the court whether he wished to file an objection. On October 24, 2001, Nicholson notified the court by telephone that he indeed wished to object to the recommendation. Accordingly, the court granted Nicholson’s oral request and removed the trial from the calendar. On October 81, 2001, Nicholson filed timely objections to the recommendation. The government filed a timely response on November 15, 2001. The court reviews the recommendation de novo. See 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1).

I. Commerce Clause

The Commerce Clause provides Congress with the power “to regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes.” Art. I, § 8, cl. 3. Commerce power is broadly defined, describing the “commercial intercourse between nations, and parts of nations, in all its branches, and is regulated by prescribing rules for carrying on that intercourse.” Gibbons v. Ogden, 22 U.S. 1, 9, 9 Wheat. 1, 189-190, 6 L.Ed. 23 (1824).

Such power does not come unrestrained. As with all enumerated powers found within the Constitution, the Commerce Clause is meant to strike “a healthy balance of power between the States and the Federal Government.” Gregory v. Ashcroft, 501 U.S. 452, 458, 111 S.Ct. 2395, 115 L.Ed.2d 410 (1991). The court plays a key role in keeping this balance: when Congress passes a law using its Commerce Clause power, it becomes a function of the court to decide whether a “rational basis exist[s] for concluding that a regulated activity sufficiently affected interstate commerce.” United States v. Lopez, 514 U.S. 549, 557, 115 S.Ct. 1624, 131 L.Ed.2d 626 (1995). If a rational basis exists, the court’s inquiry is at an end: “Due respect for the decisions of a coordinate branch of Government demands that [the court] invalidate a congressional enactment only upon a plain showing that Congress has exceeded its constitutional bounds.” See United States v. Morrison, 529 U.S. 598, 607, 120 S.Ct. 1740, 146 L.Ed.2d 658 (2000).

Until recent years, Congress’ Commerce Clause power remained relatively unchallenged in the courts. “As a practical matter, at least since the watershed decisions of 1937-1942, the political process, and not the courts, has been the states’ only real defense against commerce-based federal incursions.” United States v. Ramey, 24 F.3d 602, 606 (4th Cir.1994)(footnoting the so-called watershed decisions found in NLRB v. Jones & Laughlin Steel Corp., 301 U.S. 1, 57 S.Ct. 615, 81 L.Ed. 893 (1937) (upholding Wagner Act), United States v. Darby, 312 U.S. 100, 312 U.S. 657, 61 S.Ct. 451, 85 L.Ed. 609 (1941) (upholding prohibition on transportation in interstate commerce of products manufactured with child labor), United States v. Wrightwood Dairy Co., 315 U.S. 110, 62 S.Ct. 523, 86 L.Ed. 726 (1942) (upholding regulation of sales of intrastate milk because such sales compete with “interstate” milk), and Wickard v. Filburn, 317 U.S. 111, 63 S.Ct. 82, 87 L.Ed. 122 (1942)(up-holding amendments to the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1938 to the production and consumption of homegrown wheat)).

That was until the landmark case of United States v. Lopez,

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Related

Gibbons v. Ogden
22 U.S. 1 (Supreme Court, 1824)
Civil Rights Cases
109 U.S. 3 (Supreme Court, 1883)
United States v. Darby
312 U.S. 100 (Supreme Court, 1941)
United States v. Wrightwood Dairy Co.
315 U.S. 110 (Supreme Court, 1942)
Wickard v. Filburn
317 U.S. 111 (Supreme Court, 1942)
Heart of Atlanta Motel, Inc. v. United States
379 U.S. 241 (Supreme Court, 1965)
Jones v. Alfred H. Mayer Co.
392 U.S. 409 (Supreme Court, 1968)
Trafficante v. Metropolitan Life Insurance
409 U.S. 205 (Supreme Court, 1972)
McDonald v. Santa Fe Trail Transportation Co.
427 U.S. 273 (Supreme Court, 1976)
Shaare Tefila Congregation v. Cobb
481 U.S. 615 (Supreme Court, 1987)
Gregory v. Ashcroft
501 U.S. 452 (Supreme Court, 1991)
United States v. Lopez
514 U.S. 549 (Supreme Court, 1995)
United States v. Morrison
529 U.S. 598 (Supreme Court, 2000)
Jones v. United States
529 U.S. 848 (Supreme Court, 2000)
D. C. Williams Et Ux. v. The Matthews Company
499 F.2d 819 (Eighth Circuit, 1974)
United States v. Raymond Bledsoe
728 F.2d 1094 (Eighth Circuit, 1984)
United States v. Keith Dwayne Gilbert
813 F.2d 1523 (Ninth Circuit, 1987)

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Bluebook (online)
185 F. Supp. 2d 982, 2002 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3362, 2002 WL 229879, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-nicholson-wied-2002.