SCOTUS Comparison FRQ

Example Question: Landmark Case U.S. v. Lopez (1995)

In 1935, Congress passed the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), which among other things guaranteed workers the right to join a labor union and collectively bargain with employers. The law also established the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), an independent agency responsible for enforcing the law.

The Jones and Laughlin Steel Corporation fired ten workers attempting to unionize its plant located in Aliquippa, Pennsylvania. When the National Labor Relations Board determined this to be in violation of the recently passed NLRA, the company sued claiming that labor relations had only an indirect effect on commerce, and thus Congress did not have the constitutional power to regulate it.

In the subsequent case, National Labor Relations Board v. Jones and Laughlin Steel Corporation (1937), the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the National Labor Relations Board by a 5–4 vote, holding that the Jones and Laughlin Steel Corporation conducted interstate commerce and that industrial labor relations affects that commerce.

QUESTION

Respond to all parts of the question:

A. Identify the constitutional clause that is common in both United States v. Lopez (1995) and National Labor Relations Board v. Jones and Laughlin Steel Corporation (1937).

B. Explain how the facts in United States v. Lopez led to a different holding than in National Labor Relations Board v. Jones and Laughlin Steel Corporation.

C. Explain how the holding in National Labor Relations Board v. Jones and Laughlin Steel Corporation affected the balance of power between the states and the national government.

a. The constitutional principle linking these two cases is the principle of federalism.

b1. In McCulloch the court told Maryland they had no right to tax the national bank. In the NLRB case the court said that Congress had every right to pass the law and that the workers of the steel company had every right to form a union, so the company shouldn't have fired them.

b2: Both involved the Supremacy clause.

c. Both expanded the power of the national government since both affirmed the rights of the national government over states and private b

NOTE: Some is correct here, and some is not. See if you can identify which is which.