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Comment by semiquaver | Hacker News Reader

  > [Judge Edith Jones] also said that under the government’s logic, Congress could  criminalize virtually any in-home activity

Well, yeah. This is essentially the holding in Wickard v. Filburn, which seems to be in tension with this decision (overturning that would be great but it’s not the role of the circuit courts of appeal to do preemptively)

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Also, this line is quite funny on its own because while understand what she actually meant, it can be very easily reinterpreted as "only actions committed out-of-home should be crimes; murdered someone in your home? welp, our hands are tied, have a nice day".

I think the point is that murder is handled by the states, not Congress. This is about what the federal government can do, not all government.

Murder can be federal crime if it involves:

  * the murder is of a federal judge or a federal law enforcement official

  * the killing is of an immediate family member of a federal law enforcement official

  * the murder is of an elected or appointed federal official

  * the killing is committed during a bank robbery

  * the killing takes place aboard a ship at sea

  * the murder was designed to influence a court case

  * the killing takes place on federal property

And in some locations, the federal government holds exclusive jurisdiction, so they better enforce these laws :)

This is the question I'd love to see asked to people running for President. Name something you think the States can do that the Federal government is prohibited from doing.

The answer isn't something we should accept as an opinion, though. For example, laws prohibit the federal government from (direct) involvement in elections.

I think you are confused. The constitution explicitly grants Congress the right to pass laws regulating federal elections:

  > The Times, Places and Manner of holding Elections for Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed in each State by the Legislature thereof; but the Congress may at any time by Law make or alter such Regulations, except as to the Places of chusing Senators.

The law is something we made up... Of course you can criminalize anything, that's the whole point of the law!

Sure. But by the text of the constitution (the thing we made up) Congress does not have the power to criminalize “anything,” but only things in specific areas. Everything else is left to state law.

So make an "amendment" then. You've got a bunch already

If someone wants to propose an amendment allowing the feds to do this, they can. They just need to get 2/3rds of both the House and the Senate to approve the proposal and then get 3/4ths of the state legislatures to ratify it.

Not sure why you’re acting like I think changing the law in this way would be a good idea, though.

My point was the constitution stands for little if it can be amended

That always shuts constitutionalists up

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