America’s Founders warned against Congressional overreach. They intended the role of the federal government to be limited, but the power of the states to be expansive. The federal government was afforded the ability to regulate commerce, but that power cannot reach matters that are wholly intrastate.

In the case at hand, the lower courts have improperly allowed federal power to intrude upon state matters. The federal government indicted Derick Brown under 18 U.S.C. § 1201 for kidnapping and conspiracy to kidnap. The statute imposes liability on the defendant who “uses the mail or any means, facility, or instrumentality of interstate or foreign commerce in committing or in furtherance of the commission of the offense.” Ms. Brown challenged the use of this Section, arguing that her acts fell outside its jurisdictional limits. The Eleventh Circuit rejected this argument because Ms. Brown used a car and, in its view, “an automobile is per se an instrumentality of interstate commerce.” Ms. Brown has filed a Petition for a Writ of Certiorari to the U.S. Supreme Court, and the Cato Institute has filed an amicus brief in support of this Petition.

The lower court’s per se rule pushes the Commerce Clause outside its limits, and those limits may not be ignored. The scope of the Commerce Clause was originally intended to be limited and narrow; with respect to the issue at hand, the relevant portion of the Clause was historically understood to apply only to trade among people of different states.

The Clause’s narrow scope cannot extend to include automobiles as per se instrumentalities of interstate commerce. Automobiles are easily differentiated from other instrumentalities of interstate commerce, such as airplanes, shipping containers, railroad carriers, and telegraphs. That distinction is underscored by an uncontroversial fact of life: Automobiles are regularly used for matters outside the scope of interstate commerce. The improper expansion of the scope of the Clause usurps the role of judges, undermines the rights of the defendant, and grants the federal government license to wade into quintessentially state matters.

This case warrants urgent review because circuit courts remain split as to whether automobiles are per se instrumentalities of interstate commerce. The Supreme Court should grant certiorari to preserve the Constitution’s structure and boundaries.