# *Gluzman v. United States*

March 1, 1999 • Legal Briefs 

By [Tim Lynch](https://www.cato.org/people/tim-lynch) 

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This brief cites *Lopez v. United States* to argue that only commercial activities are subject to federal authority under the Commerce Clause, and thus federal laws dealing with domestic abuse violate the Constitution. Furthermore, the Domestic Violence Clause permit the federal government to address violence within a state only if the state has claimed it is endangered and has been petitioned for federal assistance. Thus, what we consider today to be “domestic violence,” a wholly non-commercial activity, should be addressed at the state level.

[![Media Name: gluzman.jpg](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/serial_cover_phone/public/pubs/covers/gluzman.jpg?itok=9kq6z4q-)](https://www.cato.org/sites/cato.org/files/pubs/pdf/gluzman.pdf) 

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##### *Gluzman v. United States* 

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##### About the Authors 

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##### [Tim Lynch](/people/tim-lynch)

Former Adjunct Scholar and Former Director, Project on Criminal Justice 

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This work is licensed under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/). 

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