Also known as: economic activities
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
Conduct that is commercial or productive in nature. Such conduct falls within Congress's commerce power when the activity, viewed in the aggregate across similarly situated actors, substantially affects interstate commerce.
Edgar Evers keeps a handgun locked in his vehicle while parked at a public high school in his home state. Federal prosecutors charge him under a statute banning firearms in school zones. The possession involves no sale, purchase, or other commercial transaction and occurs entirely within one state.
Edward Everett assaults Emma Erickson after a social encounter in their shared hometown. Erickson sues under a federal civil remedy for gender-motivated violence. The assault involves no economic exchange or market participation by either party.
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Edgewater Capital, a regulated electric utility, runs promotional advertisements encouraging greater electricity use. State regulators prohibit the ads to promote conservation. The advertising directly promotes commercial sales by the utility in its service territory.
Edith Eberhardt photographs minors engaged in sexual conduct and sells the images to out-of-state buyers. Prosecutors charge her under a state statute targeting such material. The production and distribution constitute commercial transactions in an interstate market.
Enzo Eastwood declines to purchase health insurance despite having sufficient income. Congress imposes a monetary exaction collected through tax returns for failing to maintain coverage. The decision not to buy insurance affects national markets for health care services and financing.
Empire Logistics purchases raw timber from state lands in Alaska and seeks to process it out of state. State rules require in-state processing before export. The purchase and intended processing constitute commercial transactions in the timber market.
Intrastate production qualifies when it is commercial or productive in nature and, in the aggregate, substantially affects interstate commerce. Growing wheat for on-farm use or 3D-printing components that replace out-of-state purchases both count because each substitutes for market transactions and alters national supply or demand.
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Non-economic activity lacks the commercial character that permits aggregation. Gun possession in a school zone and gender-motivated violence involve no market transaction, so their effects cannot be summed across instances to create a substantial effect on interstate commerce.
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The requirement focuses on regulatory measures that reach intrastate conduct. A monetary exaction collected through tax returns may still be upheld as a tax if it raises revenue, even when the underlying conduct is not itself economic activity subject to direct regulation.
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…under the Commerce Clause to enact § 922(q). First, we have upheld a wide variety of congressional Acts regulating intrastate economic activity where we have concluded that the activity substantially affected interstate commerce. See, e. g., Hodel v. Virginia Surface Mining & Reclamation Assn., Inc. , 452 U. S. 264 (1981); Perez…