Also known as: effective controls · effectively control · effectively controls · effectively controlling · de facto control
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
2 senses
Regulatory authority exercised by one state that reaches beyond its borders to dictate prices or conduct occurring in another state.
Regulatory authority exercised by one state that reaches beyond its borders to dictate prices or conduct occurring in another state.
Empire Logistics, a beer distributor headquartered in State B, ships product into State A. State A requires every out-of-state seller to file an affidavit swearing that its in-state prices are no higher than prices charged anywhere else. Empire Logistics refuses to file the affidavit and is barred from selling in State A. The requirement is struck down because it gives State A effective control over pricing decisions made entirely within State B.
The material ability of a superior to prevent or punish criminal acts committed by subordinates.
Eric Espinoza, a battalion commander, learns that troops under his formal authority are committing atrocities. Evidence shows he retained the material ability to issue orders and discipline offenders. The tribunal holds him liable because he possessed effective control yet failed to exercise it.
The material ability of a superior to prevent or punish criminal acts committed by subordinates.
Each sense below has its own examples, sources, and questions.
Echelon Security applies for a certificate to operate an ice plant in State A. State A denies the application under a statute that limits entry to protect an existing monopolist. The denial is upheld because the statute keeps the monopoly under effective control by giving a commission power to terminate it whenever public interest requires.
Edith Eberhardt grows marijuana solely for personal medical use inside State A. Federal agents seize the plants under a nationwide controlled-substance statute. The seizure is sustained because Congress determined that federal control of intrastate cultivation is essential to effective control of the interstate market.
Ella Emerson lives with her adult son in a city-owned apartment. City officials seek to evict the son for misconduct. The court examines whether the city retained effective control over household conduct occurring inside State A before deciding whether eviction can proceed against her.
Evelyn Ellison, a state attorney general, issues an interpretive rule threatening doctors who prescribe controlled substances for suicide. The rule is invalidated because the federal statute does not give the attorney general effective control over medical judgments traditionally left to the states.
In commerce clause cases the phrase describes a state statute whose practical operation reaches across state lines to control conduct occurring entirely elsewhere. In criminal law the phrase measures a superior's real-world capacity to stop or discipline subordinates.
The statute is invalid under the commerce clause even if the Twenty-First Amendment is invoked. The law is treated as an impermissible extraterritorial regulation and cannot be enforced.
Effective control turns on the material ability to prevent or punish misconduct rather than on official title or appointment. A superior who holds only paper authority but lacks real power to intervene cannot be held responsible under the doctrine.
No. De jure authority is relevant but insufficient by itself. The prosecution must still prove that the defendant possessed the actual power to prevent or punish the crimes at issue.
…intrastate. “(6) Federal control of the intrastate incidents of the traffic in controlled substances is essential to the effective control of the interstate incidents of such traffic.” 21 U. S. C. §§801(1)–(6). [^maj-21]: See United States v. Moore , 423 U. S. 122, 135 (1975); see also H. R. Rep., at 22. [^maj-22]: H. R.…