"Congress could also have found ... that gun related violence in and around schools is a commercial, as well as a human, problem." Announcing our NEW encyclopedia for Kids! Lopez-Gutierrez's presentence report ("PSR") held him accountable for 8.3 kilograms of actual methamphetamine. . Hector Lopez-Gutierrez, Appellant Pro Se. "Eligibility for consideration under 18 U.S.C. It was the first case since 1937 in which the Court held that Congress had exceeded its power to legislate under the Commerce Clause. There was some question over the wording of the legal test, with the Court eventually opting to include the word "substantially" with "affect(s). A federal district court denied the motion to dismiss, stating that the act was a constitutional exercise of the well-defined power of Congress “to regulate activities in and affecting commerce, and the ‘business’ of elementary, middle and high schools…affects interstate commerce.” Lopez, who waived his right to a jury trial, was convicted and sentenced to six months in prison and two years of supervised release. We review for abuse of discretion a district court's order denying a § 3582(c)(2) motion. Indus. . United States v. Alfonso D. Lopez, Jr., 514 U.S. 549 (1995), was a landmark case of the United States Supreme Court concerning the Commerce Clause. Such is the case here. The government suggested that the presence of guns in the schools presents a serious threat to the learning environment; this in turn could result in a less-educated citizenry, which would have an obvious adverse impact on the country. In a 5–4 decision, the Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the Court of Appeals. The Court specifically looked to four factors in determining whether legislation represents a valid effort to use the Commerce Clause power to regulate activities that substantially affect interstate commerce: Although the ruling stopped a decades-long trend of inclusiveness under the commerce clause, it did not reverse any past ruling about the meaning of the clause. Chief Justice Rehnquist, delivering the opinion of the Court, identified the three broad categories of activity that Congress could regulate under the Commerce Clause: He said they had summarily dismissed any consideration of the first two categories and concluded that the resolution of the case depended only on consideration of the third category—regulation of activities that substantially affect interstate commerce. William H. Rehnquist, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. Congress, in Justice Breyer's view, had a rational basis "for finding a significant connection between guns in or near schools and (through their effect on education) the interstate and foreign commerce they threaten." When the power of Congress is challenged, the party asserting the existence of the power — here, the Government — bears the burden of demonstrating that the power exists. 782 (2014); see USSG § 1B1.10(d), p.s. In 1992, Alfonso Lopez, a high school senior, walked into his San Antonio high school with a concealed... Background of the case. He echoed the "rational basis" theme of the Breyer dissent. Lopez was charged with violating a Texas statute prohibiting the carrying of a firearm on school grounds. . Following the Lopez decision, Congress rewrote the Gun Free School Zones Act of 1990 with the necessary interstate-commerce "hook" used in other Federal Gun Laws. When Congress criminalizes conduct already denounced as criminal by the States, it effects a change in the sensitive relation between federal and state criminal jurisdiction." The case arose from a San Antonio high school student's challenge to the Gun-Free School Zones Act of 1990, which banned possession of handguns near schools. Aramony, 166 F.3d at 661. The Court, however, rejected the government’s arguments. Our review of the sentencing hearing transcript, however, reveals that the sentencing court found by a preponderance of the evidence that 4 kilograms of methamphetamine at 97% purity were attributable to Lopez-Gutierrez. To be sure, the law of the case doctrine provides that "when a court decides upon a rule of law, that decision should continue to govern the same issues in subsequent stages in the same case." Rehnquist, joined by O'Connor, Scalia, Kennedy, Thomas, Breyer, joined by Stevens, Souter, Ginsburg, Whether the activity was non-economic as opposed to economic activity; previous cases involved economic activity, Jurisdictional element: whether the gun had moved in interstate commerce, Whether there had been congressional findings of an economic link between guns and education, How attenuated the link was between the regulated activity and interstate commerce. . It held that while Congress had broad lawmaking authority under the Commerce Clause, the power was limited, and did not extend so far from "commerce" as to authorize the regulation of the carrying of handguns, of aggregate effect. The [enactment of the] legislation implies such a finding, and there is no reason to entertain claims that Congress acted, Lee, Joshua L. 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