Stafford v. Wallace

Coming as it did after years during which the Court had often supported the powers of the states and corporations against that of the federal government, Stafford marked a growing emphasis on federal authority in commerce. This trend continued in the 1930s under President Franklin D. Roosevelt, in spite of two rulings that struck down his National Industrial Recovery Act (NIRA) and Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA). In the 1960s, with Heart of Atlanta Motel v. United States (1964), the federal government would use control over interstate commerce to enforce civil rights law, by ruling that Congress could use is commerce power to prevent interstate commerce by companies that discriminate on the basis of race. United States v. Lopez (1995), on the other hand, would show that congressional commerce power had its limits, when it was determined that a ban on handguns in public schools could not be justified under the commerce clause.