The Annenberg Classroom released a new film about the Constitution’s Commerce Clause that will be showcased at teacher workshop events throughout the year.
The project — an initiative by the Annenberg Public Policy Center and Leonore Annenberg Institute for Civics — marks the centers‘ annual celebration of Constitution Day. The 26-minute film traces the history of the Commerce Clause and its impacts on a number of famous cases in American politics.
The commerce clause is an increasingly important clause of the Constitution that dictates how much power the national government has in determining state economic decisions.
“The Commerce Clause is one of the clauses in Article One of the Constitution that grants specific legislative powers to Congress to regulate interstate commerce,” Carey Law professor Kermit Roosevelt said in an interview with The Daily Pennsylvanian. “It‘s been the basis for a lot of federal legislation that you might not expect to be based on.”
The clause had a key influence on critical legislation throughout history, including the Civil Rights Act and Affordable Care Act.
According to Roosevelt, the Affordable Care Act — which was eventually taken to the Supreme Court in 2012 — “forc[ed] people to participate in a market rather than regulating the terms on which they participate in it.”
“Ultimately, the Supreme Court said this penalty that Congress imposes can be justified as an exercise of the taxing power,” Roosevelt added.
The documentary makes up a part of a larger series of short films and programs aimed at educating teachers and students about the Constitution.
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“We try to make it so that it's for teachers and students, but it can be accessible to the larger community too,” LAIC’s director of outreach and curriculum Andrea Reidell said. “People should know their system of government and what their rights are and responsibilities are, and what being a citizen of a place really means. You need to know your rights in order to know if someone is trying to take your rights away."
The Trump administration‘s tariff policies have also been called into question through the use of the Commerce Clause.
Roosevelt also commented on the current administration's legislature and executive.
“What we're seeing now is a Congress that is paralyzed, ineffectual, and not asserting its constitutional powers,” Roosevelt said. “The President is supposed to execute the laws that Congress passes. Congress has delegated a lot of authority to the president. And I think that's probably what we should be more concerned about.”
