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Argument preview: Proving the federal criminal “element” of affecting commerce


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Argument preview: Proving the federal criminal “element” of affecting commerce

By Rory Little on Feb 17, 2016 at 8:19 am

 

The Supreme Court presumably granted review inTaylor v. United States (scheduled for argument on Tuesday, February 23) to perform the “housekeeping chore” of settling a circuit split: whether the government must prove, in every Hobbs Act prosecution involving drug-dealer robberies, facts showing that the defendant’s conduct (to quote the statute) “in any way or degree obstructs, delays or affects commerce … or attempts to do so.” The case, however, might turn out to be a “sleeper” with far broader implications than seem apparent at first. And Justice Antonin Scalia’s untimely absence might well affect the course of the decision, as well as oral argument.

 

Drug-dealer robberies, a cottage (interstate?) industry

 

Criminal cases often open a window onto parts of society that most regular SCOTUSblog readers do not experience. Scissors-32x32.pnghttp://www.scotusblog.com/2016/02/argument-preview-proving-the-federal-criminal-element-of-affecting-commerce/

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