The supreme court case with The United States v.

Morrison was a national issue of

whether or not the Violence Against Women Act of 1994 was deemed unconstitutional. This
issue arose when in 1994, a young woman named Christy Brzonkala was forcefully raped at
Virginia Tech by two young men named Antonio Morrison and James Crawford, both of whom
were football players. After an initial court hearing, it was found that Morrison is guilty, but
Crawford was not. In a second hearing Morrison was again found guilty, but through Virginia
Tech’s administrative team they were able to release Morrison due to “excessive” punishment.
As a result, Brzonkala dropped out of the University and sued Morrison, Crawford, and Virginia
Tech for violating the Violence Against Women Act that provides remedy for gender violence.
However, both Crawford and Morrison dismissed the case as being unconstitutional, and thus led
to the Supreme Court decision.
Ultimately, it was decided that Congress had no power to execute section 13981 of the
Commerce Clause, nor the fourteenth amendment because there was no action that affected
interstate commerce. This conclusion was reached by a ruling of 5/4. Congress, or The United
States, has no power to issue a remedy, only Virginia may process a punishment. Chief Justice
William H. Rehnquist led the majority opinion that a statute cannot be mandated that the
Interstate Commerce did not redress harm caused by the state. Despite this ruling, Justice David
H. Souter noted that there was a “mountain of data assembled by Congress” that portrays the
effect of violence against women that affects the interstate commerce.
This Supreme Court case is one of federalism. It questions the relationship between the
powers of local governments and national governments, and what the United States can oversee.
The idea of federalism is violated after the National government passed the Violence Against
Women Act because it transgressed the power that Congress holds under the Commerce Clause
and the 14th Amendment.
"United States v. Morrison." Oyez, www.oyez.org/cases/1999/99-5. Accessed 19 Jan. 2021.

“Violence Against Women Act.” NNEDV, nnedv.org/content/violence-against-women-act/.