There is a movie from the 1970’s called THE PAPER CHASE which all law students are practically required to see, or at least, so they were in my day. Here is the money quote. The toughest professor in the school is addressing the helpless gaggle of First Years.
Professor Kingsfield: You come in here with a skull full of mush and you leave thinking like a lawyer.
The line is striking, especially if delivered with impeccable sarcasm by the immortal John Houseman, but let us not overlook that this line is a promise. We, the public, whose lives are ruled by a legal system run by those who think like lawyers, depend for our liberties and even our lives on the promise that our legal system will not be in the hands of those whose skulls are filled with mush.
I was reminded of this quote today.
The United States District Court for the District of Columbia has held, as a matter of law, Congress has the power to regulate, through the Commerce Clause, any action or inaction, including mental activity or inactivity, including any decision or failure to decide by anyone in the jurisdiction of the United States, which may have an affect on reality.
The reason is that actions affect interstate commerce, including the action of deciding not to purchase a good or service in the amount and quality and under the conditions the state commands, and that mental activity, such as thought, affects actions, therefore mental activity falls under the Commerce Clause.
I kid you not.
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