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1 1 (June 17, 1999)

handle is hein.crs/crsahdw0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Order Code RS20237 June 17, 1999 CRS Report for Congress Received through the CRS Web Commerce Clause Issues in Brzonkala v. Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University T.J. Halstead Legislative Attorney American Law Division Summary In Brzonkala v. Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, an en bane Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit considered the constitutionality of 42 U.S.C. § 13981, which creates a federal cause of action against any person who commits a crime of violence motivated by gender animus. Analyzing § 13981 according to the framework delineated in Lopez v. United States, the Fourth Circuit determined that gender motivated violence is not a commercial activity and is not substantially connected to interstate commerce, rendering the statute invalid under the Commerce Clause. Determining that widespread and pervasive acts of gender-motivated violence have a deleterious effect on the national economy and interstate commerce by removing women from the workplace, discouraging interstate travel, and reducing productivity, Congress enacted the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) in 1994, pursuant to its authority to regulate commerce...among the several States.' Among the various criminal and civil provisions of the Act is 42 U.S.C. §13981, which creates a substantive right to be free from crimes of violence motivated by gender, and creates a private cause of action against anyone who commits such a crime, allowing an injured party to obtain damages and other compensatory relief.2 In Brzonkala v. Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, the plaintiff brought suit under §13981 against two men who allegedly assaulted and raped her, asserting that her right to be free from gender-motivated violence had been violated.3 Considering the statute pursuant to the strictures of United States v. Lopez, the Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit determined that the statute could not stand pursuant to the Commerce Clause.4 The Brzonkala decision marks the first time that an appellate court has 1U.S. Const. art. I, §8, cl. 3. 242 U.S.C. §13981. 3169 F.3d 820 (4th Cir. 1999). 4Id. at 826-827. The Fourth Circuit also held that the statute exceeded congressional power under (continued...) Congressional Research Service + The Library of Congress

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