The authors of the U.S. Constitution intended it to limit the power of the government. One way that they did so was to specify the areas of life that the government could regulate with its laws.

One of the areas that the Constitution allows the government to regulate is "interstate commerce." Most of the federal criminal laws have been justified as related to interstate commerce. Drugs? Most drugs travel through interstate commerce, and if they're homegrown they were grown or fertilized or cultivated with something that traveled through interstate commerce. Money laundering? Fraud? The banking and finance systems are part of interstate commerce? Gun crimes? Guns, gun parts, and ammunition travel through interstate commerce.

The commerce clause is interpreted so broadly that it is hard to find anything that the federal government can't regulate. This section discusses a few of the most common federal crimes. If you have a question about something that I don't talk about, please don't hesitate to contact me.

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Mark.