Book Opener

Congress is a legislature , or a body of lawmakers, that has the job ofcreating statutory law under the powers given to the federal governmentby Article I of the Constitution. These powers include suchthings as the power to spend, tax, and borrow money.One important clause in the Constitution is Article I, Section 8,Clause 3. Called the commerce clause, it gives Congress the power tomake laws regulating commerce among the states. Over the years,the courts have interpreted this clause very widely. This broadinterpretation has given Congress enormous power, perhaps more thanwas originally envisioned by the framers of the Constitution in 1787.As noted previously, the U.S. Constitution is the supreme law ofthe land. Consequently, Congress may not pass laws that conflict withthe U.S. Constitution. The Supreme Court may declare any statute thatgoes against the Constitution unconstitutional , or invalid.State Statutes Each state also has its own legislature, or body oflawmakers, and most state legislatures are organized much likeCongress. Ohio, for example, divides its General Assembly into aSenate and a House of Representatives. Although the names of thestate legislatures may differ, their basic function is the same—to makestatutory law. Like Congress, the state legislatures cannot pass statutesthat conflict with the U.S. Constitution.Court DecisionsMost people are surprised to learn that courts make law. Courtmadelaw is often called case law, court decisions, and judge-madeWhose Name Is It, Anyway?An Internet domain name company has been taken to court, accused oftricking thousands of people. According to the Federal Trade Commission(FTC), the company sent faxes to Web site owners telling them that someoneelse was about to register an almost identical domain name. The purposewas to mislead people into paying a $70 fee to have the company blockthe domain name application. The FTC has asked the court to stop thisunethical practice. They also asked that the court shut down Web sites thattry to promote the activity. (Source: New York Times, p. C3, Feb. 16, 2001)Connect Search the Internet for a domain name registration, and researchthe site to review the processes involved.Chapter 1: Ethics and the Law 19