In 1942, the Supreme Court, recently filled with appointments by FDR, made a far-reaching ruling that would be one of the biggest and most blatant infringements of individual and states rights in US history in the case of Wickard v Filburn.
It ruled that Ohio Farmer Roscoe Filburn was not allowed to grow wheat on his own farm for personal use, and the law limiting his wheat production was constitutional, citing the Interstate Commerce Clause. This ruling gave the federal government a rubber stamp to enact draconian regulations on the lives of Americans and the states, even if it isn’t considered direct commerce. It was with this ruling, that the federal government outrageously grew in power and scope, well outside and beyond limits that the founding fathers intended.
Wickard has been citied to allow the federal government to prosecute individuals for growing marijuana for purely personal use, and was also used to justify the disaster that is the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare), and is aimed to be used as a weapon by anti-gun activists to ban production of 3D-Printed firearms as well as 80% lower kits, among other actions.
It should be a priority of any future administration and congress, to take steps to overturn the decision of Wickard v Filburn, either with a new case brought before the Supreme Court, or Congress and the states ratifying an amendment to the Constitution greatly reducing the scope of the Interstate Commerce Clause, in order to restore individual liberty, as well as state’s rights.