Landor v. Louisiana Dept of Corrections and Public Safety · ¶105
There is “no proper place in our jurisprudence” for this “wholly artificial” distinction. Ibid. (internal quotation marks omitted). The Necessary and Proper Clause makes sure of it. That Clause enables “Congress to provide, by suitable penalties, for the enforcement of all legislation necessary or proper to the execution of powers with which it is intrusted.” United States v. Fox, 95 U. S. 670, 672 (1878). So where an enumerated power enables Congress to prescribe rules, the Necessary and Proper Clause empowers Congress to “give those rules force by imposing consequences on [those] who disobey them.” United States v. Ke bodeaux, 570 U. S. 387, 400 (2013) (ROBERTS, C. J., concurring in judgment); McCulloch v. Maryland, 4 Wheat. 316, 416 (1819) (attributing to the Necessary and Proper Clause the government’s ability to “punish any violation of its laws”); Ex parte Yarbrough, 110 U. S.…Read in context ›
slip opinion, revised 6/28/26
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