Midterm Practice SCOTUS FRQ

A New York state law gave Robert R. Livingston and Robert Fulton a 20-year monopoly over navigation on waters within state jurisdiction. Aaron Ogden and other competitors tried to forestall the monopoly, but Livingston and Fulton largely succeeded in selling franchise or buying competitors’ boats. Thomas Gibbons -- a steamboat owner who did business between New York and New Jersey under a federal coastal license – formed a partnership with Ogden, which fell apart after three years when Gibbons operated another steamboat on a New York route belonging to Ogden. Ogden filed suit against Gibbons in New York state court, and received a permanent injunction The New York state court rejected Gibbons’ argument asserting that U.S. Congress controlled interstate commerce.

In Gibbons v. Ogden (1824) the Supreme Court ruled Congress can regulate steamboat operations and that the state of New York could not interfere with that. Regulation of navigation by steamboat operators and others for purposes of conducting interstate commerce was a power reserved to and exercised by the Congress under the Commerce Clause

-Adapted from Oyez

Based on the information above, respond to the following questions.

1. Identify the constitutional clause that is common to both McCulloch v. Maryland (1819) and Gibbons v. Ogden (1824).
2. Explain how the facts of McCulloch v. Maryland (1819) and Gibbons v. Ogden (1824) led to a similar holding in both cases.
3. Explain how a lobbyist could attempt to influence a Supreme Court decision like in Gibbons v. Ogden.