Reading that can only be used for this exercise

• Wickard v. Filburn Interstate Commerece
• Heart of Atlanta Motel v. U.S. Civil Rights
• United States v. Lopez What is Commerce?
• Gonzales v. Raich ICC and Preemption

QUESTION:

Can the United States federal government require everyone between the ages of 16 and 65 to get a flu shot under the Interstate Commerce Clause? Only address the Commerce Clause issue. In other words, if Congress requires every person between the ages of 16 and 65 to get a flu shot, is that regulating interstate commerce under the following fact scenario? I expect you to provide only your legal analysis and not discussion about unrelated issues such as health and medicine or the effectiveness of vaccines.

You should consider the following information in providing your answer. DO NOT question the accuracy of the information. Assume all the information below came from a Congressional Report following several days of hearings.

Sustaining Healthy Organizations Together Successfully (“SHOTS”)

The U.S. workforce is primarily comprised of workers between the ages of 16 and 65. There are exceptions, but these ages are the most common. Congress proposes requiring that every person between the ages of 16 and 65 living in the U.S. receive a flu shot (or preventative nasal flu vaccine) between September and January of each year.

The annual direct costs of flu illnesses in the U.S. workplace exceed $7 billion dollars a year in sick days and lost productivity. No profession or workplace is protected against these losses. Each year, the flu spreads rapidly among health care workers, law enforcement, truckers, teachers, pilots, food service workers and retail employees. The U.S. economy suffers serious monetary loss each year due to seasonal flu illnesses because many people come to work sick. These individuals worsen annual flu losses because they spread the flu to co-workers and members of the public.

Beyond sick days and lost productivity, Congress found added costs for hospital visits, doctor’s visits and medications exceed $4.5 billion dollars annually. Congress determined these costs are preventable and should be eliminated. Nearly 35 million individuals living in the U.S. contract the flu each year. Of that number, nearly 1 million will be hospitalized and up to 50,000 will die.

Evidence confirms the flu shot is relatively painless, inexpensive and effective. Failure to be vaccinated will result in a $250 fine the first year and a $1,000 fine every year thereafter.

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Some guidlines for this assignment:

This is a pure writing assignment. You will have two weeks to complete the assignment. The extra time is being provided to ensure you carefully think through the problem and proofread your submission. Your response is limited to 400 words. You MUST provide a final WORD COUNT with your submission.

The grading rubric for this assignment is as follows:

1 point for making a decision (simply put, is the law Constitutional — yes or no)

2 points for actual writing and presentation (sentence structure, grammar, spelling and editing)

2 points for accurately stating the law, including use of case law studied this week

5 points for the analysis supporting your decision (this is the WHY behind your decision)

Your analysis, or reasoning for your conclusion, is worth half the total possible points on this assignment. This is because WHY you reached your conclusion is nearly as important as the conclusion you reached.

Do NOT discuss issues we have not studied. For example, do not discuss individual rights or bodily integrity. Likewise, do not discuss the First Amendment or religious exemption laws. Instead, focus entirely on the Interstate Commerce Clause question presented.

I expect you to reference at least one assigned case to support the legal rule you apply. Please italicize the case name in your sentence. You can use a shortened version of the case name in any sentence that you reference a case, such as Wickard or Lopez. Please then cite the case at the end of the sentence or section when you FIRST reference the case. For our citation purposes, please simply place the full case name in italicized text after the sentence or section when you first reference the case. If you reuse a case, your do not need to reference it a second time after use.

For example: The Supreme Court in Wickard found that intrastate commerce can be regulated if the activity has an impact on interstate commerce. Wickard v. Filburn. The Court’s decision in Wickard gives expansive powers to the national legislature. These powers allow Congress to reach into a state and regulate its citizens through the Interstate Commerce Clause.

While you are able to use up to 400 words, I encourage you to be clear and concise. Do not use space simply because you have space to use. Try to get maximum impact from your words.