Lottery Case

Background

A defendant was accused under a federal 1895 law for causing lottery tickets to be carried from one State to another by an express carrier. The defendant argued that carrying such tickets was not “commerce among the States” and that Congress therefore could not criminalize that conduct. The federal government argued express carriers are part of interstate commerce and Congress may regulate or prohibit the interstate carriage of lottery tickets.

Reasoning

The Court reviewed older decisions and adopted the view that “commerce” means commercial intercourse and includes transportation, transmission, and traffic. The majority held lottery tickets have market value, represent promised prizes backed by deposited funds, and are therefore subjects of traffic. Because independent carriers transport such tangible items between States, their carriage is interstate commerce. The Court explained Congress’s commerce power is plenary for matters affecting more than one State and may use prohibitions (not only rules) when appropriate to suppress harms carried by interstate commerce.

Real world impact

The decision affirms that a federal statute banning the interstate carriage of lottery tickets is a valid exercise of Congress’s commerce power. That means people and businesses that send, receive, or ship lottery tickets across state lines can be criminally prosecuted under the federal law, and express and parcel carriers are treated as instrumentalities of interstate commerce for this purpose.

Dissents or concurrances

A dissent (Chief Justice Fuller and three colleagues) argued Congress lacked a general police power to suppress lotteries and that lottery tickets are not proper subjects of interstate commerce, warning this ruling risks eroding State authority over moral regulation.