## Facts

- Christy Brzonkala, a Virginia Tech student, alleged that fellow students Antonio J. Morrison and James Crawford sexually assaulted and raped her in a campus dormitory in 1994.
- Brzonkala pursued university disciplinary proceedings; Morrison was initially found responsible but ultimately received no meaningful sanction after administrative review.
- Brzonkala withdrew from the university.
- Brzonkala filed a federal civil action against Morrison and Crawford under 42 U.S.C. § 13981, a Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) provision creating a federal civil remedy for victims of “gender-motivated violence.”
- Morrison and Crawford moved to dismiss, arguing § 13981 exceeded Congress’s constitutional authority.
- The United States intervened to defend § 13981’s constitutionality.
- The district court dismissed the § 13981 claim as unconstitutional under both the Commerce Clause and § 5 of the Fourteenth Amendment.
- The en banc Fourth Circuit affirmed, and the Supreme Court granted review.

## Issues

1. Whether 42 U.S.C. § 13981 is a valid exercise of Congress’s power under the Commerce Clause as regulation of activity that substantially affects interstate commerce.
2. Whether § 13981 is a valid exercise of Congress’s power under § 5 of the Fourteenth Amendment to enforce constitutional guarantees against state infringement.

## Decision

- The Supreme Court affirmed the Fourth Circuit in a 5–4 decision.
- The Court held § 13981 unconstitutional under the Commerce Clause because gender-motivated violence is noneconomic, criminal conduct and the statute lacked a jurisdictional element tying each case to interstate commerce.
- The Court held § 13981 unconstitutional under § 5 of the Fourteenth Amendment because the Fourteenth Amendment restrains state action, and § 13981 created a remedy against private individuals rather than targeting unconstitutional state conduct.
- Justice Thomas concurred, urging reconsideration of expansive “substantial effects” Commerce Clause doctrine.
- Justices Souter and Breyer dissented (with varying joiners), emphasizing Congress’s factual findings and the aggregate economic effects of violence against women.

## Legal Principles

- Under the Commerce Clause, Congress may regulate activities that substantially affect interstate commerce, but regulation of intrastate conduct based on aggregated effects is not sustained where the regulated conduct is noneconomic, criminal activity.
- The absence of a jurisdictional element connecting each application of a statute to interstate commerce weighs against Commerce Clause validity.
- Congressional findings about economic effects, standing alone, do not supply constitutional authority to regulate noneconomic intrastate conduct with only indirect commercial effects.
- Section 5 of the Fourteenth Amendment authorizes enforcement legislation directed at state action; it does not authorize federal civil liability imposed solely on private actors for private misconduct.
- Enforcement legislation under § 5 must be congruent and proportional to documented unconstitutional state conduct; a remedy not aimed at states or state officials falls outside § 5.

## Conclusion

The Court invalidated VAWA’s federal civil remedy for gender-motivated violence, holding that Congress lacked power to enact § 13981 under either the Commerce Clause or § 5 of the Fourteenth Amendment because the statute regulated noneconomic private violence without a commerce nexus and did not enforce constitutional limits on state action.


United States v. Morrison, 529 U.S. 598 (2000)