Wickard v. Filburn

Wickard v. Filburn, 317 U.S. 111 (1942), is a landmark decision of the United States Supreme Court.

Roscoe Filburn, an Ohio farmer, was penalized by the Department of Agriculture for growing 12 acres of wheat in excess of his allotment under the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1938. Filburn argued that the wheat was grown for personal consumption on his own farm, not for sale in interstate commerce, and thus fell outside federal regulatory authority.

Significance

Justice Jackson’s unanimous opinion gave the broadest possible reading to the Commerce Clause. Even purely local and personal activities could be regulated if ‘in the aggregate’ they had a substantial economic effect on interstate commerce. Filburn’s small wheat crop, multiplied by thousands of similar farmers across the country, could affect the national wheat market and price. This ‘aggregation principle’ became the most expansive interpretation of federal commerce power and remains good law, cited to uphold federal drug laws, gun control, and other broadly applicable federal statutes.

Category

US Federal Case Law