In Case You Missed It, U. S. Supreme Court Rules Private Individuals Have Standing To Challenge Laws On Tenth Amendment Grounds. GREAT!

The case is Bond Versus United States, and you can read it here. A synopsis is below:

When petitioner Bond discovered that her close friend was pregnant byBond’s husband, she began harassing the woman. The woman suf-fered a minor burn after Bond put caustic substances on objects the woman was likely to touch. Bond was indicted for violating 18 U. S. C. §229, which forbids knowing possession or use, for nonpeace-ful purposes, of a chemical that “can cause death, temporary inca-pacitation or permanent harm to humans,” §§229(a); 229F(1); (7); (8), and which is part of a federal Act implementing a chemical weapons treaty ratified by the United States.

The District Court denied Bond’s motion to dismiss the §229 charges on the ground that the statute exceeded Congress’ constitutional authority to enact. She en-tered a conditional guilty plea, reserving the right to appeal the rul-ing on the statute’s validity. She did just that, renewing her Tenth Amendment claim. The Third Circuit, however, accepted the Gov-ernment’s position that she lacked standing. The Government has since changed its view on Bond’s standing.

Held: Bond has standing to challenge the federal statute on grounds that the measure interferes with the powers reserved to States.