NEW HAMPSHIRE MOTOR TRANSPORT ASS'N v. Rowe

DECISION AND ORDER ON CROSS MOTIONS FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT

HORNBY, District Judge.

The Interstate Commerce Clause gives Congress the authority “[t]o regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among the several States.” 1 Congress has exercised this constitutional power to enact legislation that limits state authority over the transportation of goods by air and motor carriers. Does this federal legislation preempt a Maine statute that regulates carriers when they deliver tobacco products in Maine? Maine lawmakers had two worthy objectives in enacting the state statute: to reduce Maine teenagers’…