Whether an indictment charging murder-for-hire in violation of 18 USC § 1958 by intrastate use of cellphones and an automobile exceeds the proper limits on Congress' power under the channels and instrumentalities categories of the Commerce Clause?

QUESTION PRESENTED Starting with first principles, Congress’s power to regulate interstate commerce is limited by the “constitutionally mandated division of authority between the Federal Government and the states,” United States v Lopez, 514 US 549, 552 (1995), and the closely related principle that regulation and punishment of violent street crime is part of the general police powers possessed by the states. In this case, the lower courts justified use of commerce power under the channels and instrumentalities categories to broadly regulate violent street crime by evidence of intrastate use of cell phones and an automobile. The Question Presented is: Whether an indictment charging murder-for-hire in violation of 18 USC § 1958 by intrastate use of cellphones and an automobile exceeds the proper limits on Congress’ power under the channels and instrumentalities categories of the Commerce Clause?