Thomas, J., concurring
derstood, and must have been so understood, when the constitution was framed”); see also R. Barnett, The Original Meaning of the Commerce Clause, 68 U. Chi. L. Rev. 101, 125–126 (2001) (Barnett); R. Natelson, The Legal Meaning of “Commerce” in the Commerce Clause, 80 St. John’s L. Rev. 789, 807–810 (2006). In fact, “shipping … was at that time the indispensable means for the movement of goods.” Barnett 123. The Commerce Clause thus vests Congress with a limited authority over what we now call the “channels of interstate commerce.” United States v. Lopez, 514 U. S. 549, 558–559 (1995); see also American Trucking Assns., Inc. v. Los Angeles, 569 U. S. 641, 656–657 (2013) (Thomas, J., concurring).
This federal authority, however, does not displace States’ traditional sovereignty over their waters. “The power to regulate commerce comprehends the control for that purpose, and to the extent necessary, of all the navigable waters of the United States which are accessible from a State other than those in which they lie.” Gilman v. Philadelphia, 3 Wall. 713, 724–725 (1866) (emphasis added). And, traditionally, this limited authority was confined to regulation of the channels of interstate commerce themselves. Corfield v. Coryell, 6 F. Cas. 546, 550–551 (No. 3,230) (CC ED Pa. 1823) (Washington, J., for the Court). It encompassed only “the power to keep them open and free from any obstruction to their navigation” and “to remove such obstructions when they exist.” Gilman, 3 Wall., at 725. Thus, any activity that “interferes with, obstructs, or prevents such commerce and navigation, though done on land, may be punished by congress.” Coombs, 12 Pet., at 78. But, activities that merely “affect” water-based commerce, such as those regulated by “[i]nspection laws, quarantine laws, health laws of every description, as well as laws for regulating the internal commerce of a State,” are not within Congress’ channels-of-commerce authority. Gibbons, 9 Wheat., at 203; see also Corfield, 6 F. Cas., at 550.
