Taylor vs. the United States (Supreme Court decision June 20, 2016)

from SCOTUS blog online article (6/20/2016):
When the Justices take the bench, the first of the cases is Taylor v. United States. Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. writes for a seven-one Court that a prosecution under the Hobbs Act satisfies that statute’s interstate commerce element if it shows that the defendant robbed or attempted to rob a drug dealer of drugs or drug proceeds. And in this case, the government met its burden by proving that the defendant’s gang had intentionally targeted drug dealers to obtain drugs an drug proceeds, Alito says.
In his bench summary, Alito provides a variation of this statement from his written opinion: “For obvious reasons, drug dealers are more likely than ordinary citizens to keep large quantities of cash and illegal drugs in their homes and are less likely to report robberies to the police.”
Justice Clarence Thomas, the current Court’s strongest proponent of limiting congressional powers, is the lone dissenter in the case.
http://www.scotusblog.com/2016/06/a-view-from-the-courtroom-vehicle-problems/#more-244194