Jones v. United States

Dewey Jones (defendant) threw a Molotov cocktail through his cousin's window, damaging the home but injuring no one, and was convicted under 18 U.S.C. § 844(i), a federal arson statute reaching buildings "used" in interstate commerce or activities affecting it. Jones received 35 years in prison, far exceeding the 10-year maximum under the comparable state arson law, and appealed, arguing the statute couldn't constitutionally reach a private, owner-occupied home with no commercial use; the government argued that the home's mortgage, insurance, and natural gas service, all sourced from interstate commerce, satisfied the statute's "used in" interstate-commerce requirement, and the appellate court agreed and affirmed.