Constitution Index · H.R. 5201 · 2025-09-08

Kari's Law Reporting Act

Latest official status (2026-04-22): Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.

Official source ↗

Constitutional grade

A

Constitutional

HR 5201 is a narrow reporting bill. It directs the Federal Communications Commission to report on compliance with and enforcement of Kari's Law, an existing federal telecommunications requirement. The bill imposes no new penalties, no new obligations on individuals, and no restriction on speech, property, or privacy. Because it operates within Congress's interstate commerce power and merely requires agency transparency, it is fully constitutional.

Article I, Section 8, Clause 3 Article I, Section 8, Clause 18 Amendment I Amendment II Amendment III Amendment IV Amendment V Amendment VI Amendment VII Amendment VIII

SI-generated grade · passed automated checks (real Constitution citation, language rules) · not individually reviewed by a person · methodology · Report an error: hello@valuesforamerica.com

The five checks

Enumerated powers · passes

Congress has authority under Article I, Section 8, Clause 3 to regulate interstate and foreign commerce. Multiline telephone systems and 9-1-1 routing are part of the nation's communications infrastructure. Requiring the FCC to report on enforcement of Kari's Law is a reasonable and necessary incident of that commerce power under Article I, Section 8, Clause 18.

Bill of Rights · passes

The bill does not touch First Amendment speech, assembly, press, or religion; Second Amendment arms; Third Amendment quartering; Fourth Amendment search or seizure; Fifth Amendment self-incrimination, due process, or takings; Sixth Amendment trial rights; Seventh Amendment juries; Eighth Amendment punishments; or unenumerated rights. It is purely a federal reporting requirement.

Individual liberty · passes

The bill restricts nothing that any person may do with their own person, property, speech, labor, or beliefs. It merely directs the FCC to compile and publish information and recommendations about existing law. No individual is placed under any new legal duty.

Decentralization · passes

This is not a case of upward consolidation. An individual, local community, or state cannot produce the FCC's report on enforcement of a federal telecommunications statute; the reporting function is tied to the federal agency that administers the law. The action does not move decision-making higher than the minimum necessary because the subject matter—interstate communications systems and uniform 9-1-1 access—is already within federal jurisdiction.

Due process and takings · passes

The bill creates no administrative enforcement action, no civil or criminal penalty, no licensing scheme, and no seizure or taking of property. It does not deprive any person of life, liberty, or property. Therefore no procedural or substantive due process issue, and no Fifth Amendment takings issue, arises.

Provenance

Grade ID
326
Rubric version
vfa-constitutional-grade/1.0
Graded
2026-10-09 06:10 UTC
Engine
backup SI engine
Source fetched
2026-10-07 23:07 UTC
Source SHA-256
a6c4d6533ecd0436d33ba240c3fc660a92672da76ff112f17884b2d03ec5436c
Checks
si-editorial-standard/1.0: real Constitution citation, language rules

Version history · never overwritten

GradeGradedRubric Source hashStatus
A · #326 2026-10-09 vfa-constitutional-grade/1.0 a6c4d6533ecd current

Cite this

Values for America. “Constitutional grade: H.R. 5201, Kari's Law Reporting Act.” VFA Constitution Index, grade 326 (rubric vfa-constitutional-grade/1.0), graded October 9, 2026. https://www.valuesforamerica.com/constitution-index/grades/326. Accessed 2026-10-19.

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