Sotomayor, J., concurring in part
opinion. I acknowledge that the inquiry is difficult and delicate, and federal courts are well advised to approach the matter with caution. See ante, at 28. Yet, I agree with The Chief Justice that courts generally are able to weigh disparate burdens and benefits against each other, and that they are called on to do so in other areas of the law with some frequency. See post, at 3–4. The means-ends tailoring analysis that Pike incorporates is likewise familiar to courts and does not raise the asserted incommensurability problems that trouble Justice Gorsuch.
In my view, and as Justice Gorsuch concludes for a separate plurality of the Court, petitioners’ Pike claim fails for a much narrower reason. Reading petitioners’ allegations in light of the Court’s decision in Exxon Corp. v. Governor of Maryland, 437 U. S. 117 (1978), the complaint fails to allege a substantial burden on interstate commerce. See ante, at 21–25. Alleging a substantial burden on interstate commerce is a threshold requirement that plaintiffs must satisfy before courts need even engage in Pike’s balancing and tailoring analyses. Because petitioners have not done so, they fail to state a Pike claim.
