The Supreme Court will hear a case this week which started with Carol Anne Bond trying 24 times to poison a rival for her husband's affections. The poison attempts included putting chemicals on the lover's door knob. Ms Bond was tried under the law, the 1998 Chemical Weapons Convention Implementation Act, which fulfils the 1997 chemical weapons treaty. Under that Act, Ms Bond was sent to prison for six years - but she would have received a maximum of 25 months under state assault law. 

Hugely important

Lawyers for Ms Bond, now released from prison, will argue that she should not have been charged by federal prosecutors. She will be challenging a 1920 High Court case which says that Congress can regulate local conduct through the use of treaties. The Obama administration and the chemicals sector are defending the use of the federal law. Professor Nicholas Quinn Rosenkrantz of the Georgeown University Law Centre told NewsDay: 'The case is hugely important because it's about a fundamental principle of constitutional law, which is limited federal power.'