He says the law amounts to "taking property and giving it to others."

By a vote of 5 to 4, the Court said the law amounted to economic protectionism that placed an unconstitutional burden on interstate commerce.

Hoffman added that he believed the law amounted to a gun ban in California.

The children sued the Interior Department on the ground that the law amounted to an unconstitutional taking.

Unlike the earlier secret laws which only the priests had access to, these new laws amounted to a written and published legal code.

He said the laws amounted to "small victories" for prosecutors.

He said the court found that such laws amounted to a prior restraint on First Amendment rights.

Some laws in the PRC have amounted to little more than statements of principle.

In the past, state and Federal courts found the laws unconstitutional because they amounted to a favor for a single religious group.