The woman, Carol Anne Bond, is a microbiologist who obtained an arsenic-based substance from her employer and tried to poison her husband with it. She tried to poison her husband, whom she learned had impregnated her best friend, by placing the substance on items like doorknobs and car handles 42 times, postal inspectors’ surveillance cameras showed.
The law carries out a treaty covering the use of chemical weapons. At issue is whether Congress may use its constitutional powers to implement treaties as a mechanism to regulate local conduct.