Con Law 1
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Created by:
mrafanan13 on March 12, 2011
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93 terms
Terms | Definitions |
|---|---|
 Marbury v. Madison | -Facts: judge commission went undelivered - Outcome: the judgeship was valid upon delivery and the delivery could be compelled - Importance: the court cannot be bound by an act of congress repugnant to the constitution and article III of the constitution gives them the authority to review congressional acts as unconstitutional |
| Doctrines of Judiciability | 1. Mootness 2. Ripeness 3. Political Question 4. Standing 5. Advisory Opinions |
| Mootness | - a case is moot if the injury no longer exists and is unlikely to be repeated in the same manner |
| Ripeness | - a case is ripe if the claim has had a chance to fully develop |
| Political Question | - if the claim rests solely upon a political question, the court will refuse to hear the case |
| Standing | - For a π to have standing to sue they must meet the following requirements: 1. injury 2. causation 3. redress-ability |
| Prudential Standing Principles | -these are congress created - a general sort of grievance will not suffice to be a an actual injury to give standing - π must be within the zone of interest protected by the statute/law *note that congress can override these requirements by statute |
| Abstention: | - if the court can abstain b/c there is some other ground to remedy a dispute, the court will abstain and refuse to hear it |
| Advisory Opinions | - the court will refuse to issue advisory opinions; there must be actual injury and redress-ability |
| 3ed Party Standing | - allowable in certain circumstances: 1. a child 2. a minor 3. an invalid - there must be a special relationship between the plaintiff and the third party - when an association is bringing a claim, it has standing to assert the claims of its members |
| Principles of Avoidance | - the court won't pass judgment on cases that: 1. are non-adversarial 2. is in anticipation of a question 3. where other remedies are available 4. fails to show injury |
| Exceptions to the Mootness Standard | 1. wrongs capable of repetition but are evading review 2. doctrine of voluntary cessation if the defendant is not free to return to teir improper behavior at any time 3. class action suits 4. abortion cases |
| Zone of Interest | - 2 tests for if the π is in the zone of interest 1. whether you are within the zone of injury or 2. whether you are within the broader zone of interest |
| Generally Non-Justiciable Subjects | 1. ratification of constitutional amendments/voting processes 2. military action 3. impeachment 4. state gov't. organization |
| Necessary and Proper Clause | - the constitution grants congress the ability to regulate in the best way to achieve the ends - this is essentially a rational basis test when this is invoked |
| Strict Scrutiny | 1. heavy burden upon the state to prove that there is a compelling government interest and is the least restrictive means of achieving that result 2. applies when someone is exercising a fundamental right |
| Intermediate/mid-level Scrutiny | 1. burden on the state to show that there is an important government interest that outweighs the infringed upon interest 2. applies to interstate commerce, privileges and immunities, the contract clause, the equal protection clause (gender), freedom of expression, freedom of association |
| Rational Basis | 1. the burden of proof is low on the gov't. and is on the plaintiff to show that the challenged action is not rationally related to an y legitimate government interest 2. individual rights that are not fundamental, federal regulation of interstate commerce |
| Taxpayer Standing | 1. generally not enough to give standing 2. UNLESS you can show that you have personal harm 3. consider the Flast test |
| Flast Test | 1. must be challenged under the spending clause of congress 2. and you MUST allege that the enactment exceeds specific constitutional rights |
| The Commerce Clause | - judicial interpretation of this section of the constitution has sometimes contracted the clause and sometimes expanded it - courts have power of review here but the burden of proof is on the challenger to show that the challenged act is not rationally related to an important government interest - congress can either prohibit or restrict introduction of channels of interstate commerce |
| The Commerce Clause: Modern Rule | - congress may pursuant to the commerce power, regulate any commercial or non-commercial activity that has a close an substantial relationship to interstate commerce |
| The Commerce Clause: limitations to the Modern Rule | 1. the activity must as least be theoretically related to commercial activity 2. must make it clear that it is in fact interstate activity or closely connected enough to interstate activity 3. the domain of this regulation is not in the domain of the states |
| Commercial Activities | 1. is very broad and includes services as well as manufactured goods 2. meaning services can factor into interstate commerce 3. if something is arguably commercial, it doesn't seem to matter whether or not it affects interstate commerce, so long as the activities in aggregate affect interstate commerce 4. if its non-commercial activity then it will be harder to connect it to interstate commerce |
| Four Categories of Interstate Commerce | 1. channels of interstate commerce 2. instrumentality of interstate commerce 3. articles moving in interstate commerce 4. commercial activity or non-economic activity that is an essential part of a larger economic activity |
| Taxation: | 1. congress has the ability to lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts, and excises to pay the debts and provide for the common defense and general welfare 2. these shall be uniform through the states 3. must be for the general welfare |
| Taxation: limitations | 1. must be uniform geographically 2. direct taxes must be apportioned among the several states and cannot be specific to one state only 3. no export taxes among the states, only those bound for a foreign country |
| Direct Tax | 1. is usually one imposed directly against property or imposed against the person who is ultimately responsible for the tax burden |
| Taxation: for the purpose of regulation of certain activities (Traditional View) | 1. congress has always used its taxing power as a necessary and proper means of achieving a regulatory effect 2. as long as Congress has the power to regulate the activity taxed, the tax can then be used as a regulating device rather than for revenue raising purposes |
| Taxation: for the purpose of regulation of certain activities (Modern View) | 1. a tax will be upheld as a valid exercise of the taxing power if either a. it in fact raises revenue regardless of any underlying motives of congress (objective test) b. congress intended that it raise revenue, regardless of the amount of tax receipts it actually generates (subjective view) 2. every tax has an incidental regulatory effect |
| Spending Power | 1. congress ability to provide for the common defense and general welfare of the US |
| Analysis of Spending Power Issues | - done in two steps 1. if Congress is authorized to regulate a particular subject, then it may spend federal money in order to effectuate that regulation 2. where no Congressional regulatory power exists, the validity of a federal expenditure purely as an exercise of the spending power must be discussed |
| Spending Power: general rule | 1. a federal expenditure is authorized by the spending power if it promotes the general welfare 2. the modern scope of the general welfare is as broad as the commerce power |
| Spending Power: ability to regulate conduct | 1. by exercising the spending power, congress can require states to comply with specified conditions in order to qualify for federal funds |
| Spending Power: conditions on federal funding | 1. these are constitutional but they must be used to promote a constitutional goal |
| Spending Power: election reform | the power of congress to finance elections is perfectly legal |
| Three Types of Tax | 1. regulatory 2. prohibitory 3. protectionist |
| Protectionist Tax | like a tariff imposed on something imported from a foreign country to protect national industry |
| Prohibitory Tax | a tax that so large that it makes it not worth the purchase of the goods |
| Regulatory Tax | a tax to regulate an activity |
| 13th Amendment | -is the only amendment that can reach purely private conduct - to eliminate the "badges or incident of slavery" and to then forbid it |
| remedial powers | - the 14/15 amendment give Congress the right to remedy clear problems of discrimination by a state - the remedies must be "congruent and proportional" to the discrimination |
| 5th Amendment | no person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of the law |
| 14th Amendment | applies the 5th amendment to the states - also has the equal protection clause |
| Contracts Clause: private contracts analysis | 1. does the state law in fact operate as a substantial impairment of a contractual relationship 2. can the state demonstrate that the challenged law serves a significant and legitimate public purpose 3. is the impairment of the contractual rights of the private parties based upon reasonable conditions and appropriate to the public purpose served by the challenged law |
| Contracts Clause: public contracts analysis | 1. same as the private contracts analysis but held to a higher scrutiny |
| Defunis v. Odengaard | 1. facts: law school admittance 2. Importance: example of a case dismissal for mootness (the law school let him in and resolved the matter themselves) |
| Baker v. Carr | Facts: one person, one vote case Importance: Carr factors to determine if a case is political in nature |
| Baker v. Carr Factors: | 1. Does the constitution assign this issue to another branch? 2. is there a lack of judicial standards? 3. Is it impossible to determine an issue without determine the policies of the US? 4. Is there an impossibility of imposition upon other branches 5. does this require the ruling to change a decision of another branch? 6. Is there confusion of having multiple branches of government weigh in |
| McCulloch v. Maryland | 1. Facts: Maryland taxes the bank of the US 2. Importance: federal immunity comes from both express and implied powers, power of the federal government is derived from the constitution and directly from the people and not the states |
| US v. EG Knight | Importance: manufacturing of a product is NOT commerce - so long as they are solely related to manufacturing, congress cannot regulate |
| NLRB v. Jones | 1. facts: National labor board and jones violated the act alleging that congress cannot pass a national labor act b/c this is something states regulate 2. importance: the court state that commerce doesn't begin the minute you ship the good out the factory but that manufacturing can in fact play a role in commerce |
| US v. Darby: | 1. Facts:violation of the labor and standards acts of the fair labor standards act (child labor) 2. Importance: overturned hammer v. dagenhart, restricts goods from being shipped that have been made in violation of the labor and standards acts, even though labor is characterized as interstate, it has a substantial effect on interstate commerce making it proper for congress to interfere |
| Wickard v. Filburn | 1. Facts: wheat production case 3. there is an adverse affect on interstate commerce in the aggregate then it can be regulated by congress |
| Heart of Atlanta Motel v. United States | 1. Facts: motel discriminates against black people 2. Importance: this is still interstate commerce b/c they reached beyond their border through advertisements, congress can regulate activities that are incidental to commerce |
| League of Cities v. Usery | 1. Facts: congress passes the fair labor standards act to regulate minimum wage 2. Importance: congress cannot regulate labor market of state employees, that is a violation of the 10th amendment |
| US v. Butler | 1. Facts: Congress placed a tax on agricultural commodities from funds that would be redistributed to farmers who promised to reduce their acreage. the intention was to solve the crisis in agricultural commodity prices 2. Importance: act was unconstitutional b/c agricultural production was states responsibilities |
| Steward Mch. v. Davis | 1. Facts: the steward machine company challenged the validity of a tax imposed by the social security act 2. importance: the tax was a constitutional exercise of congressional power and that to avoid a law being struck down it needs to be drafted in a way that encourages or induces a national end |
| Pennsylvania Coal v. Mahon | 1. Facts: Penn. Coal entered an agreement with Mahon to gain full rights to mine the coal located beneath surface level property, Kohler act passed to prohibit this activity, Penn. coal contended that the takings clause of the 5th amend. protected its contractual rights to the coal 2. Importance: Kohler act violated the takings clause and state exceeded its power as so far as private persons or communities have seen fit to take the risk of acquiring surface rights, there is not a danger that warrants giving them greater rights than they bought -discussed the fact that it would have severely decreased the owner's economic vitality in the land - they looked at the public interest strongly here |
| Miller v. Schoene | 1. Facts: ceder trees diseased and a ceder rust act to have them cut to prevent spreading 2. Importance: this did not violate the takings clause b/c there was a strong public interest that the act was protecting |
| Martin v. Hunter's Lessee | 1. Facts: two competing rights to land; Virginia claims that the Supreme Court does not have the authority to review state court decisions 2. Importance: the Supreme Court does in fact have the right to review state court decisions based on the structure of the constitution and the recognition that states could be petty among themselves. |
| Cohen's V. Virgina | 1. Facts: brothers buying/selling lottery tickets; Virginia alleges that Supreme Court couldn't review criminal cases or cases where the state gov't was a party 2. Importance: yes the supreme court can with authority based upon §25 of the judiciary act and that states cannot be trusted to best protect federal rights |
| US v. Klein | 1. Facts: congressional law claiming that property could be seized if someone has aided/comforted the enemy 2. Importance: Congress cannot pass laws to limit the power of SCOTUS decisions where the law invades upon the powers of the other branches of the government |
| US v. Richardson | 1. Facts: challenge to government as a taxpayer standing 2. Importance: a citizen can't challenge the failure of a government to carry out a constitutional right UNLESS you can show personal harm, generalized greivance is not enough, must consider the Flast test |
| Roe v. Wade | 1. Facts: abortion case 2. Importance: exception to the mootness doctrine |
| Generally Not Justiciable Subjects | 1. military action 2. structure of government 3. ratification of amendments 4. impeachment |
| Tests for Interstate Commerce | 1. "utmost extent" 2. "current of commerce" (no longer valid) 3. "substantial economic effects" 4. "close and substantial relation to interstate commerce" |
| Gibbons v. Ogdens | 1. Facts: steamboat and government sanction monopoly 2. Importance: the "utmost extent" test used, was the first landmark case on interstate commerce |
| Loretto v. Teleprompter | 1. Facts: statute passed to require landlords to allow cable companies to install their facilities on their grounds 2. Importance: the court made found that this was an impermissible takings by the legislature |
| Penn Central Station v. New York City | 1. Facts: city wanted to remodel Penn Central Station 2. Importance: a regulation to preserve a historical landmark is a perfectly legitimate regulation |
| Nollan v. California Coastal Commission | 1. Facts: The California Coastal Commission required owners of beachfront property wishing to obtain a building permit to maintain a pathway on their property open to the public. 2. Importance: The means chosen by the government for land use regulation must substantially advance the governmental objective being pursued |
| Dolan v. City of Tigard | 1. Facts: Florence Dolan wanted a permit from the City of Tigard to expand her store and pave her parking lot. The city agreed to grant her permit on the conditions 2. Importance: cannot just place conditions on things for kicks, There must be an "essential nexus" between a legitimate state interest and the permit requirements |
| US Trust v. New Jersey | 1. Facts: New York and New Jersey had established a Port Authority to enhance water- bound business between the two states 2. Importance: The court will scrutinize closely a state's attempt to escape from its financial obligations and will only permit such an escape where a significant public need exists that cannot be reasonably handled in any other way |
| Clinton v. City of New York | 1. Facts: challenge to president's power of line item veto 2. Importance: made the line item veto unconstitutional |
| INS v. Chadha | 1. Facts: Congress authorized either House of Congress to invalidate and suspend deportation rulings of the United States Attorney General 2. Importance: made the congressional veto unconstitutional |
| US v. Curtiss-Wright | 1. Facts: Curtiss-Wright was charged with conspiring to sell fifteen machine guns to Bolivia, which was engaged in an armed conflict in the Chaco. This violated a Joint Resolution of Congress 2. Importance: Congress has the right to broadly delegate powers to the President in terms of war powers and foreign relations |
| Contracts Clause | The limitations on the authority of the federal and state governments to impair existing rights of contract arise from different parts of the constitution, with different rules |
| Analysis for Private Contracts Clause | 1. Does the state law in fact operate as a substantial impairment of a contractual relations 2. Can the state demonstrate that the challenged law serves a significant and legitimate public purpose? 3. Is the impairment of the contractual rights of the private parties based upon reasonable conditions and appropriate to the public purpose served by the challenged law? |
| Analysis for Public Contracts Clause | Same as in private contracts but with a higher level of scrutiny b/c of the possibility for it to interfere with the rights of a larger group of people |
| Incidental Impairment to Contracts | A state law which has the incidental effect of impairing certain contractual rights does not violate the Contract Clause of Article I |
| Takings Clause | State and Federal government ability to take private property for public use, provided that just compensation is paid. |
| Regulations | zoning regulations environmental regulations historical landmark preservation if the regulation unduly diminishes the economic value of the private property |
| Substantially Advance | 1. a standard of review for whether there is a government taking or a regulation ***`The means chosen by the government for land use regulation must substantially advance the governmental objective being pursued |
| Rough Proportionality Requirement | 1. a standard of review for whether there is a government taking or a regulation *** When a city conditions a building permit on some give back by the owner there must be a rough proportionality between the burdens on the public that the building permit would bring about, and the benefit to the public from the give back |
| Types of Standing | 1. individual 2. third party 3. taxpayer 4. association |
| Taxation Test | 1. is the tax constitutional? 2. is the subject of the tax a permissible object of regulation by Congress |
| Analyzing a Spending Power Question | 1. if congress is authorized to regulate a particular subject, then it may spend federal money in order to effectuate that regulation 2. where no congressional regulatory power exists, the validity of a federal expenditure purely as an exercise of the spending power must be discussed |
| Test for Conditional Spending | 1. conditions for receipt must be stated clearly and the beneficiary must be aware of those conditions and their consequences 2. conditions imposed must be related to the spending in question 3. incentive must not turn cooperation in coercion |
| Test for Supremacy Clause | Has the federal government: 1. prohibited state regulation in this area 2. OR is concurrent federal and state regulation permissible, with the understanding that federal government is higher authority? |
| Express Pre-emption | where the constitution or congress prohibits a state action |
| Implied Pre-emption | 1. most common kind 2. implied by circumstances |
| Test for the Dormant Clause | 1. determine whether there is intentional discrimination against interstate commerce 2. if there is no discrimination is there an unnecessary burden on interstate commerce |
| Test for Privileges and Immunities | state action that discriminates against nonresidents in favor of state residents as to basic rights or essential activities violates privileges and immunities UNLESS 1. there is a substantial reason for the difference in treatment 2. the discrimination against nonresidents bears a substantial relationship to the State's object |
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