Pg 50 Flashcards
How does congress work?
It has Congresspeople that are elected every two years. Frequent elections are meant to keep corruption down and put new bodies into office. This is where the bills of government funding originate.
How does the senate work?
There are two senators per state
What types of laws violate ex post facto?
- ones that make an innocent action done before the law was passed into a crime and punish it
- ones that aggravate a crime to be greater than when it was committed
– ones that change punishments to be greater than when the crime happened or that remove a defense that was available when the crime was committed
– ones that alter the legal rules of evidence requiring less or different testimony than was needed at commission
If a prisoner gets good time credit and is then released, then the law changes and the credits get revoked and the prisoner is sent back to jail, what happens?
This violates ex post facto
What are things that the individual states do not have the power to do?
Enter treaties or alliances, coin money, pass bills of attainder to punish one person, impose import duties from other states, keep troops or ships, enter compacts with other states, engage in war, etc.
What is bicameralism?
You need the approval of the majority of both houses of Congress to ratify legislation and you need presentment to the president. This requires that things get passed in both houses [Congress and the Senate]
What is the law making process?
- Congress writes a legislation proposal to make something law
- all legislation that has passed both houses of Congress is presented to the chief executive
- he has a limited or qualified authority to veto
- If he does, Congress can by super majority vote to override the veto and make it the law anyway
What are all of the powers that Congress has?
The power to:
– Lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts/customs, and excises to pay debts and provide for the common defence in general welfare of the US
– borrow money on US credit
– regulate commerce with foreign nations, among the several states, and with the Indian tribes
– establish uniform laws about naturalization and bankruptcy
– coin money and regulate its value, fix the standard of weights and measures
– create punishments for counterfeiting
– establish post offices
– issue patents and exclusive rights to authors or inventors
– constitute tribunals that are inferior to the Supreme Court
– define and punish felonies on the high seas
– declare war and deal with war
– raise and support armies
– provided and maintain a navy
– make rules for the government or Navy
– direct the militia
– organize, arm, and discipline the militia
– have exclusive legislation over places that are purchased by the consent of the legislature for building forts, magazine, arsenals, dock yards
– make all laws that are necessary and proper for executing Congress’ powers
What does article 2 of the constitution do?
Establishes the executive branch
What is involved in the pardoning power of the president?
He can forgive entirely, reduce a penalty to a certain specific number of years, alter a penalty with conditions, but he cannot aggravate a sentence
What is commutation?
Substitution of a lesser type of punishment for a punishment actually imposed at trial
What does article 3 of the constitution do?
Sets up the court system including the federal courts and the Supreme Court and all inferior courts that Congress establishes.
What is the federal property clause?
Congress can make all needful rules and regulations concerning property belonging to the United States. This includes things like admission fees to national parks so that the money can repair the parks
