Constitutional Law

Question 1

Supreme Court can review

Answer 1

A state court judgment only if it turned on federal grounds. The Court has no jurisdiction if the judgment rested on an adequate and independent state ground

Question 2

Anti-Commandeering

Answer 2

Congress cannot force states to adopt or enforce federal regulatory programs. It cannot commandeer state and local agencies to implement federal programs.

Question 3

War and Defense Powers

Answer 3

Congress has the power to declare war and the power to maintain the army and navy

Question 4

Taxing Power

Answer 4

Congress has the power to tax if rationally related to raising revenue and has the power to spend for the general welfare

Question 5

13th Amendment

Answer 5

Congress has broad power to legislate against racial discrimination, whether public or private and the key is that the 13th can regulate private discrimination; “vestiges of slavery”.

Question 6

14th Amendment

Answer 6

Congress has the power to remedy violations of individual rights by the government, but only as those rights have been defined by the courts. To be properly remedial, legislation must have “congruence” & “proportionality.

Question 7

15th amendment

Answer 7

Congress has the power to ensure there is no racial discrimination in voting

Question 8

Speech and debate clause

Answer 8

Protects senators and congressmen and their aides cannot be prosecuted or punished in relation to their official acts

Question 9

Pardon Power

Answer 9

the president can pardon or commute punishment for any and all federal offenses. (Governors have a similar power for state crimes.) Cannot be limited by Congress.

Question 10

Veto Power

Answer 10

president has 10 days to veto legislation. President can veto for any reason/no reason but cannot veto specific provisions and accept others. It is all or nothing.

Question 11

Appointment and removal power

Answer 11

only the president (or his appointees) can hire or fire executive officers. Some senior officers (e.g., cabinet officers, ambassadors, federal judges) require the advice and consent of the Senate

Question 12

Treaties

Answer 12

are negotiated by the president but require approval by a 2/3 vote of the Senate. Once a treaty is ratified (approved) it has the same authority as a statute.

Question 13

Executive agreements

Answer 13

presidential negotiations not submitted for approval by the Senate. They can be authorized, precluded, or overridden by statute, but they take precedence over conflicting state laws. They do not have the binding status of a treaty.

Question 14

Presidential imuunity

Answer 14

ABSOLUTE IMMUNITY from liability for official acts (broadly construed), but no immunity for accident prior to taking office. There is an executive privilege to not reveal confidential communications with presidential advisers, but that privilege can be outweighed by a specifically demonstrated need in a criminal prosecution

Question 15

Privilges and Immunities

Answer 15

Forbids serious discrimination against out-of-state individuals,, absent substantial justification, this does not include corporations.

Question 16

Procedural Due Process

Answer 16

Concerned with deprivations of life (i.e., death penalty), Liberty (i.e., physical confinement and parole or restrictions on constitutionally protected rights, etc.), and Property.

Question 17

Substantive Due process

Answer 17

Due process versus equal protection: if a law denies a fundamental right to everyone, it violates due process, but if a law denies a fundamental right to only some it violates equal protection

Question 18

Strict Scrutiny

Answer 18

is the law necessary for a compelling government interest? Implicit in strict scrutiny is the requirement for the least restrictive means. When strict scrutiny applies, the government bears the burden of proof

Question 19

Intermediate Scrutiny

Answer 19

Is the law substantially related to an important government interest?

Question 20

Rational Basis

Answer 20

Is the law rationally related to a legitimate interest? The challenger bears the burden of proof.

Question 21

Strict Scrutiny applies to

Answer 21

Travel, Voting & Ballot Access, Privacy (Marriage, Contraception, Sexual Intimacy—Undue Burden Test, Parental rights, family relations, obscene materials—not child pornography, refusal of medical treatment), Race, Ethnicity, National Origin, Alienage (not undocumented aliens)—Arbitrary and unreasonable, establishment clause violations, content-based speech regulations

Question 22

Intermediate Scrutiny applies to

Answer 22

Legitimacy, gender—exceedingly persuasive, sexual orientation?? (split court), campaign contributions

Question 23

Rational Basis applies to

Answer 23

Everything Strict Scrutiny and intermediate scrutiny do not apply to, Includes age, wealth, taxation, economic

Question 24

Equal protection 14th Amendment

Answer 24

The Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment provides that “no state shall . . . deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.” This clause applies only to states and localities.