Constitutional Law Individual Rights- Due Process Flashcards
(39 cards)
What was the purpose of the 14th Amendment originally purpose wise?
The purpose of the 14th Amendment was to ensure states apply the fundamental rights to African Americans
What is the premise of the 5th and 14th Amendments? And how are they different?
The premise of the 5th and 14th Amendments are that there is a fundamental right to life, liberty, and property. The 5th Amendment applies to the federal government, while the 14th Amendment applies to the state government.
What did the Slaughterhouse cases do to the 14th Amendment?
it limited the 14th amendment to apply to particular privileges or immunities of national citizenship
What was the practical effect of the Slaughterhouse cases on the 14th Amendment?
This meant that the courts had to rely on Due Process Clause and the EPC to enforce fundamental rights on states.
What was the Lochner case about?
The Lochner case was about it was against the 14th Amendment had an unenumerated right to contract which was present in the due process clause: by posing an arbitrary kind of restriction, the law in question was unconstitutional. The idea that you can’t place arbitrary restrictions began to crop up with Lochner.
What was Caroline Milk Products about?
Caroline Milk Products was the case about how rational basis test is the test for economic due process issues.
What is the rational basis test? Who has to meet the burden,
The rational basis test: government regulation must be rationally related to a legitimate governmental interest. The claimant has to meet the burden of the test. The claimant /challenger has to meet the burden.
What is a legitimate Government interest in the rational basis test?
It is any conceivable interest:
Legitimate gov interest is ANY conceivable interest (not just the interest the gov offers) that is not unconstitutional
Exception: animus against a group of people is NOT a legitimate gov interest
EX: national security, public safety, econ development, environmental protection, public health, education
There must only be some articulable relationship btwn the interest and the means to solve it
Regulation can be over or underinclusive and still be rationally related to gov interest
Relatively low standard
What was Caroline Products Footnote 4 about?
When there are rights being infringed which are in the Bill of Rights, they need to be analyzed under a more rigorous standard the rational basis standard. When there are rights which are enshrined in the constitution itself, that is not the time to use “presumed constitutional”.
What is the scrutiny standard for suspect classifications?
It is strict scrutiny
What is intermediate scrutiny?
When there is a substantial government interest to the achievement of important government interest. The government bears the burden.
What is the difference between substantive due process rights and equal protection?
Substantive due process applies to where a substantive right is denied to usually all Individuals. When government treats individual/ class of individuals differently from each other, then this can be an equal protection clause issue.
When did the shift to rational basis occur for economic regulation?
It occurred when the case Carolene Milk Products.
What was the Caroline Milk Products case?
There were congressional findings that filled milk products were unhealthy. The court stated that laws affecting commercial transactions are presumed to have a rational basis. Rational basis is that the law is presumed to be constitutional. Rationally related to a legitimate government interest.
The law does not need to be perfect or even particularly effective.
It only needs to be rationally related to a legitimate government interest, such as health and safety here.
The phrase “health and safety evil at hand” reinforces that the court sees the regulation as addressing a legitimate public concern
What was the outcome in Williamson v. Lee Optical of Oklahoma?
In this case, the court used the highly deferential, rational basis test. The court can also state what it thinks the rational basis is in this case.
What starts to happen in the Caroline footnote 4, Paragraph 1
Doctrinal utility of footnote 4: When the classification is based on sex and gender, there should be more than rational basis.
What is incorporation? What does this have to do with 14th Amendment?
The rights enumerated in the bill of rights had begun to be honored by the 14th Amendment Due Process Clause. While the privileges and immunities clause is very limited to federal rights that are derived from being a U.S. citizen, the DP Clause honors a lot of these fundamental rights in the Bill of Rights.
Summarize what Caroline products Footnote 4, paragraph 3 and 3
When there are restrictions on things such as voting, minorities, may need more exacting scrutiny. Some rights are inalienable and there are some rights that gov. should not encroach on without more scrutiny. For example, if minorities cannot use political process to defend themselves, and a law does prevent use of political process, then they need stricter scrutiny.
What is strict scrutiny?
The government action must be necessary to achieve a compelling government purpose.
Necessary means narrowly tailored.
What classes does strict scrutiny apply to?
Suspect classification.
What are some suspect calssifications?
Racial classification: most rigid classification
national origin, non citizens.
What are the basic facts about the strict scrutiny
- necessary (narrowly tailored) to achieve a compelling government interest.
Presumed unconstitutional, burden is on the government to prove.
Describe Loving v. Virginia and how the Due Process claim was made
Right to marry was one of the fundamental rights discussed, and it has its roots in privacy: which is an unenumerated right. This freedom is related to the orderly pursuit of happiness.
What is intermediate scrutiny?
Substantially related to an important governmental interest. The government has burden, and on top of this it is presumed unconstitutional.
