Federalism
Under this doctrine, the federal government may not compel states to enact or administer a federal regulatory program.
Anti-Commandeering Doctrine
Congress' ____ power includes the authority to regulate current conditions, of which the ____ was a direct cause, even after the cessation of hostilities.
War
This foundational case states, "It is emphatically the province and duty of the judicial department to say what the law is."
Marbury v. Madison
The procedural protections of the Due Process Clauses are triggered when the government seeks to deprive a person of these protected interests.
Life, liberty, or property
Race, national origin, or alienage are ______________, meaning they have been selected suspiciously, and require laws using these classifications to pass strict scrutiny standard of review.
Suspect classes
Which part (clause) in the Constitution grants Congress implied powers to pass laws necessary to execute its enumerated powers?
Necessary and Proper Clause
Describe bicameralism and presentment.
Bicameralism requires all legislation be passed by both the House and the Senate, preventing hasty lawmaking by a single chamber
Presentment requires that laws be presented to the President for signature or veto.
This case established that valid treaties can give Congress power to legislate (for the enforcement of the treaty) on matters that would otherwise be beyond its authority.
Missouri v. Holland
The Due Process Clause of 5th Amendment applies to the federal government
The Due Process Clause of the 14th Amendment applies to the state government
If a law is being challenged for having a disparate impact on a class of people, but it is facially non-discriminatory and no discriminatory motive is found, which standard of review will the court apply?
Rational-basis test
What are the state's general police powers?
Safety, public health, and public morals
Congress enacts the “National Economic Stability Act,” which authorizes the Secretary of Commerce to “adopt any regulations the Secretary believes are necessary to ensure a fair and stable national economy.”
Pursuant to the Act, the Secretary issues sweeping rules controlling prices, wages, and production levels across multiple industries. A group of businesses challenges the law in federal court.
An argument on what basis would be the strongest against the Act?
Non-delegation doctrine (because "whatever the Secretary believes is necessary" is too broad, and there was no intelligible principle)
This case greatly expanded Congressional authority under the Commerce Clause, ruling that Congress could regulate local, non-commercial activity if that activity, in the aggregate, has a substantial economic effect on interstate commerce.
Wickard v. Filburn
Courts will use which standard of review when a claimant challenges legislation based on substantive due process, but the legislation does not infringe upon a fundamental right?
Rational-basis review
A city passes an ordinance that requires all street vendors to obtain a special permit—but only vendors who are not U.S. citizens must pay a $1,000 fee, while citizens pay just $50. Maria, a lawful permanent resident who runs a small food cart, is charged the higher fee and challenges the ordinance.
What kind of claim should Maria bring? And based on what?
Equal Protection claim based on alienage (citizenship)
1. Interstate commerce
2. Use of the "channels" of commerce
3. "Instrumentalities" of commerce
4. Intrastate economic activity that Congress might rationally believe substantially affects interstate commerce
How does the case and controversy requirement contribute to the separation of powers?
This case established that the Second Amendment protects and individual right to possess firearms, primarily for self-defense.
District of Columbia v. Heller
In deciding exactly what process must be provided, particularly before the deprivation takes place, the Court applies a balancing test that considers which 3 factors?
1. the private interest
2. the risk of an erroneous deprivation and the probable value of additional or substitute procedural safeguards
3. the government's interest
The higher the level of scrutiny, the less overinclusiveness and underinclusiveness will be tolerated. What does it mean for a law to be overinclusive or underinclusive?
A law is overinclusive if it applies to those who need not be included in order for the government to achieve its purpose.
A law is underinclusive if it does not apply to individuals who are similarly situtated to those to whom the law applies.
What are the two forms of implied preemption?
(1) Conflict preemption occurs when compliance with both federal and state regulations is physically impossible
(2) Field preemption (more rare) occurs when Congress chooses to regulate a subject exclusively by federal law
What is the difference between a declaratory judgment and an advisory opinion?
An advisory opinion is an opinion about a proper resolution to legal questions that are presented divorced from an actual dispute between adverse parties.
A declaratory judgment is a binding judgment on a real dispute, without awarding relief.
In this case, the Court held that equal protection applies to the federal government through due process of the Fifth Amendment.
Bolling v. Sharpe
Under a state’s law, it was a crime for any individual or teacher in any private, religious, or public school to teach any subject to any primary-school student in any language other than English. Foreign languages could be taught as languages to students only after completion of the eighth grade. A teacher in a religious school in the state was convicted of violating the statute by teaching Italian to a child in the second grade. The child’s parents were natives of Italy and had requested that their child be given the opportunity to learn his parents’ birth language. The state responded that the state’s interest in having a unified citizenry that understands the primary language in the state, and the child’s interest in understanding the most commonly used language in the state, outweighed the parents’ rights to have their child receive Italian instruction. The parents sued, arguing that the state’s law violated their rights under the Due Process Clause in the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.
Is it likely that the parents have a substantive due process rught that is being violated by the state law?
Yes. The law applies to all schools in the state and, therefore, violates the parents' fundamental right to have some control over the education of their child.
See Meyer v. Nebraska
State A requires all state park rangers to pass a fitness test in order to be hired for a job as a state park ranger. The justification is that the job requires intense physical activity. Primarily, men apply for the job. Last year, 50 men applied for the job as a state park ranger and 10 women applied. 30 people passed the physical fitness test. All were men. The women brought a lawsuit claiming that the physical fitness test violated the equal protection clause.
Will the women prevail in their lawsuit?
No, because there is a rational basis for the physical fitness test.