2nd Exam: review sheet and notes Flashcards
Barron v. Baltimore
Govt. took his property (takings clause), Barron said that he should be compensated.
Constitution only applies to national government, not state.
Palko v. Conn.
Got the electric chair for murder, when he could have been saved by double jeopardy.
Established the principle of selective incorporation
Selective incorporation
the process by which different protections in the bill of rights were incorporated into the 14th amendment, thus guaranteeing citizens protection from state as well as national government
Skinner v. Oklahoma
S.C. struck down sterilization Oklahoma law, which brought up “strict scrutiny” (compelling state interest); shifted from rational scrutiny to strict scrutiny
Rational scrutiny
Burden of proof is on the person who brings up the claim; got changed to strict scrutiny
Cohen v. California
Cohen said “f*** the draft”; struck down Californian law against offensive speech.
Offensive speech is protected under first amendment.
Texas v. Johnson
Burned flag under protest; struck down Texas law pertaining to burning flags because it didn’t cause a riot & actually brought up higher patriotism
U.S. v. Eichman
Struck down the federal law (flag protection act) and flag burning is protected
Roth v. U.S
obscene speech is not protected
- porn is obscene (freedom of press), meaning utterly w/ out redeeming value or completely devoid of value whatsoever
- established the Roth test
Roth Test
whether the average person applying the contemporary community standards finds the work taken as a whole to appeal to the prurient interest
Miller Test
test determining that which is pornographic:
- Roth test
- states local governments discretion to decide on its own what is obscene
- redefines obscenity; whether the work lacks serious value.
Jacobellis v. Ohio
Famous of opinion of Justice Potter Stewart defined pornography as “I know it when I see it.”
Near v. Minnesota
Struck down Minnesota law and established doctrine of no prior restraint
Furman v. Georgia 1972
S.C. struck down death penalty saying it violated 8th amendment
Gregg v. Georgia
S.C. reinstated the death penalty containing;
- mitigating circumstances, things help explain what happen
- aggravating circumstances ex. killing someone of the law
- Auto appeal
Jurek v. TX 1976
upheld death penalty
Coker v. Georgia
established that you can’t get the death penalty unless you take a life (physically kill someone)
Kennedy v. LA 2010
did not abandon stare-decisis; confirmed precedent case (Coker v. GA)
Story: he raped his 8 yr old step daughter, but he couldn’t get the death penalty because he didn’t kill anyone. Rape can’t give you the death penalty
Establishment clause (of religion)
1st amendment clause that says “congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion” this law means that a “wall of seperation” exists between church and state (SAYS CHURCH AND STATE ARE TO BE SEPERATE), must show secular purpose
Free Exercise clause (of religion)
asking for exemption from law because of religious views; the 1st amendment clause that protects a citizen’s right to believe and practice whatever religion he or she chooses
Reynolds v. U.S.
brought up belief-action distinction; tried to strike down polygamy but failed
Minnersville v. Gobitis 1940
Minnersville school had a solute the flag procedure & Gobitis children who were Jehovah Witness’ were told to solute the flag, but their religion was against honoring other false idols so they asked for exemption from the rule but were denied
W. Virginia v. Barnett 1942
abandoned stare-decisis; reversed themselves in Minnersville v. Gobitis allowing Jahovis Witness’ to be exempt from saluting the U.S. flag
Habeas corpus
a court order demanding that an individual in custody be brought into court and shown the cause for detention
Bill of Rights
the first 10 amendments to the U.S. constitution, ratified in 1971; they ensure certain rights and liberties to the poeple
Civil liberties
areas of personal freedom with which governments are constrained from interfering
Bill of Attainder
a law that declares a person guilty of a crime without a trial
Ex post facto law
a law that declares an action to be illegal after it has been committed
Laissez-faire capitalism
an economic system in which the means of production and distribution are privately owned and operated for profit with minimal or no government interference; hands off
keynesians
followers of the economic theories of John Maynard Keynes, who argued that the government can stimulate the economy by increasing public spending or by cutting taxes
monestarists
followers of economic theories that contend that the role of the government in the economy should be limited to regulating the supply of money
Supply-side economics
posits that reducing the marginal rate of taxation will create a productive economy by promoting levels of work and investment that would otherwise be discouraged by higher taxes
Strict scrutiny
Compelling state interest; burden of proof shifts to state
Congressional oversight
the effort by congress, through hearings, investigations, and other techniques, to exercise control over the activities of executive agencies
Schenk v. US
Established “clear and present danger” test
Appropriations
the amounts of money approved by congress in statues (bills) that each unit or agency of government can spend
Clear and present danger test
Test to determine whether speech is protected or unprotected, based in its capacity to present a “clear and present danger” to society
Executive agreement
an agreement, made between the president and another country, that has the force of a treaty but does not require the senate’s “advice and consent”
Abrams v. US
Changed the “clear and present danger” test to “bad tendency”
Impeachment
the formal charge by the house of representatives that a government official has committed “treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors”
Bad tendency test
test which permits restriction of freedom of speech by government if it is believed that a form of speech has a sole tendency to incite or cause illegal activity
Smith Act (1940)
Made it a criminal offense anything who says or is related to the communists/communism
Federal Flag Protection Act
Immediate response of congress to protests against the ruling of flag burning in the case of TX vs. Johnson
No prior restraint doctrine
Government can’t restrain a publication of an idea unless deemed libelous or harmful in some other way; censorship;
Opened door to libel
1st amendment
Freedom of speech and freedom of the press
4th amendment
Right against unreasonable searches and seizures (existence of probable cause arises)
5th amendment
Right against self incrimination
8th amendment
Right against cruel and unusual punishment
Weeks v. US
Established the exclusionary rule (only with respect to federal agents)
Wolf v. Colorado
Incorporated 4th amendment to apply to the states, but didn’t incorporate exclusionary rule
Exclusionary rule
The ability of courts to exclude evidence obtained in violation of the 4th amendment (ex. If they searched your house without probable cause and found weed in there, they can’t hold that against you)
Made under judicial review
Mapp v. Ohio
Incorporated exclusionary rule to apply to the states
Miranda v. Arizona
Established the right to keep your mouth shut when arrested
Gideon v. Wainwright
Established the right to an attorney/counsel
Sherbet v. Verner
The SC applied compelling state interest test to laws that restrain exercise of free religion
Employment division v. Smith
Disallowed use of peyote; SC denied exemption and abandoned stare decisis, went to rational scrutiny test until today
Church of Lukumi Pabalu Aye v. City of Hialeah, FL
Exercised judicial review and struck down the law that prohibits sacrifice of animals for religion; laws have to be neutral with respect to their purpose
Article I. Section 8
Contains enumerated/expressed powers of Congress and also the commerce clause
10th amendment
Reserved powers doctrine; all powers not delegated are reserved to the states
McCulloch v. Maryland
Invoked necessary and proper clause of the constitution; Maryland wanted to tax the 2nd bank of US; John Marshall said “the power to tax is the power to destroy”
Necessary and proper clause
Article I, section 8, of the constitution, it provides Congress with the authority to make all laws “necessary and proper” to carry out its expressed powers ; gives rise to implied powers
Implied powers
Powers derived from the necessary and proper clause; such powers are not specifically expressed but are implied through the expansive interpretation of delegated powers
Keynesian economics
Proposed that government comes along and inject itself in the economy
NLRB v. Jones-Laughlin Steel Corp.
Concerns minimum wage; First time SC upheld an act of the New Deal under the commerce clause
Commerce clause
Delegates to congress the power to “regulate commerce with foreign nations and among the several States and with the Indian tribes”; interstate commerce; impacts trade across state lines
CRA of 1964
Passed through commerce clause; protects against discrimination
Heart of Atlanta Motel v. US
CRA 1964 is upheld by using the commerce clause
Gun free school zone act
Passed through commerce clause
US v. Lopez
Struck down gun free school zone act; reduces power of Congress under commerce clause and first time restricted congress
Speaker of the House
John Boehner (Rep)
House Majority Leader
Eric Cantor (Rep)
House Minority Leader
Nancy Pelosi (Demo)
President of the Senate (VP of US)
Joe Biden (Demo)
Senate Majority Leader
Harry Reid (Demo)
Senate Minority Leader
Mitch McConnell (Rep)
U.S. Senators from Texas
Kay Bailey Hutchinson (Rep); John Cornyn (Rep)
U.S. Representative, District 2
Ted Poe (rep)
Bicameralism
Bicameral legislature consisting of 2 chambers: House of Representatives and senate
Apportionment
Allocation of house seats to each state based on that state’s population as determined by census; 438 house seats
Pork barreling
Getting goods and services back to their own district
Log rolling
Trading out votes and supporting bills; legislative practice whereby agreements are made between legislators in voting for or against a bill
Redistricting
The process of redrawing election districts and redistributing legislative representatives
Gerrymandering
Apportionment of voters in districts in such a way as to give unfair disadvantage to one racial or ethnic group or political party
Whip
A party member in the house or senate responsible for coordinating the party’s legislative strategy, building support for key issues and counting votes
Standing committee
A permanent committee with the power to propose and write legislation that covers a particular subject, such as finance or agriculture
Select committee
A usually temporary legislative committee set up to high light or investigate a particular issue or address an issue not within the jurisdiction of existing committees
Joint committee
A legislative committed formed of members of both the house and senate
Conference committee
Joint committee created to work out a compromise on house and senate version of a piece of legislation
Filibuster
A tactic used by members of Senate to prevent action on legislation they oppose by continuously holding the floor and speaking until the majority backs down. Once given the floor, senators have unlimited time to speak, and it requires a vote of 3/5ths of the Senate to end a filibuster
Expressed (enumerated) powers
Specific powers granted by the constitution to congress in Article I, Section 8
Delegated powers
Constitutional powers that are assigned to one governmental agency but that are exercised by another agency with the express permission of the first (POWERS GIVEN TO THE PRES. BY CONGRESS)
Inherent powers
Powers claimed by a president that are not expressed in the constitution, but are inferred from it
Civil rights
Obligation imposed on government to take positive action to protect citizens from any illegal action of government agencies as well as of other private citizens
Due process clause
Right of every citizen against arbitrary action by national or state govt
“Fighting words” doctrine
Speech that directly incites damaging conduct
Gibbons v. Ogden
Established the supremacy of the national government in all matters affecting interstate commerce; power to regulate interstate commerce was granted to Congress by the Commerce Clause
New York Times v. Sullivan
Court held that to be deemed libelous, a story about a public official not only had to be untrue, but also result from “actual malice” for the truth; has to print intentionally false material
Printz v. US
Court again relied on the 10th amendment to limit federal power; declared the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act unconstitutional
Reno v. ACLU
Struck down CDA (Communications Decency Act = designed to regulate Internet of obscene stuff), ruling that it suppressed speech that “adults have a constitutional right to receive”
Lemon v. Kurtzman
Established the Lemon test; governmental aid to religious schools would be accepted as constitutional if;
- It had secular purpose
- It’s effect was neither to advance or inhibit religion
- It did not entangle govt and religious institution in each other’s affairs
Griswold v. Connecticut
Struck down Connecticut law prohibiting the use of contraceptives, because it violated the right to privacy; it violated the right to marital privacy
