Case Rules

Question 1

Marbury v. Madison Rule:

Answer 1

Authority for Judicial Review

established judicial review
established Article III as the ceiling of federal court jurisdiction

Question 2

Martin v. Hunter’s Lessee Rule:

Answer 2

Authority for Judicial Review

Under Article III, SCOTUS has the authority to exercise appellate review of state court decisions

Question 3

Cohen Rule:

Answer 3

Authority for Judicial Review

SCOTUS has jurisdiction to hear appeals from state courts over matters arising under the Constitution or federal laws

Question 4

Ex parte McCardle rule:

Answer 4

Congressional Limits on Federal Judicial Power through Exceptions & Regulations Clause

even though appellate jurisdiction is derived from Article III, it is conferred subject to whatever exceptions and regulations Congress chooses to make

Question 5

United States v. Klein rule:

Answer 5

Congressional Limits on Judicial Power via Separation of Powers

based on the principle of separation of powers in the Constitution, legislative branch may not impair or direct exclusive powers of judicial or executive branches

Question 6

Plaut v. Spendthrift Farm rule:

Answer 6

Advisory Limits

Congress may not pass retroactive legislation that has the effect of forcing the courts to reopen final judgments because this violates the separation of powers in the Constitution

Question 7

Lujan rule:

Answer 7

Standing

Under Article III, a party does not have standing to litigate a generalized grievance against the government in federal court if they suffered no personal injury other than harm suffered to all citizens

Question 8

Mass v. EPA rule:

Answer 8

Standing

For standing to be appropriate, an actual case or controversy must be present, which is characterized by a true adversarial relationship

Question 9

Lyons rule:

Answer 9

Standing

P must have standing in order to pursue injunctive relief, which requires that P show they would suffer a repeat of the injury

Question 10

Clapper rule:

Answer 10

Standing

A threatened injury must be certainly impending to constitute injury in fact for the purposes of Article III standing

Question 11

Abbott Labs rule:

Answer 11

Ripeness

in determining whether a case or controversy is ripe for adjudication, court must evaluate the fitness of the issues for judicial decision and the hardship to the parties of withholding court consideration

Question 12

Poe rule:

Answer 12

Ripeness

for a lawsuit to be ripe, injury threatened must be relatively immediate and certain to occur without court intervention

Question 13

Friends of the Earth rule:

Answer 13

Mootness

controversy will be deemed moot on the grounds of voluntary cessation by D if D proves there is no reasonable chance it could resume the offending behavior

Question 14

DeFunis rule:

Answer 14

Mootness

an issue is moot and not capable of federal court review if its resolution would no longer affect the rights of the litigants at the time they are before the court

Question 15

Geraghty rule:

Answer 15

Mootness

properly certified class action suit may continue even if the named P’s individual claims are not rendered moot

Question 16

Baker v. Carr rule

Answer 16

Political Question

a challenge to malapportionment of state legislature brought under the Equal Protection Clause is not a political question and is justiciable

Question 17

Luther rule:

Answer 17

Political Question

Under the Guarantee Clause, the particular govt established in a state is a question for Congress, not the court

All Guarantee Clause claims are nonjusticiable except when brought under the Equal Protection clause

Question 18

Rucho rule:

Answer 18

Political Question

partisan gerrymandering is a nonjusticiable political question

Question 19

McCulloch v Maryland rule:

Answer 19

Allocation of Federal Legislative Power

Constitution specifically delegates to Congress the power to tax and spend for the general welfare, and to make such other laws as it deems necessary and proper to carry out their enumerated power

federal laws are supreme and states may not make laws that interfere with the federal govt’s exercise of its const powers

Question 20

Wickard rule:

Answer 20

Dramatic Expansion of Congress’s Commerce Clause Power

Congress may regulate local activity if that activity exerts a substantial economic effect on interstate commerce

Question 21

Lopez rule:

Answer 21

Congress’s Commerce Clause power

Three areas of commerce Congress may regulate: 1) channels of interstate commerce, 2) instrumentalities of interstate commerce, 3) local, intrastate activities that substantially affect interstate commerce

Congress may not pass a law under the Commerce Clause power that prohibits the possession of a gun near a school because the possession of a gun is not an economic activity

Question 22

Morrison rule:

Answer 22

Congress’s CC power

Congress does not have the authority under the CC to regulate violence against women because it is not an economic activity

Question 23

Raich rule:

Answer 23

Congress’s CC power

Congress may regulate the use and production of home grown weed as this activity, taken in the aggregate, could rationally be seen as having a substantial economic effect on interstate commerce

No need to determine whether the activity in the aggregate actually does substantially affect interstate commerce, just if Congress had a “rational basis” for concluding it does

Question 24

Obamacare rule:

Answer 24

Congress’s CC power

the individual mandate in Obamacare was a valid use of Congress’s power to TAX (was found invalid as an economic activity because you cannot compel economic activity - the regulation of inactivity is beyond Congress’s CC power)

Economic activity needs to already exist for Congress to be able to regulate under CC

Question 25

Printz rule:

Answer 25

Anti-commandeering Principle

Congress may not compel state officers to participate in the administration of federal programs

Question 26

New York rule:

Answer 26

Anti-commandeering Principle

Congress may not require states to pass particular laws or suffer consequences

Constitution has never been understood to confer upon Congress the ability to require the states to govern according to Congress’s instructions

Question 27

Gregory v Ashcroft rule:

Answer 27

10A as Limit on Congressional Authority

a statute should not be construed in a manner that would alter the constitutional balance b/w the states and the fed govt, unless Congress’s intent to do so is expressly clear in the language of the statute

Question 28

Reno v Condon rule:

Answer 28

10A as Limit on Congressional Authority

Congress may regulate states’ activities, using CC power, provided that the regulation does not require the state to enact any laws or regulations and does not require state officials to assist in the enforcement of fed statutes regulating private individuals

Question 29

Murphy v NCAA rule:

Answer 29

10A as Limit on Congressional Authority

Congress may not issue direct orders to state legislatures

Question 30

US v Butler rule:

Answer 30

Congress’s Taxing & Spending Power

Congress may not use its T&S power to obtain an unconstitutional result, such as invading the reserved rights of the states under 10A

Question 31

SD v Dole rule:

Answer 31

Congress’s Taxing & Spending Power

receipt of fed funds may be conditional if the exercise of the spending power is for the general welfare, the conditions are unambiguous, the conditions are related to a fed interest in a particular national project or program, and the conditions do not violate any other constitutional provisions such as 10A

Question 32

Youngstown S&T rule:

Answer 32

Federal Executive Power

POTUS may not engage in lawmaking activity absent express authorization from Congress or the text of the Constitution

Question 33

US v Nixon rule:

Answer 33

Federal Executive Power - Executive Privilege

When communications do not concern military, diplomatic, or sensitive national security secretes, there is a constitutional need to produce all relevant evidence in a criminal case

POTUS’s generalized interest in confidentiality is not sufficient to overcome the judicial interest in producing all relevant evidence in a criminal case

Question 34

Schechter Poultry Corp rule:

Answer 34

Nondelegation Doctrine

Congress may not delegate legislative power to the executive without outlining strict standards for how the executive is to exercise that power

Question 35

INS v Chadha rule:

Answer 35

Legislative Veto as check on Admin Agencies

legislation providing Congress with a one house veto over an action of the executive branch (admin agency) is unconstitutional b/c it does not meed the constitutional requirements of presentment and bicameralism

Question 36

Morrison v Olson rule (appointment):

Answer 36

Federal Executive Power - Appointment

a law vesting the judiciary with the power to appoint an inferior officer and prohibiting the attorney general from removing the officer without good cause does not violate separation of powers principles

Question 37

Humphrey’s Executor rule:

Answer 37

Federal Executive Power - Removal

Congress cannot prohibit removal of exec branch officials completely, but may limit POTUS removal as long as limitations do not impede on his ability to discharge constitutional duties

POTUS power to remove an executive branch official is not applicable to officials with quasi-legislative and quasi-judicial functions (not purely executive)

Question 38

Weiner v US rule:

Answer 38

Federal Executive Power - removal

Congress may limit POTUS removal power over executive appointees where independence from POTUS is desirable for the commission or organization

Question 39

Bowsher v Synar rule:

Answer 39

Federal Executive Power - Removal

Congress may not remove an executive officer except by impeachment

Congress may not reserve for itself the power to appoint executive officials

Question 40

Morrison v Olson rule (removal):

Answer 40

Federal Executive Power - Removal

Good cause restrictions on POTUS removal power do not impede POTUS’s constitutional duties to ensure the faithful execution of laws

Question 41

Free Enterprise Fund rule:

Answer 41

Federal Executive Power - Removal

Congress may not limit POTUS removal power by multi-layering protection of exec branch officials through multiple for cause limitations

Question 42

US v Curtiss Wright Corp rule:

Answer 42

Federal Executive Power - Foreign Policy

an otherwise unconstitutional delegation of legislative power to the executive may be sustained on the ground that its exclusive goals it to provide relief in a foreign context

what may be a nondelegation problem internally is NOT when it deals with foreign affairs

Question 43

Zivotofsky v Kerry rule:

Answer 43

Federal Executive Power - Foreign Policy

Article II of the Const grants POTUS the exclusive authority to formally recognize a foreign sovereign through executive power that Congress may not contradict via statute

Question 44

Nixon v Fitzgerald rule:

Answer 44

Checks on the Executive - Suing & Prosecuting POTUS

POTUS has absolute immunity from suits for damages based on actions taking in his OFFICIAL capacity while in office

Question 45

Clinton v Jones rule:

Answer 45

Checks on the Executive - Suing & Prosecuting POTUS

POTUS does not have immunity to defer civil litigation involving actions committed before entering officer

Question 46

Lorillard Tobbaco Co v Reilly rule:

Answer 46

Limits on State Regulatory & Taxing Power - Preemption

Express Preemption

state cigarette advertising regulations are preempted by the Federal Cigarette Labeling and Advertising Act, regardless of whether the state regulations are related to content or location because the federal act contained a preemption provision that expressly targeted cigarette advertising and promotion

Question 47

Florida Lime and Avocado Growers rule:

Answer 47

Limits on State Regulatory and Taxing Power - Preemption

Implied Preemption - Conflict

No preemption as long as the two laws are not in direct conflict with one another - if you can comply with both laws at the same time, no preemption.

Question 48

Pacific Gas & Electric rule:

Answer 48

Limits on State Regulatory and Taxing Power - Preemption

Implied Preemption - Impeding

federal law may preempt state or local law, even if the laws are not mutually exclusive, if the state law is deemed to impede the achievement of a federal objective

Question 49

Arizona v United States rule:

Answer 49

Limits on State Regulatory & Taxing Power - Preemption

Implied Preemption - Field

a state law that addresses immigration and undocumented registration is preempted because Congress has completely occupied the field

Question 50

Tennessee Wine & Spirits rule:

Answer 50

Dormant Commerce Clause

DCC prohibits protectionist state laws that unduly restrict interstate commerce

Question 51

City of Philadelphia v New Jersey rule:

Answer 51

Dormant Commerce Clause - Facially Discriminatory

a state may not discriminate against other states’ articles of commerce on the basis of origin

Question 52

Hunt v Washington Apple rule:

Answer 52

Dormant Commerce Clause - Facially Neutral

a facially neutral statute still violates the DCC if it discriminates against interstate commerce in practice/effect

Question 53

Exxon Corp v Gov of MD rule:

Answer 53

Dormant Commerce Clause - Facially Neutral

under DCC, state may enact legislation that creates hardships for some interstate companies operating in the state, as long as the statute does not discriminate against or unduly burden interstate commerce

Question 54

Maine v Taylor rule:

Answer 54

Dormant Commerce Clause - Discriminatory but Narrowly Tailored

states may prohibit the importation of out of state goods moving within the flow of commerce as long as the prohibition serves a legitimate local purpose, and there are no available discriminatory means to accomplish the same purpose

Question 55

Dean Milk Co rule:

Answer 55

Dormant Commerce Clause - Discriminatory + Reasonable Alternatives

a state statute that discriminates against interstate commerce will be held invalid if there are other less discriminatory means by which the objective could be achieved

Question 56

Pike v Bruce Church rule:

Answer 56

Dormant Commerce Clause - Nondiscriminatory

Undue Burden on Interstate Commerce

a state may not enact a law that places an excessive burden on interstate commerce that outweighs the benefits to the local government

extent of the burden depends on the nature of the local interest and on whether the goals of the law could be effective with less impact on interstate commerce

Question 57

Bibb v Navajo Freight Lines rule:

Answer 57

Dormant Commerce Clause - Nondiscriminatory

Undue Burden on Interstate Commerce

if a state statute is nondiscriminatory, court will balance the local benefits with the burden the statute places on interstate commerce, and will find the statute invalid if the burden substantially outweighs the local benefits

Question 58

Western & Southern Life Insurance rule:

Answer 58

Dormant Commerce Clause - Exceptions

Congressional Approval

CC allows Congress to authorize retaliatory taxes on out of state buesinsses

Congress may allow state to restrict or burden interstate commerce in exercising its authority to regulate interstate commerce

Question 59

Reeves v William Stake rule:

Answer 59

Dormant Commerce Clause - Exceptions

Market Participant

under the market participant exception to DCC, when a state govt acts as a market participant rather than a market regulator, it may favor its own citizens in commercial dealings

Question 60

South Central Timber v Wunnicke rule:

Answer 60

Dormant Commerce Clause - Exceptions

Market Participant

a state may impose burdens on commercial transactions within the market in which it is a participant, but may not go further and impose conditions that have a substantial regulatory effect outside of that particular market