Cases- Executive

Question 1

Ray v. Blair (1952)

Answer 1

Requiring electors to pledge support for their party’s nominee for President in the electoral college.

Question 2

Chiafalo v. Washington (2020)
Legal Question: Can states penalize an elector for breaking their pledge?

Answer 2

Most states compel electors to pledge in advance the support of their party’s nominee, nothing in the nation’s history or constitution suggests that electors have freedom of choice. Furthermore, the state’s appointment power over electors enables the enforcement of pledge laws.

Question 3

Ex Parte Merryman (1861)
Legal Question: Does the president possess power to suspend habeas corpus?

Answer 3

No, only congress has the power to suspend habeas corpus.

Question 4

Clinton v. City of New York (1998)
Legal Question: Does the President’s line item veto violate the Presentment Clause?

Answer 4

It violates the presentment clause because there is no provision in the constitution that authorizes the president to enact, to amend, or to repeal statutes. The constitution authorizes the president to play a role in the process of enacting statutes, but is silent regarding unilateral presidential actions that repeal or amends parts of enacted statutes.

Question 5

U.S. v. Nixon (1974)
Legal Question: Is the president’s right to keep private, certain, information using his executive privilege confidentiality power entirely immune from judicial review?

Answer 5

We conclude that when the ground for asserting privilege as to subpoenaed materials sought for use in a criminal trial is based only on the generalized interest in confidentiality, it cannot prevail over the fundamental demands of due process of law in the fair administration of criminal justice.

Question 6

Nixon v. Fitzgerald (1982)
Legal Question: Is the president granted absolute executive immunity from legal action based on his official conduct?

Answer 6

The president is the chief constitutional officer of the executive branch and is entrusted with discretion to enforce federal law, protecting him from a diversion of his “energies” that would arise from private lawsuits. The president is immune from personal liability tied to his official acts/duties as a president.

Question 7

Clinton v. Jones (1997)
Legal Question: To what extent does presidential immunity extend to president’s unofficial acts; does presidential immunity ensure that any lawsuit related to his unofficial acts be stayed until his term is over?

Answer 7

The Supreme Court ruled that presidents while in office may be sued for unofficial conduct.