Chapter 2: Constitution Flashcards
Marbury v. Madison
William Marbury, was designated as a justice of the peace in the District of Columbia. Marbury and several others were appointed to government posts created by Congress in the last days of John Adams’s presidency, but these last-minute appointments were never fully finalized. The disgruntled appointees invoked an act of Congress and sued for their jobs in the Supreme Court. The justices held, through Marshall’s forceful argument, that on the last issue the Constitution was “the fundamental and paramount law of the nation” and that “an act of the legislature repugnant to the constitution is void.” In other words, when the Constitution–the nation’s highest law–conflicts with an act of the legislature, that act is invalid. This case establishes the Supreme Court’s power of judicial review.
MCCULLOCH v. MARYLAND
Congress chartered The Second Bank of the United States. The state of Maryland passed legislation to impose taxes on the bank. James W. McCulloch, the cashier of the Baltimore branch of the bank, refused to pay the tax.
In a unanimous decision, the Court held that Congress had the power to incorporate the bank and that Maryland could not tax instruments of the national government employed in the execution of constitutional powers. Writing for the Court, Chief Justice Marshall noted that Congress possessed unenumerated powers not explicitly outlined in the Constitution.
Marshall also held that while the states retained the power of taxation, “the constitution and the laws made in pursuance thereof are supreme. . .they control the constitution and laws of the respective states, and cannot be controlled by them.”
Amendment I
Freedom of: religion, speech, press, peaceful assembly
Amendment II
right to bear arm
Amendment IV
Freedom to unreasonable search and seizure
Amendment V
No self incrimination
Amendment VI
speedy trial by jury public
Amendment VIII
no cruel or unusual punishment
Amendment XIV
equal protection
commerce clause
- Congress has power to enact most of the fed regulation of business
+ necessary and proper clause = tremendous regulatory power
exclusionary rule
evidence improperly gathered may not be used i court
due process
Is violated when the state infringes on fundamental liberty interests w/o narrowly tailoring that infringment to serve a compelling state interest.
Or
Is infringed when state action either shocks the conscience or offends judicial notion of fairness or human dignity
equal protection clause
gov must treat people equally
- no in the Bill of Rights
