Chapters 1 & 5

Question 1

Statutes

Answer 1

Laws passed by state legislature

Question 2

Ordinances

Answer 2

Laws passed by commissioners and city counsels

Question 3

Treaties

Answer 3

Between different nations or different states

Question 4

Case law

Answer 4

Common law

- The law as established by the outcome of former cases.

Question 5

Executive does what?

Answer 5

Carries out the law

Question 6

Code of Federal Regulations

Answer 6

Where all of the laws are

Question 7

What kind of government does the US have?

Answer 7

Constitutional Republic

Question 8

Federalism

Answer 8

A system of government in which power is divided between a central authority and constituent political units.
- The authority to govern is divided between two sovereigns, or supreme lawmakers: the federal government and the states.

Question 9

Separation of powers

Answer 9

The Constitution divides power among the legislative, executive, and judicial branches of government. The system of checks and balances allocates specific powers to each branch to keep the other branches from dominating government.

Question 10

What are the three branches of government?

Answer 10

Legislative, Executive, and Judicial branches

Question 11

Judicial review

Answer 11

The power of a court to review legislative and executive actions, such as a law or an official act of a government employee or agent, to determine whether they are constitutional.

• Not found in Constitution, it’s common law
• Also allows courts to review the constitutionality of lower courts’ decisions.

Question 12

Marbury vs. Madison

Answer 12

Supreme Court case that started judicial review

Question 13

Supremacy clause

Answer 13

Article VI, Paragraph 2, of the US Constitution, which states that the Constitution and all laws and treaties of the US constitute the supreme law of the land. Thus, any state or local law that directly conflicts with the US Constitution or federal laws or treaties is void.

• Federal law trumps state law
• Concurrent authority means they can both pass laws
• State laws must be as strict or stricter than federal laws

Question 14

How does the Legislative brach check the other branches?

Answer 14

Checks on Executive branch:

• Can refuse to approve president’s budget
• Can overrule presidential vetoes
• Can refuse to approve presidential appointments
• Can refuse to ratify treaties
• Can impeach and remove president

Checks on Judicial branch:

• Can pass amendments to overrule judicial rulings
• Can impeach judges
• Establishes lower courts and sets number of judges

Question 15

How does the Executive branch check the other branches?

Answer 15

Checks on Legislative branch:

• Can veto laws passed by legislative branch
• Can call special sessions of Congress

Checks on Judicial branch:

• Appoints federal judges
• Can pardon federal offenders

Question 16

How does the Judicial branch check the other branches?

Answer 16

Checks on Executive branch:
- Can declare acts of the executive branch unconstitutional

Checks on the Legislative branch:
- Can declare laws passed by Congress unconstitutional

Question 17

Federal preemption

Answer 17

A principle asserting the supremacy of federal legislation over state legislation when both pertain to the same matter.
- The federal government uses this doctrine to strike down laws that do not directly conflict with a federal law but attempt to regulate and area within federal legislative jurisdiction.

Question 18

Commerce clause

Answer 18

Clause 3 of Article I, Section 8, of the US Constitution, which authorizes Congress to “regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several states, and with the Indian Tribes.

• Primary source of authority for the federal
• They have the power to regulate interstate commerce, which means states cannot regulate interstate commerce
• Gives power to the federal and takes away from the state

Question 19

US v. Lopez Case

Answer 19

• Has to do with the commerce clause

1995 case: The Court ruled that Congress had exceeded its commerce clause authority when it passed the gun-free school zone act, a law banning the possession of guns within 1,000 feet of any school. In its ruling, the Court said that Congress could not regulate in an area that had “nothing to do with commerce, or any sort of enterprise”

Question 20

Zancala v. Morris case

Answer 20

Happened on a college campus, lady was assaulted and raped and filed a complaint with the school.

• The school held a meeting and suspended the two guys for two semesters and then they didn’t suspend them.
• The girl dropped out and sued the school and the two guys
• She said they violated the violence against women act (passed by congress)
• Congress said they got the power to pass the law from the commerce clause- they said it affects interstate commerce, but it was turned down because it has nothing to do with commerce
• To make this decision, they looked at the Lopez case.

Question 21

Police power

Answer 21

Power retained by each state to pass laws that protect the health, safety, and welfare of its citizens.
- ex. Drinking age

Question 22

1937 case NLRB v. Jones & Laughlin Steel Corp

Answer 22

In this case, the Court ruled that Congress could regulate labor relations at a manufacturing plant because a work stoppage at the plant would seriously affect interstate commerce. The Court states that “although activities may be intrastate in character when separately considered, if they have such a close and substantial relationship to interstate commerce that their control is essential or appropriate to protect that commerce from burdens or obstructions, Congress cannot be denied the power to exercise that control.”

Question 23

Dormant commerce clause

Answer 23

A restriction on states’ authority that is implied in the commerce clause of the US Constitution: The power given to Congress to enact legislation that affects interstate commerce in effect prohibits a state from passing legislation that improperly burdens interstate commerce.

• Federal government regulates interstate commerce, which means state government can’t
• State would want to do that to protect themselves and reduce competition, but they can’t do this because it’s discriminatory

Question 24

Can the federal government use their taxing powers to promote certain industries/businesses?

Answer 24

Yes
example- electric cars
(Article 1, Section 8)

another example: Highways- If the drinking fund is under 21, you don’t get highway funds, which made states change their drinking age in order to get those funds. This is how they use spending power to persuade us

Question 25

Article 1, Section 8

Answer 25

• Grants Congress spending power
• Power to lay and collect taxes, as long as it has the motive to generate revenue for the Federal government
• South Dakota v. Dole

Question 26

South Dakota v. Dole

Answer 26

The Supreme court upheld a federal statute that grants federal funds for state highways to only those states in which 21 is the legal drinking age.

Question 27

Privileges and immunities clause

Answer 27

Clause in the US Constitution requiring a state to grant citizens of other states the same legal benefits that it grants its own citizens.

• States can’t discriminate against citizens of other states when engaging in ordinary and essential activities.
• These activities include buying and selling property, seeking employment, and using the court system.

Question 28

Full faith and credit clause

Answer 28

The clause of the US Constitution (Article IV, Section 1) mandating that each state must recognize, respect, and enforce the public records, legislative acts, and judicial decisions of the other states.
- Protects wills, marriage, and divorce decrees, and judgments in civil courts.
o This means if you’re married in Georgia, Alabama has to recognize this based on this clause.
o If you have a legally binding thing in one state, it is binding in all state.
- However, states don’t have to give full faith and credit to laws that violate their public policy (ex. Same sex marriage).

Question 29

Contract clause

Answer 29

The clause in the US Constitution that prohibits the government from unreasonably interfering with an existing contract (Article I, Section 10).

• 1934 US Supreme Court case Home Building & Loan Association v. Blaisdell
• For example, if you’re paying $500 for an apartment and a law is passed that says no more than $400 can be charged for a lease, you still have to pay $500 until the lease is over.

Question 30

1934 US Supreme Court case Home Building & Loan Association v. Blaisdell

Answer 30

The Home Building & Loan Association challenged Minnesota’s Mortgage Moratorium Act as a violation of the contract clause.
The act, implemented temporarily during the Great Depression, authorized courts to extend the redemption periods of mortgages to delay foreclosures of mortgages on real estate. The Court ruled that the act’s provisions were within the state’s police power to protect its citizens and did not violate the contract clause. Although the act impaired contractual obligations between lenders and borrowers, the Court held that courts must balance even substantial contractual impairments against states’ interest in protecting the welfare of their citizens.

Question 31

Bill of Rights

Answer 31

First 10 amendments in the US Constitution

• Prohibits Federal government from infringing upon certain rights we have
• We are also protected by the state government because of the 14th Amendment- it extends our rights to the state level
• The amendments protect us from the Government, but not from employers

Question 32

Political speech

Answer 32

Speech that is used to support political candidates or referenda. It is given a high level of protection by the First Amendment as compared to other types of speech.
- 1978 case First National Bank of Boston v. Bellotti

Question 33

1978 case First National Bank of Boston v. Bellotti

Answer 33

The US Supreme Court considered the constitutionality of a Massachusetts law that prohibited certain corporations from spending money to influence voters on issues that did not materially affect the corporation

• The Court held that the law was unconstitutional, stating, “The concept that the government may restrict speech of some elements of our society in order to enhance the relative voice of others is wholly foreign to the First Amendment.”
• The court ruled that the First Amendment protects corporate political speech to the same extent as ordinary citizens’ political speech.

Question 34

Commercial Speech

Answer 34

Speech made by businesses about commercial matters, such as the sale of goods and services. The First Amendment protects it.
- Central Hudson Gas & Electric Corp. v. Public Service Commission of New York.

Question 35

Central Hudson Gas & Electric Corp. v. Public Service Commission of New York

Answer 35

Courts analyze government restrictions on commercial speech according to a four part test established in this case.

Question 36

Unprotected Speech

Answer 36

The First Amendment right to free speech is not absolute.
- In the 1942 case Chaplinksy v. New Hampshire, the US Supreme Court held: “There are certain well defined and narrowly limited classes of speech, the prevention and punishment of which have never been thought to raise any Constitutional problem. These include the lewd and obscene, the profane, the libelous, and the insulting or fighting words- those which by their very utterance inflict injury or tend to incite an immediate breach of the peace.

Question 37

Central Hudson Test

Answer 37

Does the speech concern and illegal activity?
- If yes, speech is not protected by the First Amendment
If no, continue
Is the government interest served by the restriction on commercial speech substantial?
- If no, speech is protected.
If yes, continue
Does the regulation directly advance the government interest asserted?
- If no, the speech is protected
If yes, continue
Is the regulation more extensive than necessary to serve the government interest?
- If yes, speech is protected
- If no, speech is not protected

Question 38

The First Amendment

Answer 38

• Doesn’t protect defamation, or speech that harms the reputation of another.
• It gives us freedom of speech, the right to peacefully assemble, prohibits the government from aiding the establishment of a religion
• We all individually have these rights. Corporations also has its own rights, including first amendment rights, depending on which kind of speech it is
  o Corporations now have freedom of political speech, meaning the government can’t pass a law to keep them from saying what they want politically
• It also doesn’t protect obscenity (1973 case Miller v. California)

Question 39

1973 case Miller v. California

Answer 39

The US Supreme Court established a three-part standard to determine whether speech is obscene

Question 40

What is the three part standard to determine whether speech is obscene?

Answer 40

1. Would the average person, applying contemporary community standards, find that the speech, taken as a whole, appeals to the prurient (marked by or arousing an immoderate or unwholesome interest or desire) interest?
2. Does the speech depict or describe, in a patently offensive way, sexual conduct specifically defined by law?
3. Does the speech, taken as a whole, lack serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value?

If the answer to all three questions is yes, the First Amendment does not protect the speech in question.

Question 41

Establishment clause

Answer 41

One of two provisions in the First Amendment of the US Constitution that protect citizens’ freedom of religion. It prohibits the establishment of a national religion by Congress and the preference of one religion over another or of religion over nonreligious philosophies in general.

Question 42

Free-exercise clause

Answer 42

A clause in the First Amendment of the US Constitution that states that government (state and federal) cannot make a law “prohibiting the free exercise” of religion. This clause is interpreted to include absolute freedom to believe and freedom to act that may face state restriction.

Question 43

The Forth Amendment

Answer 43

• Guarantees citizens the right to be “secure in their persons, their homes, and their personal property.”
• Prohibits government from conducting unreasonable searches of individuals and seizing their property to use as evidence against them.
• Protects corporations and places of business
  o Also, there is an exception to having to have a search warrant. If an industry has a long history of pervasive regulation, a warrantless search is not unreasonable.
• Probably cause- has to have facts that they know that leads them to believe they have reason to convict them

Question 44

Search warrant

Answer 44

A court order that authorizes law enforcement agents to search for or seize items specifically described in the warrant.
- Must have probably cause

Question 45

The Fifth Amendment

Answer 45

• Protects against self-incrimination, meaning that in a criminal case, the defendant does not have to testify in court as a witness against himself or herself.
• “Plead the fifth” – you don’t have to talk if you thing you might incriminate yourself
• Gives all US citizens protection from the US Government
• Protects against double jeopardy, which means the government cannot try a person more than once for the same crime.
• Corporations don’t receive protection against self-incrimination, though sole proprietors do receive this protection.

Question 46

Due process clause

Answer 46

A clause in the Fifth Amendment of the US Constitution providing that the government cannot deprive an individual of life, liberty, of property without a fair and just hearing.

• Guarantees two types of due process: procedural and substantive

Question 47

Procedural vs. Substantive due process

Answer 47

Procedural: 
The requirement that a government must use fair procedures before depriving a person of his or her life, liberty, or property. 
Requires 2 things: 
o You need to know what you’ve done
o You have an impartial hearing

Substantive:
The requirement for laws depriving an individual of life, liberty, or property to be fair and not arbitrary.

Question 48

Takings clause

Answer 48

A clause in the Fifth Amendment of the US Constitution requiring that when government uses its power to take private property for public use, it must pay the owner just compensation, or fair market value, for the property.
- Lucas v. South Carolina Coastal Commission

Question 49

Lucas v. South Carolina Coastal Commission

Answer 49

Supreme Court held that if a regulation is so extensive that it leaves the property owner with no economically viable use of his land, the regulation constitutes a taking, and the owner is entitled to compensation for the value of his property, even though the state did not seek to take title to his land

Question 50

The Ninth Amendment

Answer 50

• Together with the First, Third, Fourth, and Fifth Amendments, it provides individuals with a right to privacy.
• 1965 case Griswold v. Connecticut, the Supreme Court ruled that a Connecticut law prohibiting the use of contraceptives was unconstitutional because it violated individuals’ right to privacy.

Question 51

Equal protection clause

Answer 51

A clause in the Fourteenth Amendment of the US Constitution that prevents states from denying “the equal protection of the laws” to any citizen. This clause implies that all citizens are created equal.
- Three standards of scrutiny apply: strict scrutiny, intermediate scrutiny, and the rational-basis test.

Question 52

Strict scrutiny

Answer 52

The most exacting standard of review used by the courts in determining the constitutionality of a statute; requires a compelling government interest and the least restrictive means of attaining that objective.
- This one is used if a law prevents individuals from exercising a fundamental right, or if the law’s classification scheme involves suspect classifications.
o Suspect classifications include classifications based on race, national origin, and citizenship.
o Courts uphold suspect classifications only if they are necessary to promote a compelling state interest.
o Example: Brown v. Board of Education, the US Supreme Court ruled that the classification scheme used to segregate public schools racially violated the equal protection clause.
- In cases involving suspect classifications, courts do not begin their analysis with a presumption that the classification is constitutional, so few laws pass the strict-scrutiny standard.

Question 53

Brown v. Board of Education

Answer 53

the US Supreme Court ruled that the classification scheme used to segregate public schools racially violated the equal protection clause.

Question 54

Intermediate scrutiny

Answer 54

A standard of review under which a law must be necessary to achieve a substantial, or important, government interest and it must be narrowly tailored to that interest.

• This one is used if the law’s classification scheme is based on gender or on the legitimacy of children.
• According to this standard, the law is constitutional only if it is substantially related to an important government objective.

Question 55

Rational-basis test

Answer 55

The lowest standard of review; requires a law to be designed to protect a legitimate state interest and be rationally related to that interest.
- This one is used when a classification scheme involves other matters.
- According to this test, courts ask whether there is any justifiable reason to believe that the classification scheme advances a legitimate government interest.
o Because courts begin their analysis with a strong presumption that the government action is constitutional, almost all laws pass this test.

Question 56

Federal supremacy

Answer 56

Any state or local law that directly conflicts with the US Constitution or federal laws of treaties is void.

Question 57

Concurrent authority

Answer 57

Both state and federal governments have the power to regulate certain matters; generally, the federal government defers to the state.

Question 58

Congressional taxes

Answer 58

Must be uniform across all states. Congress can use taxes and spending for purposes other than generating revenue; for example, it can use them to indirectly promote social goals.