Con Law Flashcards
State Tax
Valid if it is nondiscriminatory & does not apply directly to the federal gov.
Fourteenth Amendment
Prohibits states from depriving any person of life, liberty or property without due process & equal protection of the law.
Prohibits a state from limiting access to the ballot to members of particular political parties unless the prohibition is necessary to further a compelling interest
Equal Protection Clause
no state shall make or enforce any law which shall… deny to any person within its jurisdiction equal protection of the laws.
If certain fundamental rights that are protected under the constitution are denied to some individuals it is an equal protection problem
Ripeness
i. fitness o f the issue for judicial decision and
ii. hardship to the parties of with-holding court consideration
Unconstitutional taking
5th amendment prohibits the government taking of private property for public use without just compensation
Both state & federal governments have the right to take private property for public use as long as just compensation is paid
Scope of gov. taking encompasses not only physical appropriations of property but also any gov. action that significantly damages property or impairs its use
show rational relationship between the requirement and the gov interest
Burden is on city to carry the burden of establishing the burden on the public.
Uncompensated taking
i. conveying title to part or all of the property to the gov;
ii granting the public access to the property
Not uncompensated taking (exceptions)
i. the gov can show the condition relates to a legitimate gov interest (nexus); and
ii. there is a roughly proportionality between the size of the give-back demanded by the city & the burden on the public caused by the proposed development
Unprotected speech
Obscenity: description or deception of sexual conduct that an average person would find:
i. appeals to the prurient interest in sex
ii. portrays sex in a patently offensive way and
iii. does not have any serious literary, artistic, political or scientific value
Prurient
material having a tendency to excite lustful thoughts
Commercial speech 1st amendment protection.
Determining whether a regulation of commercial speech is valid: 4 step process
i. Initially whether the commercial speech concerns a lawful activity that is not misleading or fraudulent
ii. The regulation must serve a substantial government interest
iii. It must directly advance that interest; and
iv. it must be narrowly tailored to serve the substantial
Obscene
to be considered obscene the pictures on the video would have to amount to a deception that an average person would have found to be excessively appealing to sex or portraying sex in a patently obvious way
First Amendment: Right to join together with other people for expressive or political activity
Right to join together with other people for expressive or political activity is protected by the First Amendment. Right is not absolute.
Limited w/ regard to those who join w/ the specific intent to further illegal action.
Battery
A P must prove that there was an act by the D which brought about harmful or offensive contact with the P’s person.
The d is not required to have personally carried out the offensive or harmful contact w/ the P as long as the D set into motion an action with purpose or knowledge to a substantial certainty that the offensive or harmful contact would result
Procedural Due Process
guarantees a person certain rights if he is deprived of life liberty or property
(ie. freedome of movement)
