Con Law Flashcards
Requirements for Judicial Review
- case or controversy
- subject-matter jurisdiction
Case or Controversy
- plaintiff has standing
- claim is ripe when the lawsuit is filed
- claim is not mooted
- lawsuit does not seek an advisory opinion
Standing
- injury in fact (concrete and not hypothetical)
- causation (fairly traceable to conduct of defendant)
- redressability (injury likely to be rectified by a favorable court decision)
Citizenship Standing
cannot challenge conduct just because citizen
Taxpayer Standing
no standing to challenge how tax contributions used.
exceptions:
- challenging collection of specific tax assessment
- challenging congressional standing on grounds that it violates First Amendment’s prohibition on establishment of religion
Third-Party Standing
3P cannot bring action on behalf of another unless there is:
- hindrance to injured party bringing the action herself and
- close relationship between parties such that 3P will adequately advocate inured party
Organizational Standing
may bring federal cause of action on behalf of members if it can show:
- one or more of its members would have standing to bring the case
- claims are related to organization’s purpose
- litigation of the case will not involve participation of those members who have been injured
Class-Action Standing
class representative must have standing to bring case as an initial matter. But if class member’s injury is redressed during pendency of case, that will not destroy standing for remaining class members
Ripeness
not ripe when harm has not yet occurred and is not imminent. Factors:
- fitness of issues for current adjudication
- hardship to the parties if the claim is not heard
Mootness
moot if a court ruling would no longer remedy the problem or make the plaintiff whole.
Exceptions:
- defendant voluntarily ceases the challenged event/action and it is likely to recur
- action is (a) so short in duration that it will be moot before resolution of case and (b) there is a reasonable probability the same plaintiff will suffer the same injury in the future
Advisory Opinions
do not adjudicate legal dispute but merely give advice to another branch of gov’t on constitutionality of law or action.
federal courts do not give advisory opinions. some state courts are authorized to do so.
Political Questions
- textual, constitutional commitment of the issue to another branch of gov’t
- lack of judicially discoverable and manageable standards for resolving question
- matter requires making a policy determination
- impossible to decide matter without disrespecting coordinate political department
- unusual need for unquestioning adherence to previously decided political issue
- potential embarrassment from inconsistent decisions
Abstention
federal court may decline to hear a case over which it has jurisdiction when there is a potential for conflict with state courts over interpretations of state law and policy
- unsettled issues of state law
- ongoing state criminal prosecutions
- state court civil enforcement proceedings
Relationship Between Federal and State Courts
state court decisions final on matters of state law.
Supreme Court can review state court decisions on federal law to ensure:
- uniform application of federal constitutional law throughout country and
- finality of litigated federal law issues
Limits on U.S. Supreme Court Jurisdiction
- appeal must be from final judgment by highest state court. Decision of intermediate state court reviewable if either no right of appeal to state’s highest court or state’s highest court declined to exercise power to review.
- decision cannot rest on adequate and independent state law ground.
Congressional Power to Define and Limit Federal Courts
Constitution vests in Congress the powers to create inferior courts and to make exceptions to appellate jurisdiction of federal courts.
this congressional power is plenary (no internal limits) but cannot violate another part of the Constitution.
Congressional Powers
- necessary and proper clause
- taxing power
- spending power
- commerce clause
- war and foreign powers
- nondelegation doctrine
- power to enforce amendments
Necessary and Proper Clause
Congress has power to make laws that are:
- necessary (convenient or useful) and
- proper to executing its other powers (legitimately related to another existing power)
Taxing Power
congress can enact taxing measures that
- raise revenue for the general welfare and
- are not a penalty (unduly coercive or enacted to discourage certain private behavior)
Spending Power
Congress can spend federal money for general welfare but can only impose conditions on federal grants to states if the condition is:
- clear and unambiguous (states understand consequences of accepting)
- related to a legitimate federal interest
- not unduly coercive
- constitutional
Commerce Clause
Congress can regulate commerce with foreign nations, among several states, and with the Indian tribes. Cannot use this to compel participation in commercial activity. Can regulate:
- channels (areas in which interstate commerce moves)
- instrumentalities and persons/things (items and ways in which items are carried across state lines)
- activities having a substantial effect on interstate commerce (private activities can be regulated if cumulative impact of individuals and entities engaging in activities has substantial effect on interstate commerce)
Dormant Commerce Clause
states cannot:
- discriminate against interstate commerce unless state has a compelling interest for enacting law and no less restrictive way of achieving that interest (STRICT SCRUTINY) or
- places undue burden on interstate commerce (weighs burdens of a state law against local benefits).
Dormant Commerce Clause: Discriminatory v. Neutral
Discriminatory on its face if it:
- treats out-of-staters different from in-staters or
- clearly gives economic protection to in-state residents
Neutral: if a law is neutral, use undue burden
Dormant Commerce Clause: Exceptions
- can discriminate against out-of-state interests if market participant (buyer or seller) rather than regulator
- even where regulator, can discriminate against out-of-state interests in favor of publicly owned enterprise if regulation is an exercise of traditional gov’t function
- Congress may enact statute that expressly authorizes states to discriminate against nonresidents regarding interstate commerce
Dormant Commerce Clause: State Taxation
state tax on business will generally be upheld if:
- activity being taxed has a substantial nexus with taxing state
- the tax is fairly apportioned so that is applies only to the in-state business activity
- the tax does not discriminate against interstate commerce
- the tax is fairly related to the services the state provides
War and Foreign Powers
Congress can:
- declare war
- fund and maintain the armed forces
- confirm high-ranking executive branch officials by majority votes
- ratify treaties by a vote of at least two-thirds of its members
- address post-war problems
Nondelegation Doctrine
Congress cannot abdicate or transfer its essential legislative functions, but it can make delegations to agencies if there is an intelligible principle on which to base the regulations
Power to Enforce Amendments
13th, 14th, and 15th Amendment empowers Congress to enforce their respective guarantees through appropriate legislation
Executive Powers
- Article II powers
- treaty and foreign affairs powers
Article II Powers
- sign or veto legislative bills (presentment)
- enforce laws
- appoint and remove officers of the U.S.
- grant reprieves and pardons for offenses against the U.S., except in cases of impeachment
- command the U.S. armed forces
Treaty and Foreign Affairs Powers
president has power to:
- recognize / not recognize foreign nations
- meet with foreign leaders
- withdraw from treaties without the advice or consent of Congress
- make international agreements in areas such as trade or troop deployment
Categories of Presidential Powers and Relationship to Congressional Powers
- express / implied: presidential authority is at its maximum if president acts with express or implied congressional authorization
- zone of twilight: presidential authority is less certain in the face of congressional inaction
- no authorization: presidential authority is at its minimum if the president acts contrary to congressional authorization and only under president’s own constitutional powers
Congressional Limits on Executive
- creation and funding
- lawmaking
- impeachment
- restrictions on removal
Congressional Limits on Executive: Creation and Funding
Congress establishes cabinet and other offices in executive branch that president may fill, and it may establish those offices as well.
Congress funds offices through appropriations powers, but it may also defund them or limit expenditures.
Congressional Limits on Executive: Lawmaking
once a law is made, the president and the executive branch must enforce it. The president also must spend the funds Congress allocates for a particular purpose or program
Congressional Limits on Executive: Impeachment
House can impeach official if a majority of those present vote in favor of it. Senate then holds trial. Conviction requires two-thirds of senators who are present.
Treason
treason = levying war against US, adhering to their enemies, or giving them aid and comfort.
can only be convicted upon testimony of two witnesses to the same overt act or upon the accused’s confession in open court.
when a person charged with treason is a high-ranking federal official, can be impeached, tried separately in court, or both.
Congressional Limits on Executive: Restrictions on Removal
congress can restrict president’s power to remove quasi-legislative and quasi-judicial officials. BUT cannot restrict president’s removal of purely executive officers.
But Congress created civil service and enacted restrictions on how civil servants may be discharged. Congress has also created positions and limited their removal.
Legislative Veto
provision in federal statute that gives Congress authority to nullify administrative action.
S.C. has found these are invalid because can violate bicameral representation or the presentment clause.
Federal Immunity: Taxation
states cannot regulate or tax the federal gov’t or its instrumentalities
State Immunity and the 10th Amendment
states have no immunity from federal regulation, but the 10th amendment grants state local police power and state autonomy from federal overreaching.
Commandeering
federal gov’t cannot require states to enact any particular legislation but it can make condition appropriations
federal gov’t cannot require states to perform executive functions but no commandeering when law regulates state gov’ts in a manner similar to private entities who perform same types of functions
11th Amendment Immunity
bars states from being sued for damages in federal court unless:
- state consents to being sued
- congress has passed a law that clearly and unambiguously abrogates states’ sovereign immunity
- lawsuit is against a state official to enjoin the official from committing a violation of federal law or suing the official for money damages