Con Law Flashcards
Relation of Nation and States in a Federal System/ Individual Rights
can a state tax an agency?
no
agency is CODE WORD on MBE for the
FEDS
states cannot tax the federal government through ____
agencis
but if there is a scenario where you see an independent contractor, doing business or contracting with the federal government, the states can tax the __
contractor
federal property and lands are also IMMUNTE from state taxes, but people who ____ on federally owed property can ____
lease
property taxes
If you have a gift shop owned in Yellowstone National park, they can still be taxed on their ____
leased property
can federal employees and federal contractors be taxed by the state on their salaries?
YES so long as the tax applies to everyone and is not DISCRIMINATORY or aimed directly at the federal employuees
states cannot get in the way of the federal government when they are carrying out ___-
their duties
a state ___ force a federal nuclear power plant to follow state pollytion laws
cannot
states cannot issue writs of _____ to federal detainees
habeus corpus
states cannot f around with ____
federal lands
the federal government can regulate the states, but if the regulation prevents the states from carrying out their ____ then this violates the ____
core functions
10A
fed gov cannot tax a ______ school
public
if a state is running a public park, can that be taxes by fed?
NO
there can be a ______incomet tax on state emmployees
federal
REMEMBER that STATES can be sued by the federal gov or by othe states without ____
the states giving consent itself
Fed cannot _____ the states where Congress enacts a law that CAUSES the states to enact a law
= NO
comandeer
b/c vioalte 10A
Although Congress can directly regulate teh states, (like establish a federal min wage) Congress cannot _____ a state to regualte in a certain way
force
Congress cannot force states to ,,,
1. .adopt a law
2. force a ____ to adopt a regulation
state agency
can Congress FORCE states to enact legislation criminalizing firearms possessions in certain areas?
NO
Congress also cannot ___ or hijack state officials and turn them into federal government worker slaves.
commandeer
We can’t FORCE the states or their officials to do shit or carry out our little federal schemes… HOWEVER…. we can have these big-ass ____which cover the state as an EMPLOYER and private entities as employers equally.
broad laws
ex: FLSA
The Fair Labor Standards Act sets minimum wage laws, child labor laws, overtime rules… and this applies to both private businesses and the government.
The Bar exam is obsessed with a situation where the federal government ENACTS a law which applies to everyone, both public and private, called “a law of g_____”
eneral applicability
It is _____ considered ____ to induce state compliance to your little federal plan by attaching _____ onto the money you give the states
NOT
Commandeering
STRINGS
Feds can attach strings to the money it gives the states as long as it is not ____
coersive
congress can put CONDITIONS on the $$ it gives to states as long as the conditions are
- clearly stated
- not ___
- related to the puprose of the program
Coersive
The DCC stands for the principle that local laws are _____ if they place an _____ on interstate commerce
unconstiiutional
undue burden
TEST #! Laws that discriminate against interstate commerce ON THEIR
FACE
Let’s say we have a state law that says “every Sea World and Goat Zoo in the state must hire at least 90% in-state residents to work there”
thsi clearly discriminates against OOSers
So when it actually says IN THE DAMN LAW that the state is discriminating… the test is going to be ____ and almost always shot down (it is almost PER se invalid if it discriminates on it’s face)
STRICT
Standard tto apply when a law is facailly disciminating against OOSers =
GOV mist prove that the law serves a LEGIT local purpose
+
the purpose cannot be adequately served by reasonable nondiscrimnatory alt means
And REMEMBER… when we are talking about scenario #1 - laws that are FACIALLY discriminatory against out-of-staters… the “legitimate public purpose” (prong 1) can never be “____ lmao.
helping people in our state”
(Prong 1) Legitimate public purpose: lmao. What actual purpose could this serve besides helping in-state puppy groomers in California? Helping out your OWN residents make more money is ______purpose. Maybe they could say it was for health and safety… if other out-of-state puppy groomers were using dangerous products to groom the puppies fur.
not a legit public
Situation #2 example of neutral facing law that applies to everyone that would probably be struck down under our balancing test:
PIKE BALANCING TEST you weigh
(1) the burdens on interstate commverce v (2) the _____
local benefits
what are the TWO main exceptions to the DCC
- congressional approval exception
- market participant exception
Under the congressional approval exception to the DCC, Congress can AUTHORIZE states to do shit that violates the _____
DCC
ex: Congress passes a law that says: Idaho can only sell apples grown in Idahio to instate IDAHONIANS….this si fine eventhough it violates tDCC
Under the Market participant exception, when the states acts as a BUSINESS PERSON rather than a regulator and are spending their own money to buy goods and services rather than fucking with ranom private companies, they can ___
discriminate
So our two exceptions to when states can violate the dormant commerce clause are when (1) congress approves it, and (2) when they are acting as a ____ not a referee (but remember… no downstream effects of commerce can be regulated, just the direct transaction they are involved in)
PLAYER IN MARKET
A congressional veo regarding a federal agency’s actions requires not only a majority vote by both houses of Congress, but it must also be presented to the _____ for the opportunity to exercise his ____power
president
veto
a bill of ___ is when a law inflicts punishment w/o judicial trial upon named individuals or those who engaged in certain prior conduct
attainder
1 is
THREE EXCEPTIONS TO THE STATE ACTION DOCTRINE
the 13th Amendment/ slavery/ racial discrimination
The only way a private citizen can violate the Constitution is through violating the _____by enslaving someone or putting someone into involuntary servitude.
13A
1 is
THREE EXCEPTIONS TO THE STATE ACTION DOCTRINE
public function doctrine
The public function exception is when a privat company or person is role playing as the _____
gov
a town can violate the constitution when it is performing “____ and _____ gov functinos”
traditional and exclusive
3 is
THREE EXCEPTIONS TO THE STATE ACTION DOCTRINE
entanglement
a private actor can be consdiered a state actor if the state is pressuring them to do
shit
if a state ____, encourages, or helps a private actor carry out unconstitutional activity, the private actor could be considered a ____
authorizes
state actor
It’s more of an argument honestly, you just have to argue whether there was truly enough _______ to make the government so hopelessly intertwined that the private party was acting as a state actor.
downward pressure
But remember Goats… just because a private company might get a government ____… doesn’t mean they are “entangled” with the government.
subsidy
THE MBE WANTS YOU TO KNOW THAT PEOPLE DO NOT HAVE PROPERTY INTERESTS OR “—-“ IN THINGS… THAT THE GOVERNMENT HASN’T EVEN GIVEN THEM YET.
ENTITLEMENTS
I can’t be entitled to some shit… the government hasn’t even given me, right?
So the answer will be that___ is owed to them until they actually get the subsidy.
NO procedure
All due process deprivations have to be ____ for us to invoke due process.
INTENTIONAL
the constitutional test for the VALIDITY of a SA:ES TAX is that the tax must be ____ and may NOT apply directly to the ______
nondiscriminatory
federal gov
The state court decision relied on an interpretation of federal law, and without any additional disussion, also found that the statute was inconsistent with “idenetial provisions of our state constitution.”
THEREFORE this co-extensive interpretation did NOT provide an independent adequate state courts, meaning that the Court _______ if it finds that it raises an ___
may review the case
important federl question
what is teh ELI5 way to explain substantive DP?
SDP is all about whether the gov has an adequate reason for taking away your fundamental rights
how many levels of scrutiny do you get in SDP land ?
TWO
under SDP, if the gov messess with your fundamental rights, that get ____ scrutiny
under SDP, if the gov messess with your NON-fundamental rights, that gets _____ scrutiny
rational basis
examples of stuff that is NOT fundamental right?
Anything economic. The right to have a job, or practice a trade, or make money, or have a certain minimum wage… or any type of shit involving money is not a fundamental right.
education…..
we have no FUNDAMENTAL right to education, but we do have a right to CHOOSE OUR OWN ___
CHILD”S EDUCATION
when the gov limits EVERYONE’s ability to do something, this is a _______ issue
DPC
FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS INCLUDE
- Voting
- marry whoever we want
- have ____ with consenting adults
sex
when gov limtis a certain class of people from doing something, this is an ______ issue
Equal protecction
to allege an equal protection violation, the P must show that he or she is being treated differently than others AND that the discrimination either is _________ or there is a discriminatory _____ COMBINED with the discriminatory _____ of the law
facially
intent
impact
for EPC we need
Di + Di
Discriminatory intent + discriminatory impact
14A states that ______ cannot deprive anyone of life, liberty or property without DP of law
STATES
(not fed)
But just remember on the MBE… if they have a problem about the TSA at the airport being racist against middle eastern people for example… the answer is going to be the due process clause of the ___
5A
If the problem is talking about STATES fucking with people and treating certain classes of people differently than others, the answer will be that it is a violation of the ____Amendment Equal Protection clause.
14
for gender based classifications, that gets intermediate scrutinty. Such regulations will be ypuheld if the gov shows there is an _______justification for the separate treatment, and the separate facilities are ___
exceedingly persuasive
substantally equvilent
Elephant Skateboarding
Exceedingly - Substantially Equivalent. Elephants - Skateboarding.
a bill of attainder is when a statute imposes a punishment (like the deprivation of of gov imployment) without any trial which is ___
unconstituional
the ex post facto clause protects criminalizing past conduct
ok
a bill of attainder is a legislative act that inflicts _____ without a judicial ____ upon individuals who are ____ by name or in terms of ______
punishment
trial
named
past conduct
the US supreme court case BLAH BLAH held that a statute barring particular individuals from governmetn employment qualified as _____ within the meaning of the constitutional provision prohibiting ______
punishment
bill of attainder
Procedural due process protections affording individuals notice and a hearing before being deprived of an itnerest in public employment do NOT apply to _____
legislative action
the supreme court has repeatedly held that Congress shall NOT play a role in the removal of ____’
therefore the president may constitutionally remove the director without consent o Senate
executive officers
Rememner that Congress has the power to remove CERTAIn types of federal officials, such as those serving as members of governing bodies of regulatory agencies and inferior officers in agencies wher the head of the agency may be removed by the president at will
BUT under the separation of powers doctrine, Congress may NOT play any role in the removal of a ___
pres appointee
The P&I clause of Art 4
WORK 4 ME
This is all about preventing discrimination against out-of-staters when it comes to (1) work opportunities (ability to earn a livelihood), or (2) fundamental rights
You can tax out-of-staters higher for HOBBIES (like hunting, recreational fishing, etc) and that will not violate the ____
privileges and immunities clause of art 4
And remember, corporations and aliens ____ bring a claim under the Privileges and Immunities Clause because it is all about discrimination against out-of-state CITIZENS… and they are not real citizens
cannot!!!
And one final TRICK ALERT: Sometimes the MBE will test a scenario where a state is discriminating against it’s ___ citizens, not citizens of other states. This is not a violation of the privileges and immunities clause, as it ONLY relates to out-of-staters.
own
Well, the privileges or immunities of the 14th forbids state infringement on the right to travel ____ STATES.
between
Durational residency requirements are thus subject to ___ SCRUTINY
STRICT SCRUTINY
A state cannot give REDUCED state benefits to citizens that have been in a state for two months vs. citizens that have been there for a year.
EXCEPT it can for two things
- in state tuition
- obtaining a divorce
New citizens have full rights to get ____
social benefit programs
__ days is the max time you have to travel when you move to a new state to begin voting
50
Just remember on the test, anything over 1 year is too long for ANY durational residency requirements.
