Con Law Flashcards
Cases and Controversies
Fed cts can only decide cases and controversies (i.e. not issue advisory opinions on proposed leg not yet enacted).
Fed ct JX limited to cases/controversies including:
1) Fed Q JX;
2) Diversity JX; and
3) Exercising power of judicial review
11A and St Sovereign Immunity
Gen Rule–cannot sue any st for $ damages or equitable relief in fed ct w/o st’s consent
–Does NOT apply to local govs; and
–Does does NOT protect indv st officers–which P can sue for $ damages in D’s personal capacity OR for injunctive relief to enjoin st official from enforcing a st law that violates fed law.
Adequate and Indp St Grounds (AISG)
USSC cannot hear case from st ct when there are adequate and indp st grounds for deciding case.
Adequate–st law controls decision regardless of how fed issue would be decided.
Indp–st ct’s ruling does not depend on an interp of fed law.
Standing
Const elements to standing:
1) Injury in fact–must be concrete and particularized;
2) Causation–injury must be caused by D’s violation of law;
3) Redressability–relief req of the ct must be able to prevent or remedy the injury
Org Standing–an org may sue on behalf of its members if 1) the members would have standing to sue in their own right; and 2) the interests at stake are germane to the org’s purpose.
Taxpayer Standing
Standing to challenge taxes owed—but not government spending unless:
1) challenging legislation enacted under taxing & spending power AND
2) legislation exceeds limits imposed by establishment clause
*This exception does NOT apply when benefit in the form of tax credit rather than appropriation.
Timeliness Doctrines–Ripeness/Mootness
Ripeness–a fed ct will not consider a claim before it has fully developed–i.e. P has not suffered actual harm.
Mootness–cases are overripe when there is no real controversy left to resolve b/t Ps.
*Exception–case will not be dismissed as moot if a P will be subjected to the same action over and over again, and the action will not last long enough to work its way through judicial system.
*Exception–case will not be dismissed as moot just b/c D vol ceases offending activity–given that they can always reverse course and offend again.
Political Q Doctrine
Political Q arises when:
1) the Const assigns decision-making auth on this subj to a different branch of gov; or
2) the matter depends on that P’s discretion such that there is no law for the judge to apply
E.g. Congress’s impeachment power or President’s power to neg treaty.
Abstention Doctrines
All about federalism–i.e respecting st cts
Fed cts may abstain from deciding cases when there are strong st interests at stake, including:
1) Abstaining b/c there is unsettled st law;
2) Abstaining for pending st crim cases;
3) Abstaining if Ps are seeking injunctive relief that would interfere w/ complex st reg scheme; and
4) Abstaining if case is sub similar to another case being heard in st ct.
Limitations on Congress
General Welfare Clause–Congress has no gen power to legislate for gen welfare; BUT can tax and spend to promote gen welfare.
Police Power–only sts have gen police power to enact laws to protect citizens; Congress cannot “commandeer” st legs by forcing sts to adopt or enforce fed reg programs.
*NOT commandeering if a law of gen applicability towards both public/private actors.
*Also NOT commandeering when Congress incentivizes state action through its taxing and spending powers–assuming not coercive; i.e. not threatening to remove all fed funds.
Nec and Proper Clause–important power but NOT a freestanding power; must be used in addition to another leg power.
Commerce Clause
Congress’s most robust power–can reg:
1) channels of inst commerce–e.g. railroads, highways (and keep channels free of immoral uses such as sex trafficking).
2) instrumentalities of inst commerce–e.g. cars, trucks, airplanes, other goods/services
3) any behavior that has a sub effect on inst commerce–i.e. behaviors can be judged in the aggregate and Congress only needs a RB to conclude that the total incidence of activity in aggregate sub effects inst commerce.
Limitations:
1) limited power to reg non-economic instrast activity–e.g. poss of guns near schools; impact of these activities cannot be aggregated and reqs detailed factual findings indicating sub effect on IC.
2) does not allow req indvs to engage in commerce–e.g. ACA
Taxing/Spending Clause
Broad taxation powers–i.e Congress can impose tax for general welfare even if it does so to reg behavior; need not prove the tax is nec to a compelling interest, only that:
1) the tax is uniformly applied to all sts where taxed goods are found; and
2) tax is reasonably related to revenue production
Spending Clause–permitted to spend for general welfare; can be used to incentivize behavior by sts–e.g. highway funds to sts if they raise drinking age–but cannot be unconst conditions, ambiguous/unrelated to program, or coercive towards sts–e.g. conditioning 10% of previously allocated fed funds on compliance w/ seatbelt reg is okay, but NOT 90%.
Section Five of 14A
Section Five gives Congress the power to “enforce these provisions (DPC and EP) by approp legislation.”
i.e. Congress can enforce these indv rights as the cts have defined them, but CANNOT expand them.
Congruence and Proportionality test–reqs a reasonable fit b/t the const right defined by the cts and the means of enforcement; i.e. if the enforcement is so broad it effectively expands the right the enforcement is unconst under Section Five.
Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) commonly tested on this subj–SCOTUS struck down RFRA as exceeding Congress’s Section 5 power b/c it effectively created a new right (giving religious believers an accommodation from otherwise valid laws) rather than enforcing existing right.
Nondelegation Doctrine
Congress allowed to delegate many powers to admin agencies but must provide an intelligible principle to guide agency discretion–this principle can be very broad and often this threshold is met.
Certain powers are nondelegable–i.e. power of impeachment and power to declare war.
Legislative Action
Article I prescribes the method Congress must use to take leg action–i.e. any action that alters the legal rights of Ps outside the legislative branch. Under this method all leg action must be:
1) approved by both houses of Congress; and
2) presented to President for approval or disapproval.
Retroactivity
Civil laws that retroactively impair an ord right–e.g. right to claim tax deduction; must undergo RB scrutiny
Crim laws that punish actions retroactively–i.e. ex post facto law; unconst.
Dormant Commerce Clause
If Congress has not enacted leg on a particular area of IC then the sts can reg as long as they do not:
1) disc against out-of-st commerce;
2) unduly burden IC (balance the benefits vs costs); or
3) purposely reg wholly out-of-st activity
Disc against out-of-st commerce–includes st/local laws that protect local econ interests at the expense of out-of-st competitors; these laws will survive if 1) it is nec to serve an important st interest; 2) st is acting as a mkt participant; or 3) Congress auth a st reg.
*If Congress speaks on the issue–NO DCC issue.
