Con Law

Question 1

Classification based on alienage - fed vs. state standard

Answer 1

Fed - plenary power over aliens - valid unless arbitrary/unreasonable

State - Strict scrutiny test (unless it restricts participation in govt functions, then rational basis)

Question 2

Freedom of association - can gov’t infringe

Answer 2

Protects right to participate - can only be barred from employ if 1) active member of subversive org; 2) knows activities; 3) has intent to further illegality

Question 3

11th Amendment

Answer 3

Prohibits action in fed court by citizen of one state against another state when basis for action is violation of state law

Question 4

Younger doctrine

Answer 4

Court will not enjoin pending state crim case in absence of bad faith, harassment, or patently invalid state statute

Question 5

Enclave Clause (Art I Section 8)

Answer 5

Under Article I, Section 8, Clause 17 of the U.S. Constitution, also known as the Enclave Clause, Congress has the general police and regulatory powers over the District of Columbia that a state enjoys over persons and things within its boundaries. Among those powers is the power to tax or not to tax income earned within its boundaries.

Question 6

Export Taxation Clause of Article I, Section 9

Answer 6

Congress may not tax goods exported to foreign countries. Under the Export Taxation Clause, a tax or duty that falls on goods during the course of exportation or on services or activities closely related to the export process is prohibited.

Question 7

21st Amendment

Answer 7

1. Repeals prohibition,
2. Specifically gives states the authority to prohibit the transportation or importation of alcoholic beverages into the state for delivery or use within the state. This amendment has been interpreted as giving a state the authority to regulate or outright ban the distribution and sale of alcoholic beverages within the state.

Question 8

Standing

Answer 8

(i) there is an injury in fact,
(ii) the injury must be caused by the defendant’s violation of a constitutional or other federal right, and
(iii) the relief requested must prevent or redress the injury.

Question 9

Elections Clause - Congress can override…

Answer 9

Elections Clause explicitly empowers Congress to override state laws concerning federal elections.

Question 10

Right to have name on election ballot?

Answer 10

No. There is no fundamental right to have one’s name on an election ballot or to hold office through election or appointment. A state may ban all write-in candidates in both primary and general elections, as long as the state provides other reasonable means by which a candidate can get on the ballot.

Question 11

Citizenship Clause

Answer 11

protection of national citizenship in Clause I of the Fourteenth Amendment (the Citizenship Clause) prevents Congress from taking away a person’s citizenship, unless that citizenship was obtained by fraud or in bad faith.

Question 12

Can Congress override DCC?

Answer 12

Yes - Because Congress has exclusive authority over interstate commerce, it may explicitly permit states to act in ways that would otherwise violate the Dormant Commerce Clause. It must be unmistakably clear that Congress intended to permit the otherwise impermissible state regulation.

Question 13

Property Clause

Answer 13

Power to dispose of and make all needful Rules and Regulations respecting the Territory or other Property belonging to the United States.”

This power includes not only the power to dispose of property owned by the United States and to make incidental rules regarding its use, but also the power to protect the property. Although a state generally has the same right as any property owner to construct a fence on its property, this right must give way to federal regulation.

Question 14

14th A Enabling Clause

Answer 14

Permits Congress to pass legislation to enforce EP, Due Process rights, BUT not to expand those rights or create new ones.

In enforcing such rights, there must be a “congruence and proportionality” between the injury to be prevented or remedied and the means adopted to achieve that end.

Though Congress may override state government action that infringes upon 14th A rights if the “congruence and proportionality” test is satisfied, its enforcement power would not stretch to prohibit a law that does not violate the Constitution.

Question 15

Suspension Clause (Art I, Sect 9, Clause 2)

Answer 15

Detainee retains the privilege to file a habeas corpus petition unless this privilege is suspended.

(applies to individuals detained in a territory over which U.S. has sovereign control, even though such territory is outside the U.S.)

Question 16

Exception for Takings clause?

Answer 16

Gov’t may destroy property in response to public period without payment of compensation

Question 17

EP - “one person, one vote” principle

Answer 17

One person’s vote must be essentially equal to any other person’s vote. The “one person, one vote” principle applies to local elections of entities that perform governmental functions, even when the functions are specialized rather than general in nature, such as a local school board. The restriction of voting to a class of persons (e.g., landowners) has generally been found to violate the “one person, one vote” principle, except in the case of water-district elections.

Question 18

P.F. case for discrimination in state leg district line drawing

Answer 18

In the absence of evidence of discrimination, variation of less than 10% between # of ppl based on total pop in the smallest and largest districts does not establish a pf case for discrimination

Question 19

Free speech rights of gov’t Es?

Answer 19

Ee must show that he was speaking as a citizen on a matter of public concern. Even when an employee is speaking as a citizen on a matter of public concern, the First Amendment interest of the employee must be balanced against the interest of the state, as an employer, in effective and efficient management of its internal affairs.

Question 20

13th A

Answer 20

Congress the power to adopt legislation rationally related to eliminating involuntary servitude. This power has been broadly interpreted to allow Congress to regulate both private and government action and is the only Amendment that authorizes Congress to regulate purely private conduct.

Question 21

Standard for state legislation that discriminates out of state

Answer 21

Facial discrimination - unconstitutional unless it serves an important local interest and no other non-discriminatory means are available to achieve that purpose.

Question 22

Regulatory taking criteria

Answer 22

(1) the economic impact of the regulation on the property owner;
(2) the extent to which the regulation interferes with the owner’s reasonable, investment-backed expectations regarding his use of the property; and
(3) the character of the regulation, including the degree to which it will benefit society, how the regulation distributes the burdens and benefits among property owners, and whether the regulation violates any of the owner’s essential attributes of property ownership, such as the right to exclude others from the property.

Question 23

Art I, Sect 9 (direct taxes)

Answer 23

“no . . . direct tax shall be laid, unless in proportion to the Census[.]” Although there is dispute as to the types of taxes that are encompassed within the definition of a direct tax, a tax on real property interests is undisputedly a direct tax

Question 24

First A - shields media?

Answer 24

From liability for publication of a lawfully obtained private fact, e.g., the identity of a rape victim, so long as the news story involves a matter of public concern. Therefore, neither the newspaper nor the reporter are liable for legally gathering and publishing these private facts concerning a matter of public concern

Question 25

Lemon test

Answer 25

(i) secular purpose, (ii) its principal or primary effect in advancing or inhibiting religion, and
(iii) does it result in excessive government entanglement with religion.