Con Law- Themis Examples Flashcards
The Supreme Court has barred federal-law actions brought by state government without the consent of its own courts as a violation of
sovereign immunity
A state cannot invoke its sovereign immunity to prevent a lawsuit by a state agency seeking to
enforce a federal right against a state official
The jurisdiction of the federal courts is set, within the framework of Article III, by
statute.
For example, Congress requires the amount in controversy in fed jx to be 75k through a statute.
Exam tip: when answering questions about standing, eliminate answer choices involving …. Instead, focus on
only the substance of the claim. Instead, focus on whether the plaintiff is legally qualified to present a claim, regardless of merit.
Taxpayer standing is frequently tested. A taxpayer has standing when…
the taxpayer challenges governmental expenditures as violating the Establishment Clause. … as well as standing to litigate whether or how much she owes on her tax bill
Section 1983 does not provide any _______. Instead, it provides a method to _______
Section 1983 does not provide any substantive rights. Instead, it provides a method to enforce the substantive rights granted by the Constitution and other federal laws.
To use Section 1983 as a remedy for the deprivation of a federally secured right, a plaintiff must show that the alleged deprivation was committed by a person acting under __________, which is functionally equivalent to ______.
Committed by a person acting “under color of state law,” which is functionally identical to the “state action” prerequisite to trigger constitutional liability.
P is a student who has been denied admission to a law school and had then been previously admitted while the case was pending. Because the student was scheduled to graduate within a few months at the time the decision was rendered, and there was no action that ht law school could take to prevent it, the Court determined that a decision on its part would have no effect on the student’s rights. This is an example of ….
Mootness.
Therefore, the case was dismissed as moot.
In Roe v Wade, the state argued that the case was moot because P was no longer pregnant by the time the case reached SCOTUS. Because of the relatively short human gestation period (compared to a lawsuit) abortion litigation was ___________________ and the case was NOT dismissed as moot.
This is an example of the exception to mootness- capable of repetition, yet evading review.
abortion litigation was readily capable of being repeated, but also likely to evade review
was therefore not dismissed as moot.
Fact patterns involving a request for declaratory judgment are likely testing
advisory opinion prohibition.
Federal courts may not render advisory opinions on the basis of an abstract or a hypothetical dispute. An actual case or controversy must exist.
The courts are not prohibited from issuing declaratory judgments, however, that determine the legal effect of proposed conduct without awarding damages or injunctive relief. But can’t be hypothetical.
Details of Congress’s impeachment procedures (constitutionally assigned to a branch other than the judiciary) and the President’s conduct of foreign affairs (not within judicial competence) are examples of
political questions.
A federal court will not rule on a matter in controversy if the matter is a political question to be resolved by one or both of the other two branches of gov.
Compare: the political question doctrine does not bar courts from adjudicating the constitutionality of a federal statute that an American child born in Jerusalem is entitled to have Israel listed as her place of birth in her US passport. What could be the Court’s reasoning that the was not a “political question”?
The Court held that the Constitution did not commit the issue to another branch of government and resolving the case would involve examining “textual, structural, and historical evidence” concerning statutory and constitutional provisions, something within judicial competence.
If a question involves application of a new legislation, pay attention to ___
the status of any case to which it is being applied.
Congress may amend or repeal existing law and direct that change to be applied in all related PENDING actions; ie those where a final judgment has not been entered.
The validity of a federal statute on the bar exam may not be justified based on __________.
“Federal police power.” Congress has no general police power to legislate for the health, safety, welfare, or morals of citizens.
Example: SCOUTS upheld congressional restriction of wheat production even when applied to a farmer growing only 23 acres of wheat, primarily for personal use. The rationale behind the decision was that if every small farmer were allowed to grow an unrestricted amount of wheat, the combined affect could have an impact on supply and demand in the interstate market.
What is this an example of?
Aggregation
With respect to an intrastate activity that does not have a direct economic impact on interstate commerce, such as growing crops for personal consumption, as long as there is a rational basis for concluding that the “total incidence” of the activity in the aggregate substantially affects interstate commerce, Congress may regulate even a minute amount of that total.
