CONGRESS’S ENFORCEMENT POWER UNDER THE RECONSTRUCTION AMENDMENTS

Question 1

13th Amendment: private and public regulation

Answer 1

Section 1 - prohibits slavery in the United States

Section 2 – Enforcement Clause - Congress shall have the power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

Question 2

14th Amendment: only applies to state action – Congress cannot regulate private behavior.

Answer 2

Section 1 – all persons born or naturalized in the United State are citizens of the United States and the state wherein they reside. No state can abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens, nor may any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property without due process of the law; nor deny any person equal protection of the laws.

Section 5 – Enforcement Clause – Congress shall have the power to enforce by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article.

14th Amendment rights extend to all persons – not just citizens! Thus, an illegal alien has substantive due process and equal protection rights under the 5th and 14th Amendments. See Pyler v. Doe. It would follow that Congress has the power to enforce the provisions of the 14th Amendment to protect all persons, including illegal aliens

Question 3

15th Amendment: only applies to public action.

Answer 3

Section 1 – citizens shall not be denied the right to vote on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.

Section 2 – Enforcement Clause – Congress shall have the power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

Question 4

Scope of Congress’s Enforcement Power

Answer 4

Congress can only prevent or provide remedies for violations of rights recognized by the Court. Congress cannot use §5 to expand the scope of rights or to create new rights.

Question 5

City of Boerne v. Flores (RFRA)

Answer 5

Holding: Congress’s power under § 5 extends only to enforce the equal protection and due process rights guaranteed by the 14th amendment, but not to expand those rights or create new ones. Under the separation of powers doctrine, the job of defining such rights falls to the Supreme Court.

In enforcing such rights, there must be congruence and proportionality between the injury to be prevented and remedied by the statute and the means adopted to that end

Question 6

Congruence & Proportionality Test

Answer 6

Congruence:
Backwards looking – the scope of the violation determines the scope of the remedy. Does the remedy match the discrimination, or does it prohibit more behavior than necessary to remedy the problem?

Proportionality: the remedy is in proportionate to the scope of the constitutional violation. Forward looking

If the remedy is neither congruent nor proportional, then Congress is exceeding its enforcement power.

Boerne is a separation of powers case – it tells Congress that they cannot make their own standards unless they are based on judicial decisions.

Question 7

Tennessee v. Lane (physical access to courts)

Answer 7

The plaintiffs were disabled Tennesseans who could not access the upper floors in state courthouses. They sued in Federal Court, arguing that since Tennessee was denying them public services because of their disabilities, it was violating Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Under Title II, no one can be denied access to public services due to his or her disability; it allows those whose rights have been violated to sue states for money damages.

Unconstitutional! Violation of due process clause of 14th amendment. Allowed to state to be sued due to enforcement clause.