Dual Sovereignty, Sovereign Immunity, Spending, and Commandeering

Question 1

Federalism

Answer 1

Idea that the nation is comprised of two sets of sovereigns: national and state.
National government is limited, as it can only exercise those powers granted to it by the Constitution.
States are governments of reserved powers, and may exercise all powers not exclusively granted to the federal government or otherwise denied to them

Question 2

Garcia v. San Antonio Metropolitan Transit Authority

Answer 2

Issue of how to distinguish traditional state government function from a nontraditional one; standard held unworkable and inconsistent with principles of federalism
Four part test that must be satisfied before a state activity is deemed immune from federal regulations before striking it down:
1. Federal statute must regulate the states as states;
2. Statute must address matters that are indisputably attributes of state sovereignty;
3. State compliance with the federal obligation must directly impair the state’s ability to structure integral operations in areas of traditional governmental functions;
4. Relation of state and federal interests must not be such that the nature of the federal interest justifies state submission to the federal statute

Question 3

Federal system as check on power of federal government

Answer 3

Federal political process preserves state interests
Fundamental limitation of the constitutional scheme imposes on the Commerce Clause to protect the states is one of process rather than result
Principle of federalism is protected through the political process, not the judicial process. Congress has the power to make judgments about the scope of any intrusion upon state sovereignty, and can protect state interests and sovereignty from federal overreach

Question 4

Printz v. U.S.

Answer 4

Congress cannot impose responsibilities on the states without their consent
Even where Congress has the authority under the Constitution to pass laws requiring or prohibiting certain acts, it cannot directly compel the states to require or prohibit those acts

Question 5

Federal government can regulate state executives in three circumstances:

Answer 5

1. voluntary request to the states
2. conditioned on a federal grant
3. regulation as market actors, just as in the private sector

Question 6

South Dakota v. Dole

Answer 6

The Constitution grants Congress the power to lay and collect taxes, pay debts, and provide for the common defense and welfare of the U.S.
Incident to this power, Congress may attach conditions on receipt of federal funds, and has repeatedly used this power to get states to comply with federal statutory and administrative directives

Question 7

Five limitations on Spending Power conditions

Answer 7

1. must be in pursuit of the general welfare (the court will defer to Congress to determine this)
2. it must be unambiguous (states need to know to what they are agreeing; otherwise commandeering)
3. must be related to a federal interest
4. there cannot be independent Constitutional barriers
5. cannot be coercive

Question 8

Test to determine whether Congress has abrogated state’s sovereign immunity:

Answer 8

1. whether Congress has unequivocally expressed intent to abrogate immunity; and
2. whether Congress has acted pursuant to valid exercise of power
   Congress cannot use its Article I powers to abrogate sovereign immunity; can only abrogate using Amendments ratified after the Eleventh Amendment (i.e., the Fourteenth Amendment)

Question 9

Seminole Tribe v. Florida

Answer 9

The Eleventh Amendment is a constitutional limitation on the subject matter jx of the federal courts, and Congress cannot expand the subject matter jx of the federal judiciary beyond the limitations in the Constitution.
Congress can abrogate state sovereign immunity through the 14th Amendment, ratified after the 11th Amendment

Question 10

Ways to get around 11th Amendment on abrogation

Answer 10

1. condition on federal spending to abrogate state sovereign immunity
2. state can voluntarily waive sovereign immunity
3. interstate compacts (Congress must approve agreements between states, and Congress can make approval conditioned on a waiver of sovereign immunity)
4. 14th Amendment (or other amendment after the 11th Amendment) powers