Legislative Power Flashcards
Article I gives Congress the power to “raise and support Armies” as well as “[t]o provide and maintain a Navy,” but doesn’t say anything about an air force. Is the United States Air Force unconstitutional?
No, because the creation of an air force is necessary and proper to either the raising and supporting of armies or the provision and maintenance of a navy
Congress concluded that, in order to achieve economies of scale, more Americans should buy electric vehicles. In order to stimulate demand, Congress passed legislation requiring that the second car purchased by a household, and each subsequent car purchased, be an electric vehicle. If the act is challenged in federal court, a reviewing judge should:
Invalidate the act, because it forces individuals to participate in a particular market.
Congress passes a law criminalizing the failure to make child support payments owed to a former spouse. A defendant challenges the law, arguing that it exceeds Congress’s legislative powers in Article I. Which of the following arguments would be least helpful to the government in defending the law?
States have generally enforced laws criminalizing the failure to make child support payments.
Congress recently passed, and the President signed, a nationwide ban on sports betting. The ban was passed under authority of Congress’s power to regulate interstate commerce. A zealous federal prosecutor in State A sought the convictions of five persons who ran an inter-office pool betting on the outcome of the annual college basketball tournament. The defendants objected that the office was a local one, servicing customers in State A, and that there was no connection to interstate commerce. The defendants were convicted and appealed their conviction. A reviewing judge should:
Uphold the convictions, because Congress could have rationally concluded that in the aggregate intrastate sports betting substantially affected interstate commerce.
Congress wishes to incentivize the purchase of automobiles that have low emissions. It realizes that in order to create a market, enough hybrids and plug-in electric cars have to be sold for manufacturers to realize economies of scale and begin to reduce the prices of the cars. Congress, therefore, passes legislation that imposes a $10,000 environmental mitigation fee on the purchase of cars powered by internal combustion engines. The legislation prohibits reducing the sales price of cars to mitigate the cost to the purchaser. The revenue from the fee is collected by the Environmental Protection Agency, which uses it to subsidize alternative energy projects. Carmakers and dealers challenge the constitutionality of the fee in federal court. Which of the following would be least useful in defending the constitutionality of the fee?
Congress’s power to regulate for the general welfare
Fearful that Americans are not saving enough for retirement and that the federal government will be required to spend more in the future to support retired workers to maintain their standard of living, Congress passes, and the President signs, an act that requires every adult to set up a 401K retirement account and fund it with no less than 15% of their monthly income until retirement or age 65, whichever comes later. A person impacted by this change in the law sues, claiming that the legislation exceeds Congress’s Article I powers. What is most likely true?
The act is unconstitutional, because it regulates an individual’s inactivity.
Federal law prohibits the use of an instrumentality of interstate commerce to threaten another person. A defendant was convicted of violating that statute by using a telephone to threaten another person. She claims that her conviction was unconstitutional because both she and the victim were located in the same state. A reviewing court should:
Sustain her conviction, because Congress may regulate instrumentalities of interstate commerce, even if employed in a single state.
Title 18, § 875(a) makes it a crime punishable by death to kidnap and murder a Supreme Court Justice. A man was convicted under this statute for the kidnapping and murder of a Supreme Court Justice that the man had labeled a “traitor” for his opinions. The man appeals his conviction, arguing that the statute under which he was convicted was unconstitutional. On appeal, a reviewing court should:
Affirm his conviction, because the criminalization of murdering a Supreme Court Justice is rationally related to the creation and protection of the Supreme Court.
Alarmed at the increase in obesity rates among school-age children nationwide, Congress wants states to do more to combat childhood obesity and increase physical fitness. Which of the following may Congress not do in its attempts to address the problem?
Pass a law requiring states to mandate two and a half hours of physical activity a week at school for children in grades K-6.
Assume that the Supreme Court holds that content-based regulations of speech are no longer subject to strict scrutiny, but rather are subject to a “proportionality test” that weighs the degree of infringement on First Amendment rights against the demonstrated need for regulation of the speech in question, including the harm allegedly caused by the speech. In response, Congress passes a law permitting anyone whose speech is regulated on the basis of content to sue, restoring by statute the old strict scrutiny test. The law applies to federal and state laws. In part, Congress relies on its power to enforce the provisions of the Fourteenth Amendment. When the State of A passes a comprehensive bill regulating “hate speech” that denigrates people on the basis of race, religion, sexual orientation, or alienage and attempts to prosecute one of its citizens under its new law, the defendant invokes the federal law. A reviewing judge should rule for:
The State of A, because the law is not a valid exercise of Congress’s power to enforce the Fourteenth Amendment.
Congress enacts a block grant program that makes $4 billion of additional federal funds available to states that demonstrate a commitment to repairing their infrastructure. In order to apply for the grants, the statute explicitly requires a state to show that they have brought 70% of the bridges within their state up to federal safety standards established by the U.S. Department of Transportation. A Governor challenges the constitutionality of the grant program. A reviewing judge is most likely to declare the grant program:
Constitutional, because it is a permissible use of Congress’ spending power.
B
Congress passes a law under its commerce power giving Native American tribes the authority to open casinos on reservation land. It provides incentives for states to enter into compacts with the tribes to ensure adequate regulation and collection of certain taxes that would be paid to the states in which reservation casinos are located. Should states decline to negotiate with the tribes, the legislation contains a provision abrogating state sovereign immunity and enabling tribes to sue the states directly. The State of A is sued by a Native American tribe wishing to negotiate a compact to open a casino on reservation land located in the state. What statement about the federal legislation is true?
The legislation is unconstitutional, because Congress has no power under the Commerce Clause to abrogate state sovereign immunity.
Congress recently passed a law prohibiting any public or private employer in or affecting interstate commerce from requiring, as a condition of employment, that applicants disclose their social media passwords so that their accounts could be analyzed for inappropriate content. State A sued, claiming that the federal law could not constitutionally be applied to states. Which of the following statements is likely true?
The law is constitutional, because state officials must comply with a valid federal law.
Congress wishes to incentivize the purchase of automobiles that have low emissions. It realizes that in order to create a market, enough hybrids and plug-in electric cars have to be sold for manufacturers to realize economies of scale and begin to reduce the prices of the cars. Congress, therefore, passes legislation that imposes a $10,000 environmental mitigation fee on the purchase of cars powered by internal combustion engines. The legislation prohibits reducing the sales price of cars to mitigate the cost to the purchaser. The revenue from the fee is collected by the Environmental Protection Agency, which uses it to subsidize alternative energy projects. Carmakers and dealers challenge the constitutionality of the fee in federal court. Which of the following would be least useful in defending the constitutionality of the fee?
Congress’s power to regulate for the general welfare
B
Congress wishes to incentivize the purchase of automobiles that have low emissions. It realizes that in order to create a market, enough hybrids and plug-in electric cars have to be sold for manufacturers to realize economies of scale and begin to reduce the prices of the cars. Congress, therefore, passes legislation that imposes a $10,000 environmental mitigation fee on the purchase of cars powered by internal combustion engines. The legislation prohibits reducing the sales price of cars to mitigate the cost to the purchaser. The revenue from the fee is collected by the Environmental Protection Agency, which uses it to subsidize alternative energy projects. Carmakers and dealers challenge the constitutionality of the fee in federal court.
For purposes of this question, assume that the government defends the fee as a valid exercise of the Taxing Power. What would be most helpful to the challengers?
The involvement of the EPA in the collection of the tax
