Necessary and Proper Clause

Question 1

What were the broad facts of McCulloch v. Maryland?

Answer 1

MD law taxes a federal bank (note: law did not tax banks chartered in MD).

Fed says that taxation is unconstitutional; McCulloch is the head of the bank in MD

Question 2

What are the main issues in McCulloch v. Maryland?

Answer 2

1. Can Congress establish a bank?

2. Can Maryland tax the bank?

Question 3

What main rule(s) are pulled from McCulloch v. Maryland?

Answer 3

• Subsidiary Powers: Government has powers beyond those expressly listed. Congress is NOT empowered to make all laws, but it IS empowered to make laws “necessary and proper” to carry its constitutionally-granted powers into execution.
• States have no power to retard / impede / burden / control the operations of constitutional laws enacted by Congress

Question 4

What is the first main holding in McCulloch v. Maryland and the reasoning behind it?

Answer 4

Congress has authority to authorize the bank –> Rational means of getting to a legitimate end

a. Looks to Constitutional language
i. 10th amendment
ii. Necessary & Proper Clause
iii. Does not read like a legal code
b. Structure of Constitution
i. NPC is located in list of enumerated powers NOT limitations
ii. Dictates of reason
iii. Established by the people, provide max benefit to the people

Question 5

What is the second main holding in McCulloch v. Maryland and the reasoning behind it?

Answer 5

Maryland cannot tax the bank –> “Power to tax is the power to destroy”

a. Supremacy clause, Art. IV  states can’t destroy entity of federal government
b. Inherent political checks against state using taxes to destroy its own constituents that don’t apply to states taxing federal structures

Question 6

What is the significance of the McCulloch holding?

Answer 6

(1) Court grants Fed. Government means (implied powers) to accomplish enumerated powers but retains the authority to impose limits (those not plainly adapted to meet the enumerated powers).
(2) Established several crucial aspects of Constitutional law
(3) Rational review of Legitimate ends

Question 7

What are the several critical aspects of con law established by McCulloch v. Maryland?

Answer 7

(1) Declared that the federal government is supreme over the states and that the states have no authority to negate federal actions;
(2) Court expansively defines the scope of Congress’s powers;
(3) Court limits the ability of the states to interfere with fed. activities

Question 8

According to McCulloch, what does a rational review of Legitimate ends entail?

Answer 8

o Court reserves power to strike down statutes beyond NPC
o “If the end is legitimate, all means which are appropriate, which are plainly adapted to that end, which are not prohibited, but consistent with the letter and spirit of the constitution, are constitutional”
o Limitations
-Plainly adapted
-Specific prohibitions of fed authority
-Presumption of state authority
-Legitimate end