PART FOUR: INDIVIDUAL GUARANTEES AGAINST GOVERNMENTAL OR PRIVATE ACTION: LIMITATIONS ON POWER AND STATE ACTION REQUIREMENT Flashcards
1
Q
CONSTITUTIONAL RESTRICTIONS ON POWER OVER INDIVIDUALS
A
- Individuals rights restrict gov power (ex. right to speak freely).
- Some rights/restrictions are applicable only to fed gov, some only to state & local govs, & some to all gov bodies.
- A few apply to private action.
- Congress has power to adopt laws to protect individual rights.
- Note: Constit sets min level of protection for individuals.
- States can grant broader protections than those in Constit.
2
Q
Bill of Rights
A
- Bill of Rights: most important source of limits on fed gov’s power.
- Not applicable to states, although most of its safeguards have been applicable to states through 14th Amend DPC
3
Q
Rights Applicable to States
A
- Only those safeguards in the BORs that are “essential to liberty” are applicable to states through 14th Amend.
- Included:
(1) all 1st Amend guarantees (speech, press, assembly, right to petition, free exercise, & nonestablishment of religion);
(2) 2nd Amend right to bear arms;
(3) 4th Amend (unreasonable search & seizure);
(4) some elements of 5th Amend (privilege against self-incrimination; compensation for taking of private property for public use);
(5) 6th Amend (speedy & public trial by impartial jury, notice & right of confrontation, compulsory process, & right to legal counsel in all serious criminal proceedings);
(6) 8th Amend (cruel & unusual punishment, excessive bail, & excessive fine provisions).
4
Q
Rights Not Applicable to States
A
- 3 provisions of BORs that are included not in DPC
1) 3rd Amend prohibition against quartering troops in a person’s home;
2) 5th Amend right to a grand jury indictment in criminal cases; and
3) 7th Amend right to a jury trial in civil cases. - Amendment, limits fed gov’s power over states, & so is inapplicable to the states.
5
Q
Thirteenth Amendment
A
-Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude shall exist in US
6
Q
No Requirement of State Action
A
- Applicable even to private action.
7
Q
Involuntary Servitude
A
- Involuntary servitude is forcing someone to perform work—whether compensated/not—through use/threatened use of physical injury/restraint (imprisonment), or through use/ threat of legal sanction
- Psychological & other forms of coercion alone are generally inadequate to show involuntary servitude.
- 13th Amend does not prohibit all forms of labor that one person is compelled to perform for benefit of another:
- It does not apply to compulsory military service, civic obligations such as jury duty, convicted prisoners who must perform work as part of their criminal sentence, or even recipients of medical scholarships who are required to work pro bono.
- However, cts are reluctant to order specific performance of a personal service K b/c order would amount to involuntary servitude.
8
Q
Congressional Power
A
- Enabling clause of 13th Amend gives Congress power to adopt appropriate legislation forbidding almost any private racially discriminatory act that can be characterized as a “badge or incident of slavery.”
9
Q
Fourteenth Amendment
A
- 14th Amend prohibits states (not fed gov/private persons) from depriving any person of life, liberty, or property w/o due process & equal protection of the law.
- This amend is a most important source of limits on states’ power over individuals, b/c, through DPC, most of the protections of BORs are applicable to states.
- Note: The meaning of due process & equal protection will be discussed later in this outline.
10
Q
Requirement of State Action
A
-14th Amend applies only if there is action by a state/ local gov, gov officer, or private individual whose behavior meets requirements for state action
11
Q
Scope of Congressional Power
A
- 14th Amend enabling clause: gives Congress power to adopt laws to enforce 14th Amend rights
- Under Sect 5, Congress may not expand existing constitutional rights/create new ones
- It may only enact laws to prevent/remedy violations of rights already recognized by cts.
- To adopt a valid law, Congress must point to a history/pattern of state violation of such rights & adopt legislation that is narrowly tailored to solving identified violation.
- Note: If Congress is dealing w/ discrimination that SC reviews using heightened scrutiny (race, national origin, or gender), Congress will have more power to act.
12
Q
Fifteenth Amendment
A
- 15th Amend is a limit on both states & fed gov.
- It prohibits them from denying any citizen right to vote b/c of race/color.
- 15th Amend enabling clause: allows Congress to adopt laws protecting right to vote from discrimination.
13
Q
Limitations
A
- 15th Amend legislation can be limited by other constitutional principles.
- Ex. SC found that 10th Amend & principles of equal sovereignty among states require Congress to have extraordinary justification to adopt legislation requiring some, but not all, states to obtain fed approval b/f changing any voting law.
14
Q
Commerce Clause
A
- Congress can use Commerce Clause to limit power of individuals over other individuals—by adopting legislation barring private racial discrimination in activities “connected with” interstate commerce.
- Affectation doctrine: almost any activity can be said to be connected w/ interstate commerce.
15
Q
Civil Rights Act
A
Provisions of CRA of 1964 barring discrimination in places of public accommodation are proper & valid exercises of commerce power
