Separation of Powers

Question 1

What is Jackson’s Three-part test for separation of powers?

Answer 1

1. President is acting in compliance with Fed. statute
2. Zone of twilight- President acting where Congress is silent
3. President acting in violation of authorization or statute

Question 2

Can the president violate a Congressional act and still be acting constitutionally?

Answer 2

-Yes, only if the Congressional act is unconstitutional

Question 3

Youngstown Sheet and Tube Co. v. Sawyer

Answer 3

-President taking control of steel mills case
-Formalist v. functionalist approach
-Formalist is to ask first the action is legislative, judicial, or executive, then if undertaken by the proper branch properly
Functionalist is whether the action risks the danger of excessive concentration of power that separation of power seeks to prevent

Question 4

Ex Parte Milligan

Answer 4

• Man arrested in his home during Civil War
• Category 2
• Claim that he was entitled to civilian trial because he was arrested in his home in the US
• President action to suspend habeas corpus wasn’t constitutional because courts are always open to criminal cases

Question 5

Ex Parte Quirin

Answer 5

• German citizens arrested in US
• Claim that they were entitled to civilian trial because they were captured in the US and not a theater of war
• Court holds that because they are enemy combatants they are not entitled to a civilian trial

Question 6

Johnson v. Eisentrainger

Answer 6

• US citizens arrested in China and brought to Germant
• No right to file writ of habeas corpus because not citizens, etc. and they have recourse in German law
• Bush administration relied on this case for Guantanamo Bay because not US soil

Question 7

Rasul v. Bush

Answer 7

• The detainees do have a statutory right to habeas corpus

- Distinguished from Eisentrainger because there is no recourse from the Cuban Government available

Question 8

Hamdi v. Rumsfeld

Answer 8

• Hamdi can be held in military custody
• If he couldn’t, he would get a civilian trial
• Procedurally allowed a hearing with evidence with burden of proof on him, heresay allowed

Question 9

Boumediene v. Bush

Answer 9

• Court held they had a constitutional right to habeas corpus
• Distinguished from Eisentrainger because the nature of the site (recourse) and they had a trial
• Three factors:
• -Citizenship
• -Nature of cite of detention
• -Practical obsticles

Question 10

Schechter Poultry

Answer 10

• Non-deligation doctrine (no longer the law)

- Congress can’t delegate essential legislative duties

Question 11

Touby v. US

Answer 11

-Congress can delegate as long as there is an “intelligible principle”

Question 12

INS v. Chada

Answer 12

• One house veto rule case
• Court uses formalist approach
• Unconstitutional because it is a legislative action undertaken by the legislature, but done improperly

Question 13

Clinton v. NY

Answer 13

• Line item veto act case

- Unconstitutional because it is a legislative action undertaken by the executive

Question 14

US v. Nixon

Answer 14

• Watergate tapes case, immunity
• Nixon claims he has immunity from divulging materials and it is a political question
• Court grants qualified immunity to any material that is communication between the president and aids, but if the special prosecutor can prove info is relevant to a pending criminal case, it is not immune

Question 15

Nixon v. Fitzgerald

Answer 15

-Court dismissed because there is absolute immunity against civil claims for acts that occurred in official capacity

Question 16

Clinton v. Jones

Answer 16

• Sexual assault claim

- Court dismissed because it happened before he was elected and was not an “official action”

Question 17

What is impeachment?

Answer 17

-A political question