https://teddyrookbook.com/american-history/constitutional-law-1/Recent content in Constitutional Law I: Structure on Teddy Rook Bookhttps://teddyrookbook.com/img/share.jpghttps://teddyrookbook.com/img/share.jpgHugoenhttps://teddyrookbook.com/american-history/constitutional-law-1/modalities/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/american-history/constitutional-law-1/modalities/Constitutional arguments draw on text, history (original understanding), structure (relations among institutions), precedent (doctrine), consequences (prudence) and national values (ethos); Philip Bobbitt called these the modalities of constitutional argument. Constitutional Law I: Structure · American History & Civics Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/american-history/constitutional-law-1/originalism/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/american-history/constitutional-law-1/originalism/Originalists hold that the Constitution's meaning was fixed when each provision was adopted, today usually as its original public meaning; advocates say this keeps judges bound by law rather than preference and leaves change to the amendment process. Constitutional Law I: Structure · American History & Civics Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/american-history/constitutional-law-1/living-constitutionalism/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/american-history/constitutional-law-1/living-constitutionalism/Living constitutionalists hold that the Constitution's broad principles are applied to new conditions over time, often through precedent built case by case; advocates say this is how the common law and the Constitution have in fact developed and keeps it workable. Constitutional Law I: Structure · American History & Civics Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/american-history/constitutional-law-1/constitutional-precedent/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/american-history/constitutional-law-1/constitutional-precedent/Stare decisis is weaker in constitutional cases because only an amendment or the Court can correct an error; the Court weighs the quality of the reasoning, workability, consistency with related decisions, changed facts and reliance before overruling. Constitutional Law I: Structure · American History & Civics Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/american-history/constitutional-law-1/marbury/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/american-history/constitutional-law-1/marbury/In Marbury v. Madison (1803) Chief Justice Marshall held that Marbury had a right to his commission and a legal remedy, but that the Court could not issue a writ of mandamus in its original jurisdiction because that part of the Judiciary Act of 1789 was unconstitutional; courts must not enforce laws contrary to the Constitution. Constitutional Law I: Structure · American History & Civics Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/american-history/constitutional-law-1/review-of-states/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/american-history/constitutional-law-1/review-of-states/Martin v. Hunter's Lessee (1816) upheld Supreme Court review of state court rulings on federal law; Cooper v. Aaron (1958), unanimous, held that state officials are bound by the Court's interpretation of the Constitution in Brown. Constitutional Law I: Structure · American History & Civics Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/american-history/constitutional-law-1/jurisdiction-stripping/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/american-history/constitutional-law-1/jurisdiction-stripping/Article III lets Congress make "Exceptions" to the Supreme Court's appellate jurisdiction and create (or not create) lower courts; in Ex parte McCardle (1869) the Court accepted Congress's repeal of its jurisdiction over a pending appeal; how far this power goes is debated. Constitutional Law I: Structure · American History & Civics Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/american-history/constitutional-law-1/constitutional-standing/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/american-history/constitutional-law-1/constitutional-standing/Standing applies to constitutional claims too: taxpayers generally lack standing to challenge federal spending (Frothingham, 1923), with a narrow Establishment Clause exception (Flast v. Cohen, 1968) that Hein (2007) limited to congressional appropriations. Constitutional Law I: Structure · American History & Civics Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/american-history/constitutional-law-1/political-questions-conlaw/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/american-history/constitutional-law-1/political-questions-conlaw/Baker v. Carr (1962) held malapportionment claims justiciable and listed six markers of a political question; Nixon v. United States (1993) left Senate impeachment trial procedures to the Senate; Rucho v. Common Cause (2019) held partisan gerrymandering claims beyond federal courts. Constitutional Law I: Structure · American History & Civics Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/american-history/constitutional-law-1/enumerated-powers/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/american-history/constitutional-law-1/enumerated-powers/Congress has only the powers the Constitution grants; most are in Article I, Section 8, and others in amendments' enforcement clauses; the Tenth Amendment confirms that other powers are reserved to the states or the people, and there is no general federal police power. Constitutional Law I: Structure · American History & Civics Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/american-history/constitutional-law-1/mcculloch/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/american-history/constitutional-law-1/mcculloch/In McCulloch v. Maryland (1819) the Court unanimously upheld the Second Bank of the United States as a means "plainly adapted" to Congress's enumerated ends and held that Maryland could not tax it, since "the power to tax involves the power to destroy." Constitutional Law I: Structure · American History & Civics Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/american-history/constitutional-law-1/necessary-proper-today/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/american-history/constitutional-law-1/necessary-proper-today/United States v. Comstock (2010) upheld civil commitment of dangerous federal prisoners as a rational means connected to enumerated powers; in NFIB v. Sebelius (2012) Chief Justice Roberts wrote that the individual mandate was not a "proper" means under the clause. Constitutional Law I: Structure · American History & Civics Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/american-history/constitutional-law-1/gibbons/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/american-history/constitutional-law-1/gibbons/In Gibbons v. Ogden (1824) Marshall read "commerce" to include navigation and all commercial intercourse, and "among the several States" to reach commerce that concerns more states than one, so a federal coasting license overrode New York's steamboat monopoly. Constitutional Law I: Structure · American History & Civics Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/american-history/constitutional-law-1/commerce-narrow-era/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/american-history/constitutional-law-1/commerce-narrow-era/The Court separated manufacturing from commerce (United States v. E. C. Knight, 1895), struck down a federal ban on goods made by child labor (Hammer v. Dagenhart, 1918) and struck down New Deal codes and coal regulation (Schechter Poultry, 1935; Carter Coal, 1936), using a direct-indirect effects test. Constitutional Law I: Structure · American History & Civics Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/american-history/constitutional-law-1/commerce-1937/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/american-history/constitutional-law-1/commerce-1937/NLRB v. Jones & Laughlin Steel (1937) upheld the Wagner Act's reach to a steel company whose labor disputes affected interstate commerce; United States v. Darby (1941) upheld federal wage and hour rules and overruled Hammer v. Dagenhart. Constitutional Law I: Structure · American History & Civics Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/american-history/constitutional-law-1/wickard/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/american-history/constitutional-law-1/wickard/In Wickard v. Filburn (1942) the Court upheld limits on wheat a farmer grew for use on his own farm, because the total (aggregate) effect of many farmers doing the same would substantially affect interstate commerce. Constitutional Law I: Structure · American History & Civics Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/american-history/constitutional-law-1/civil-rights-commerce/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/american-history/constitutional-law-1/civil-rights-commerce/Heart of Atlanta Motel v. United States and Katzenbach v. McClung (both 1964) upheld the Civil Rights Act of 1964's ban on discrimination in public accommodations as regulation of interstate commerce, through interstate travelers and food shipped across state lines. Constitutional Law I: Structure · American History & Civics Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/american-history/constitutional-law-1/lopez/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/american-history/constitutional-law-1/lopez/In United States v. Lopez (1995), 5 to 4, the Court struck down the Gun-Free School Zones Act and named three categories Congress may regulate: the channels of interstate commerce, its instrumentalities and persons or things in it, and activities that substantially affect it; possessing a gun near a school was not economic activity. Constitutional Law I: Structure · American History & Civics Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/american-history/constitutional-law-1/morrison/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/american-history/constitutional-law-1/morrison/In United States v. Morrison (2000), 5 to 4, the Court struck down the civil remedy in the Violence Against Women Act, holding that gender-motivated violence is not economic activity and that its effects could not be aggregated, and that Section 5 of the Fourteenth Amendment does not reach private conduct. Constitutional Law I: Structure · American History & Civics Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/american-history/constitutional-law-1/raich/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/american-history/constitutional-law-1/raich/In Gonzales v. Raich (2005), 6 to 3, the Court upheld applying the federal Controlled Substances Act to marijuana grown at home for medical use under California law, relying on Wickard because the activity was part of a broader economic market Congress could regulate. Constitutional Law I: Structure · American History & Civics Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/american-history/constitutional-law-1/nfib-commerce/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/american-history/constitutional-law-1/nfib-commerce/In NFIB v. Sebelius (2012) five justices concluded the Commerce Clause did not support the Affordable Care Act's individual mandate, because it compelled people to enter commerce rather than regulating existing activity; the mandate was upheld as a tax. Constitutional Law I: Structure · American History & Civics Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/american-history/constitutional-law-1/taxing-power/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/american-history/constitutional-law-1/taxing-power/Congress may tax to raise revenue even if the tax also discourages conduct, but a "tax" that is really a penalty may fail (Bailey v. Drexel Furniture, 1922); NFIB (2012) upheld the mandate's payment as a tax because it was modest, not tied to willfulness and collected by the IRS. Constitutional Law I: Structure · American History & Civics Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/american-history/constitutional-law-1/spending-power/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/american-history/constitutional-law-1/spending-power/Congress may spend for the general welfare, a power not limited to the other enumerated subjects (United States v. Butler, 1936, adopting Hamilton's view over Madison's); Helvering v. Davis (1937) upheld Social Security's old-age benefits. Constitutional Law I: Structure · American History & Civics Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/american-history/constitutional-law-1/conditional-spending/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/american-history/constitutional-law-1/conditional-spending/South Dakota v. Dole (1987) upheld withholding 5 percent of highway funds from states with a drinking age under 21, requiring conditions to be for the general welfare, unambiguous, related to the program and not otherwise unconstitutional, and not coercive; NFIB (2012) held the Medicaid expansion's threat to all existing Medicaid funds coercive. Constitutional Law I: Structure · American History & Civics Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/american-history/constitutional-law-1/anti-commandeering/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/american-history/constitutional-law-1/anti-commandeering/Congress may not compel state legislatures to enact federal programs (New York v. United States, 1992) or order state officers to carry them out (Printz v. United States, 1997), and may not order states to keep their own laws on the books (Murphy v. NCAA, 2018). Constitutional Law I: Structure · American History & Civics Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/american-history/constitutional-law-1/tenth-amendment-limits/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/american-history/constitutional-law-1/tenth-amendment-limits/National League of Cities v. Usery (1976) barred federal wage rules for state employees in "traditional governmental functions"; Garcia v. San Antonio Metropolitan Transit Authority (1985) overruled it, leaving states' protection mostly to the political process. Constitutional Law I: Structure · American History & Civics Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/american-history/constitutional-law-1/sovereign-immunity/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/american-history/constitutional-law-1/sovereign-immunity/Chisholm v. Georgia (1793) let a citizen of another state sue Georgia, and the Eleventh Amendment (1795) reversed it; Hans v. Louisiana (1890) barred suits by a state's own citizens; Seminole Tribe (1996) held Congress cannot abrogate immunity under Article I; Ex parte Young (1908) allows suits against state officers for injunctions. Constitutional Law I: Structure · American History & Civics Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/american-history/constitutional-law-1/section-5-power/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/american-history/constitutional-law-1/section-5-power/Congress may enforce the Fourteenth Amendment by "appropriate legislation"; City of Boerne v. Flores (1997) requires "congruence and proportionality" between the injury and the remedy; Shelby County v. Holder (2013) struck down the Voting Rights Act's coverage formula as based on old data. Constitutional Law I: Structure · American History & Civics Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/american-history/constitutional-law-1/preemption/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/american-history/constitutional-law-1/preemption/Valid federal law preempts state law expressly (by its terms) or impliedly, when federal law occupies a field or conflicts with state law (it is impossible to obey both, or state law obstructs federal purposes); there is a presumption against preempting traditional state powers. Constitutional Law I: Structure · American History & Civics Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/american-history/constitutional-law-1/dormant-discrimination/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/american-history/constitutional-law-1/dormant-discrimination/The Court reads the Commerce Clause to limit states even when Congress is silent: a state law that discriminates against out-of-state commerce is virtually per se invalid unless no other means can serve a legitimate local purpose (City of Philadelphia v. New Jersey, 1978; Maine v. Taylor, 1986). Constitutional Law I: Structure · American History & Civics Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/american-history/constitutional-law-1/pike-balancing/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/american-history/constitutional-law-1/pike-balancing/A nondiscriminatory state law is upheld unless the burden on interstate commerce is "clearly excessive in relation to the putative local benefits" (Pike v. Bruce Church, 1970); Kassel v. Consolidated Freightways (1981) struck down Iowa's ban on long double-trailer trucks because its slight safety gain did not justify a heavy burden. Constitutional Law I: Structure · American History & Civics Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/american-history/constitutional-law-1/market-participant/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/american-history/constitutional-law-1/market-participant/When a state acts as a buyer or seller rather than a regulator, it may prefer its own residents (Reeves, Inc. v. Stake, 1980); United Haulers (2007) also upheld laws favoring a public waste facility over private ones. Constitutional Law I: Structure · American History & Civics Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/american-history/constitutional-law-1/privileges-immunities-iv/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/american-history/constitutional-law-1/privileges-immunities-iv/Article IV's Privileges and Immunities Clause bars states from discriminating against citizens of other states in fundamental matters such as earning a living, unless there is a substantial reason and a close relation to it (Toomer v. Witsell, 1948; Supreme Court of New Hampshire v. Piper, 1985). Constitutional Law I: Structure · American History & Civics Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/american-history/constitutional-law-1/youngstown/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/american-history/constitutional-law-1/youngstown/In Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer (1952), 6 to 3, the Court held that President Truman lacked power to seize the steel mills; Justice Jackson's concurrence set out three zones: presidential power is greatest with Congress's authorization, uncertain in a "zone of twilight" when Congress is silent, and "at its lowest ebb" against Congress's will. Constitutional Law I: Structure · American History & Civics Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/american-history/constitutional-law-1/nondelegation/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/american-history/constitutional-law-1/nondelegation/Congress may delegate authority to agencies if it lays down an "intelligible principle" (J. W. Hampton, 1928); the Court has struck down delegations to the government only twice (both in 1935); under the major questions doctrine (rooted in FDA v. Brown & Williamson, 2000) agencies need clear authorization for decisions of vast economic and political significance. Constitutional Law I: Structure · American History & Civics Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/american-history/constitutional-law-1/legislative-veto/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/american-history/constitutional-law-1/legislative-veto/INS v. Chadha (1983) struck down the one-house legislative veto because lawmaking requires passage by both houses and presentment to the President; Clinton v. City of New York (1998) struck down the Line Item Veto Act for letting the President cancel parts of signed laws. Constitutional Law I: Structure · American History & Civics Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/american-history/constitutional-law-1/appointments/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/american-history/constitutional-law-1/appointments/Principal officers are appointed by the President with Senate consent; Congress may vest the appointment of inferior officers in the President, courts or department heads (Edmond, 1997; Lucia v. SEC, 2018); recess appointments require a recess of at least ten days, presumptively (NLRB v. Noel Canning, 2014). Constitutional Law I: Structure · American History & Civics Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/american-history/constitutional-law-1/removal-power/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/american-history/constitutional-law-1/removal-power/Myers (1926) upheld the President's power to remove executive officers; Humphrey's Executor (1935) allowed limits for multi-member commissions; Morrison v. Olson (1988) upheld the independent counsel; and Seila Law (2020) struck down limits for a single agency director; the Court overruled Humphrey's Executor in 2026. Constitutional Law I: Structure · American History & Civics Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/american-history/constitutional-law-1/foreign-affairs/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/american-history/constitutional-law-1/foreign-affairs/United States v. Curtiss-Wright (1936) described broad presidential power in foreign affairs; Dames & Moore v. Regan (1981) upheld executive agreements settling the Iran hostage claims; Zivotofsky v. Kerry (2015) held the power to recognize foreign governments belongs to the President alone. Constitutional Law I: Structure · American History & Civics Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/american-history/constitutional-law-1/war-detention/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/american-history/constitutional-law-1/war-detention/The Prize Cases (1863) upheld Lincoln's blockade before Congress acted; after 2001, Hamdi v. Rumsfeld (2004) required due process for a citizen held as an enemy combatant, Hamdan v. Rumsfeld (2006) held military commissions unauthorized, and Boumediene v. Bush (2008) extended habeas corpus to detainees at Guantanamo Bay. Constitutional Law I: Structure · American History & Civics Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/american-history/constitutional-law-1/privilege-immunity/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/american-history/constitutional-law-1/privilege-immunity/United States v. Nixon (1974) recognized a qualified executive privilege that yields to a criminal trial's need for evidence; Nixon v. Fitzgerald (1982) gave absolute civil immunity for official acts; and Clinton v. Jones (1997) allowed a civil suit about unofficial acts. Constitutional Law I: Structure · American History & Civics Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/american-history/constitutional-law-1/rational-basis/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/american-history/constitutional-law-1/rational-basis/Most laws get rational basis review: a law is upheld if it is rationally related to a legitimate government interest, and the challenger must negate every conceivable basis (Williamson v. Lee Optical, 1955); Carolene Products (1938) and its footnote four suggested closer review for some laws. Constitutional Law I: Structure · American History & Civics Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/american-history/constitutional-law-1/heightened-scrutiny/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/american-history/constitutional-law-1/heightened-scrutiny/Intermediate scrutiny requires an important government interest and means substantially related to it; strict scrutiny requires a compelling interest and means narrowly tailored (often, the least restrictive means), with the burden on the government. Constitutional Law I: Structure · American History & Civics Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/american-history/constitutional-law-1/choosing-the-tier/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/american-history/constitutional-law-1/choosing-the-tier/The tier depends on what the law classifies or burdens: race, national origin and fundamental rights trigger strict scrutiny; sex and legitimacy intermediate; most economic and social laws rational basis; some areas use other tests instead, such as the Mathews balance for procedural due process. Constitutional Law I: Structure · American History & Civics Ladder