Con Law Doctrines

Article III Section 1

The judicial Power of the United States, shall be vested in one supreme Court, and in such inferior Courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish. The Judges, both of the supreme and inferior Courts, shall hold their Offices during good Behaviour, and shall, at stated Times, receive for their Services, a Compensation, which shall not be diminished during their Continuance in Office."

Article III Section 2

"The judicial Power shall extend to all Cases, in Law and Equity, arising under this Constitution, the Laws of the United States, and Treaties made, or which shall be made, under their Authority;—to all Cases affecting Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls;—to all Cases of admiralty and maritime Jurisdiction;—to Controversies to which the United States shall be a Party;—to Controversies between two or more States;—[between a State and Citizens of another State;]*—between Citizens of different States;—between Citizens of the same State claiming Lands under Grants of different States, and between a State, or the Citizens thereof, and foreign States, Citizens or Subjects.

In all Cases affecting Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, and those in which a State shall be Party, the supreme Court shall have original Jurisdiction. In all the other Cases before mentioned, the supreme Court shall have appellate Jurisdiction, both as to Law and Fact, with such Exceptions, and under such Regulations as the Congress shall make.

The Trial of all Crimes, except in Cases of Impeachment, shall be by Jury; and such Trial shall be held in the State where the said Crimes shall have been committed; but when not committed within any State, the Trial shall be at such Place or Places as the Congress may by Law have directed."

Article 1 Section 8 Clause 1

The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States; but all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States

Article 1 Section 8 Clause 3

"[The Congress shall have Power] To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes;"

Article 1 Section 8 Clause 18

"[The Congress shall have Power] To make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers, and all other Powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of the United States, or in any Department or Officer thereof.

Article 4 Section 2

"The Citizens of each State shall be entitled to all Privileges and Immunities of Citizens in the several States.

A Person charged in any State with Treason, Felony, or other Crime, who shall flee from Justice, and be found in another State, shall on Demand of the executive Authority of the State from which he fled, be delivered up, to be removed to the State having Jurisdiction of the Crime.

[No Person held to Service or Labour in one State, under the Laws thereof, escaping into another, shall, in Consequence of any Law or Regulation therein, be discharged from such Service or Labour, but shall be delivered up on Claim of the Party to whom such Service or Labour may be due.]"*

Article 6 Section 2 (Supremacy Clause)

"This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in Pursuance thereof; and all Treaties made, or which shall be made, under the Authority of the United States, shall be the supreme Law of the Land; and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, any Thing in the Constitution or Laws of any State to the Contrary notwithstanding."

Article 2 Section 1

The executive Power shall be vested in a President of the United States of America. He shall hold his Office during the Term of four Years, and, together with the Vice President, chosen for the same Term, be elected, as follows:

Each State shall appoint, in such Manner as the Legislature thereof may direct, a Number of Electors, equal to the whole Number of Senators and Representatives to which the State may be entitled in the Congress: but no Senator or Representative, or Person holding an Office of Trust or Profit under the United States, shall be appointed an Elector.

[The Electors shall meet in their respective States, and vote by Ballot for two Persons...]*

The Congress may determine the Time of choosing the Electors, and the Day on which they shall give their Votes; which Day shall be the same throughout the United States.

No Person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President; neither shall any Person be eligible to that Office who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty five Years, and been fourteen Years a Resident within the United States.

In Case of the Removal of the President from Office, or of his Death, Resignation, or Inability to discharge the Powers and Duties of the said Office, the Same shall devolve on the Vice President...**

The President shall, at stated Times, receive for his Services, a Compensation, which shall neither be encreased nor diminished during the Period for which he shall have been elected, and he shall not receive within that Period any other Emolument from the United States, or any of them.

Before he enter on the Execution of his Office, he shall take the following Oath or Affirmation:—"I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.""

Article 2 Section 2

The President shall be Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the Militia of the several States, when called into the actual Service of the United States; he may require the Opinion, in writing, of the principal Officer in each of the executive Departments, upon any Subject relating to the Duties of their respective Offices, and he shall have Power to grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offences against the United States, except in Cases of Impeachment.

He shall have Power, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, to make Treaties, provided two thirds of the Senators present concur; and he shall nominate, and by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, shall appoint Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, Judges of the supreme Court, and all other Officers of the United States, whose Appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be established by Law: but the Congress may by Law vest the Appointment of such inferior Officers, as they think proper, in the President alone, in the Courts of Law, or in the Heads of Departments.

The President shall have Power to fill up all Vacancies that may happen during the Recess of the Senate, by granting Commissions which shall expire at the End of their next Session."

Tiers of Presidential Power (Youngstown)

• 
  

1. President acts with Congress's approval = Power at its maximum.

2. President acts when Congress is silent = Zone of Twilight (concurrent power).

3. President acts against Congress's explicit will = Power at its lowest ebb (must rely strictly on constitutional text).

14th Amendment Section 1

All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

5th Amendment

No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.

Footnote 4 (Carolene Products)

• The Rule: Ordinary laws get "Rational Basis" (courts defer to politicians), but three exceptions trigger "Strict Scrutiny" (courts aggressively strike laws down).

• The 3 Exceptions:

  1. Rights: Laws violating specific text (like the Bill of Rights).

  2. Voting: Laws rigging or blocking the democratic process.

  3. Minorities: Laws targeting "discrete and insular minorities" who can't protect themselves at the ballot box.

1st Amendment

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

SPERMIAS (Justiciability)

Standing

Political Question

Eleventh Amendment

Ripeness

Mootness

Independent State Law

Advisory Opinions

Statutory Restrictions

Independent State Law (Justiciability)

Not justiciable by Federal Court

Statutory Restrictions (Justiciability)

• Where are they? Not in Article III. Article III gives permission; Congress writes the actual restrictions as regular laws (statutes).

• What do they do? They let Congress shrink the federal courts' power by adding extra legal hurdles on top of the Constitution.

• The 3 Key Examples to Memorize:

  1. Jurisdiction Stripping: Banning courts from hearing certain topics (e.g., stripping review over immigration or veteran benefits).

  2. Statutory Standing: Writing a law that explicitly limits who is allowed to sue.

  3. Statutes of Limitations: Setting explicit deadlines to bar old lawsuits.

• The Golden Rule: Congress can use statutes to limit justiciability, but it can never expand it past the Article III "Case or Controversy" requirement.

Advisory Opinions (Justiciability)

• What it is: A court giving its legal advice or ruling on a law outside of an active, live lawsuit.

• The Federal Rule: Strictly Prohibited. Under Article III's "Case or Controversy" clause, federal courts can only rule on real disputes with real injuries.

• 
  

Standing (justiciability)

need to show 1. An injury in fact 2. Causation 3. Redressability [can the court issue a remedy, redress your injury]

Ripeness (Justiciability)

timing, when is it appropriate to bring your lawsuit, is it too premature? Has it not ripened into a real case yet

Mootness (Justiciability)

(it’s over) Exceptions to mootness: (1. class action suits if anyone in the class still has a valid suit 2. Voluntary cessation 3. Capable of repetition yet evading review [a lawsuit that could happen over and over and not be reviewed. The period of gestation is much shorter than the timeframe of litigation, in the abortion example.]

Political Questions (Justiciability)

• What it is: A rule where federal courts refuse to rule on a case because the issue belongs to Congress or the President, not judges.

• The Baker v. Carr Standard: A case is a political question if:

  1. The Constitution textually hands the power directly to the legislative or executive branch.

  2. There are no manageable legal rules for a judge to solve it cleanly.

• Key Examples to Memorize: Impeachment rules, foreign policy maneuvers, and partisan gerrymandering.

• The Core Outcome: The court dismisses the case without deciding who is right or wrong, leaving the issue to the voters and politicians.

Eleventh Amendment

states are immune from being sued in federal court, but officers in states like the secretary of state, attorney general etc. can be!

Market Participant Exception to Commerce Clause

In this scenario, the state is not a regulator of commerce. They are acting in the market as any other company would in the marketplace. 

Example: SUNY schools run by the State. They can discriminate by offering lower tuition to in-state students. But NY State could not tell private colleges to offer  lower tuition to lower states. 

Police Power

broad, unenumerated power that you can pass any law to promote health ,safety, welfare, etc. States have police power. Congress does not. Congress can only pass laws related to some enumerated power in the consituition.

Constituitonal challenges to a law:

1.      On its face (void for vagueness etc)

2.      As it is applied

Commerce Clause Subject Matters:

1.      All instrumentalities in interstate commerce (trains, buses, trucks, planes, boats, wires) BUT NOT CARS (too personal, small scale, not commercial).

2.      The channels of commerce (rivers, railroads, highways, pipelines, people)

3.      Effect of the subject matter on interstate commerce. IE, the effect of barring employees from unionizing etc on interstate commerce. IE, the effect of racial discrimination as in Atlanta Motel case.

Anti-Commandeering Doctrine

Congress cannot commandeer/force the states to do what congress wants to do. They can give states incentives, but they cannot commandeer.

Dormant Commerce clause

in the absence of federal regulation on a particular issue, the states have the power.

Analysis/Balancing Test:

1.      What is the regulation

2.      Is there a federal regulation on point

3.      Is it discriminatory (favoring one or more states over one or others)?

4.      What is the state interest and to what degree?

5.      What is the burden (heavy or light) on interstate commerce?

RATIONAL BASIS TEST

the end has to be legitimate and the means have to be reasonable/rational to promote a legitimate end. - the most lenient. The law is presumed to be reasonable. Ends have to be legitimate. Means have to be rational.

Intermediate Test

: End must be substantial/significant/important. Means must be sufficiently narrow/carefully tailored.

Strict Scrutiny

End: Compelling interest. Must be a high interest by the state. Means must be narrowly tailored.

Preemption

Feds take over. Article 6. Federal law is the supreme law of the land. Supremacy clause. Congressional intent must be crystal clear.

States can go above a federal rule, but can’t go below it. So for ex. If the feds require at least a 3 day background check for a gun purchase, an individual state cannot make it shorter than 3 days but it CAN make it longer than 3 days.

3 ways to tell if a state law has been preempted by congress, even if congress didn’t make it crystal clear that they were preempting:

1.      Conflict between state law and federal law (example: state law says interest rates at 15%, fed law says interest rates at 10%, there’s a conflict. In the gun background check example above, there’s NO conflict.).

2.      Field Preemption (that particular industry)

3.      Obstacle (is the state law an obstacle to achieving the federal objective).

Due Process

Life, liberty, property (we look at deprivations of them). Requires notice and an opportunity to be heard.

Substantive Due Process

• What the government is doing (Does the substance of the law violate a core freedom?).

• 
  

Procedural Due Process

How the government acts (Are the trials and notices fair?).

Balancing Test

1.      Private interest (the person, the citizen)

2.      Government’s interest

3.      The risk of erroneous deprivation (from the current procedures. Is a hearing needed to mitigate risk of error? Or just need for more protective procedures in general).