PHIL 114 - Cases/Concepts

Cases, Holdings, Dissents, Reasonings

Dworkin

Living Constitutionalism; Judges should interpret the constitution by developing evolving conceptions of the concept.

Scalia

Textualist Originalism; Judges should limit their interventions in statutes or judicial review to preserve democracy

Subjective Intent

What individual people who wrote or voted on the law thought it meant

Objectified Intent

Interpreting the statute by just looking at the text of the statute; Judges look at what the legislature said not what it meant.

Church of Holy Trinity v. United States

Case Facts: Church contracts with Englishman to come to the US to be their pastor

Legal Question: Is the hiring of the pastor an act that the statue applies to?

Holding: No. The statute only applies to manual labors.

Majority: Even though the language of the statute may be broad, it was not within the intention of the legislature for this to happen and therefore it isn’t within the statute.

Scalia: Judges used the intent of the legislator to rewrite the statute, the statute had straightforwardly stated that they could not hire the pastor.

Smith v. United States

Case Facts: John Angus Smith offered to trade an automatic gun for cocaine to an undercover officer. He was then charged and convicted of both gun and drug trafficking.

Bowers v. Hardwick

Facts: Hardwick charged with violating Georgia law by having sex with another man.

Legal Issue: Is there a substantial due process right, based inthe 14th Amendment Due Process Clause, for people to engage in same sex intercourse?

Holding: There is no constitutional right for people of the same sex to engage in anal or oral sex with one another

Reasoning: Right to engage in same-sex acts is not fundamental right (it wasn’t listed explicitly in the constitution)

Lawrence v. Texas

Facts: Texas statue prohibits deviant sexual intercourse with another individual of the same sex

Legal Issue: Is this Texas Law unconstitutional?

Holding: There is a fundamental right to engage in consensual intercourse, including same-sex intercourse found in the 14th Amendment DPC

O’Conner concurrence: She wouldn’t overrule Bowers but use the EPC to say that you cannot single out conduct as criminal just for same-sex intercourse

Dissent by Scalia: Bowers should stand. THere is no fundamental right to same-sex intercourse

Dissent by Thomas: Law is silly but isn’t unconstitutional

Disposition: Overruled, Lawrence and Garner win

Disposition

The final outcome or resolution of a legal case.

Dissent

The official disagreement of one of more judges against the majority opinion of the court.

Holding

It is the specific legal rule or principle that was used to resolve the case

Reasoning

The process where judges explain the rationale behind their decisions.

Specter of Lochner

Fear that the courts might overstep their bounds by invalidating economic or social legislation based on an INTERPRETATION of the constitution.

Obergefell v. Hodges

Facts: Combined cases challenging bans on same-sex marriage

Legal issue: Is there a constitutional right to same-sex marriage int eh 14th Amendment DPC or EPC?

Holding: There is a constitutional right to same-sex marriage, in the DPC and EPC. States may not ban same-sex marriage, and they must recognize same-sex marriage from other states.

Disposition: Plaintiffs Won

Kennedy’s Fundamental Rights

Argued that fundamental rights aren’t strictly limited to history and tradition. Courts must interpret vague constitutional concepts especially in areas of family and intimacy.

Reliance Interests

Expectations that individuals or institutions develop based on existing laws, decisions, or policies.

Kennedy on Bowers v. Hardwick

Bowers was incorrectly decided and he emphasized that court decisions should evovle with societal understanding.

Dignitary Harm

Injury or damage caused to a person’s dignity often by stigmatizing government action or law.

Kennedy on Dignitary harm on Same-sex Marriage

Denying marriage of same-sex couple causes stigma and legal disadvantages. Marriage is socially and legally significant, and exclusion of same-sex couples marks them as inferior (DIGNITARY HARM).

Kennedy on DPC and EPC

Due process to protect personal liberty in marriage and Equal Protection to address the  harm and stigma caused by discrimination

Scalia on Same-sex marriage

Asserts that only rights explicitly in the Constitution should constrain democratic processes. Warns about judicial overreach stating that it is undemocratic to conceptualize the Constitution.

Originalism v. Living Constitution

Originalism means that judges should interpret the Constitution by the text’'s objective meaning at the time of ratification

Living constitution allows for judges to impose personal values, undermining democratic self-rule.

Jack Balkin; Living Originalism

Constitution’s words must be interpreted using their original public meaning but applied to modern circumstances.

Contract Theory in regards to Obergefell

Suggests that reasonable, free, and equal persons would design political procedures that protect basic rights. Supports the idea that fundamental liberties should not be left to majority rule