Federalist Papers and Court Cases

Fed #10

-Central government was too weak (AOC)

-Pluralism contributes positively towards society because one group won’t overpower another, which maintains will of the people

-Factions are inevitable

Brutus #1

-U.S is too big for accurate representation

-Representatives will do what majority wants

-Believes Supreme Court will take away state powers

Fed #39

-Finding balance between federal and national powers

-Making sure the government is a true representation (power rests on people)

-How long government officials hold office

Fed #51

-No one should have more power over the other

-Seperation of powers and checks and balances

Fed #70

-President with energy and for safety

-Executive branch is extremely important: any gov needs one form of leader (NOT KING)

Fed #78

-Argues importance of judicial branch

-Judicial review: The court has the right to declare the acts made by the legislature unconstitutional. The constitution is the fundamental law

-Judicial Independence: Ensures that the federal courts were independent from control of the other branches of government 

McCulloch v. Maryland

-Congress created the Second Bank of the United States.

-The state of Maryland tried to put a heavy tax on the bank's local branch to shut it down.

-A bank worker named James McCulloch refused to pay the tax. Maryland sued him.

-the U.S. Constitution's Necessary and Proper Clause gives Congress implied powers to carry out its explicit duties, such as creating a national bank to manage taxes and commerce

Gibbons v. Ogden

-New York gave a state license to Aaron Ogden to operate steamboats on state waters, creating a monopoly on the Hudson River

-Thomas Gibbons operated competing steamboats on the same route using a license issued by the federal government.

-Supreme Court ruled in favor of Gibbons, declaring the New York monopoly law unconstitutional

-The Commerce Clause: The Court defined "commerce" to include navigation and the movement of people and goods, not just buying and selling. Because the route crossed state lines, it was interstate commerce

U.S. v Lopez

-Alfonso Lopez Jr. was a 12th-grade high school student in Texas, who carried a concealed, unloaded handgun to school.

-He was initially charged under Texas state law for possessing a firearm on school grounds.

-Those state charges were dropped when federal prosecutors charged him instead with violating the federal Gun-Free School Zones Act of 1990.

-The Commerce Clause: Does Congress have the authority under the Commerce Clause to enact the Gun-Free School Zones Act, which bans firearms in school zones?

-Ruling: In a 5–4 decision, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Lopez, striking down the Gun-Free School Zones Act as unconstitutional.

The Court ruled that possessing a gun in a school zone is not an economic activity that substantially affects interstate commerce. Reaffirming federalism, the decision proved that the federal government has limited powers and cannot stretch the Commerce Clause to cover any and all non-economic behavior.