Constitutional law short questuons (pt 1)

Modalities of Interpretation & Argument

Standard form of constitutional argument lawyers and judges use today

Seven forms of constitutional argument

Appeals to text, Constitutional Structure, prudence (or consequences), purpose or intention, judicial precedent, no practice (&interbranch convention), national ethos & political tradition

Modalities of Interpretation & Argument

Standard form of constitutional argument lawyers and judges use today

Seven forms of constitutional argument

Appeals to text, Constitutional Structure, prudence (or consequences), purpose or intention, judicial precedent, no practice (&interbranch convention), national ethos & political tradition

Police power

fundamental power of the state to create laws and regulations to maintain public order, health, safety, and morals.

Police Powers Policies and institutions (exs)

Public Health Measures, Environmental Protections

,Education Regulations, Traffic laws

The parts of the Constitution that pertain to preparation for war and defense.

Article 1 Section 8 (Clause: 1,11, 12,13,14,15,16)

Article 2 Section 2

Article 4, Section 4

Commerce

the buying, selling, or exchanging of goods, services, or money for economic gain (not specically defined)

Some cases related to controversy defining Commerce

Gibbons V. Ogden, Barron V. Baltimore, Hammer V. Dagenhart., United States vs. Darby

Gibbons v. Ogden

Article 1 Section 8 gives Congress broad power regulate commerce “among several states”, views as traffic and navigation. Can’t stop just at external state boundary but interior also (gave Fed. Govt. exclusive power of interstate commerce)

Champion V. Ames

Decide Congress can regulate shipment of lottery tickets from one state to another. They said they could as Congress is not prohibiting the sale of lottery tickets, only its shipment across state lines. (considered contradicting later hammer v. dagenhart case)

Hammer V. Dagenhart 

Court considered whether Congress could prohit shipment of produced manufactured by children. Hammer defined commerce as not production. Felt couldn’t impede on police power cause congress left out expressly.

United States vs. Darby

Relied on decision of Gibbons v. Ogden, affirmed power of Congress to regulate interstate commerce, can’t be enlarged nor diminished by exercise or non-exercise of state power. Congress can outlaw substandard labor conditions since significant impact on interstate commerce.

Constitution of Settlement

parts of constitutions that are rarely if ever litigated, and that form the basic structures of representative government. They concern issues of constitutional design as opposed to constitutional interpretation.