Constitutional Law Exam Review: Comprehensive Review and Encyclopedic Review Guide

Exam Logistics and Strategy

• Timeline and Format: The exam is scheduled for October. It will be conducted using Honorlock, and students must bring a computer. The duration of the exam is one hour and fifteen minutes (75 minutes).

• Question Types: The exam includes multiple-choice questions and essay components.     * Multiple Choice: These will require a grasp of the "period" and may involve recall, but there is a significant focus on application.     * Essays: Unlike traditional hypothetical scenarios with "made-up facts," these questions focus on the application of multiple cases to specific legal areas. The professor will never ask a student to simply explain a single case in an essay; it will always involve a synthesis of multiple cases.

• The "Great Test": Handful of basic cases from the first half of the semester dealing with the "Great Test" (e.g., McCulloch v. Maryland) are fair game, accounting for approximately $24$ points. There are roughly $10$ such applicable cases.

• The Cheat Sheet: Students are permitted a "cheat sheet." The professor suggests using it to isolate the ten or so relevant cases from the first half of the semester to make the exam easier.

• Grading and Methodology: The professor emphasizes the importance of labeling answers clearly and citing case law. If the grader has to work too hard to find information, they may "impute things against you instead of for you."

Core Exam Topics: Commerce and Federalism

• Weight of Topics: The Commerce Clause and Federalism together constitute approximately $70\%$ of the exam material.

• Topic Importance Hierachy:     * Major Topics: Commerce Clause and Federalism.     * Minor Topics: The professor identifies three or four minor topics, including the Taxing and Spending Power, Due Process, and Takings. These are considered "less important" and "target rich" for fewer questions.

• Ideology and Trends: Understanding the ideology of the Supreme Court over time provides necessary context for why decisions were made (shifting between conservative and liberal leanings). This context helps explain the current state of "retrenchment" in certain doctrines.

The Taxing and Spending Power

• South Dakota v. Dole: This is a key case study regarding the constitutional limits of the spending power. It involved the federal government holding back $5\%$ of highway funds to encourage states to adopt a uniform drinking age of $21$. The professor notes that the $21st$ Amendment is relevant here as it grants states the right to regulate alcohol.

• Tax Classifications:     * Direct Tax: Characterized as a tax on real property.     * Excise Tax: A tax on a good that is not real or personal property (e.g., a sales tax).     * Indirect Tax: A tax on goods coming into or out of the country.

• The Apportionment Requirement and Wealth Distribution:     * The original Constitution required taxes to be apportioned among states based on population (per capita).     * Hypothetical Scenario: If New York has $15\%$ of the national population but $25\%$ of the national wealth, under the old system, they could only be charged $15\%$ of the total tax burden. Conversely, if South Carolina has $9\%$ of the population but only $8\%$ of the wealth, they would pay relative to their population. This made federal taxation of wealth politically and practically difficult by design.     * The 16th Amendment: This amendment effectively "nuked" the apportionment requirement, allowing for the modern income tax.

The Commerce Clause and Stream of Commerce

• Stream of Commerce Doctrine: This serves as a "patch" or an "escape clause" to the older rule that manufacturing could not be regulated. It allows the government to regulate items that are part of the commerce chain.     * Examples: The government can regulate "gross meat" or food items because they enter the stream of commerce. Historically, it was argued that steel did not require the same level of regulation.

• Heart of Atlanta Motel v. United States: A significant commerce case used to enforce the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The legal argument was that racial discrimination hindered the ability of certain people to participate in interstate commerce.     * Strategic Choice: Congress relied on the Commerce Clause rather than the 14th Amendment's Equal Protection Clause because, in 1964, the Supreme Court had not overturned a Commerce Clause-based law in thirty years, making it a safer legal foundation.

Federalism and State Autonomy

• Anti-Commandeering Theory: The principle that the federal government cannot order a state to perform specific tasks or "common-deer" state personnel to implement federal programs.     * Printz v. United States: A key case where the Court ruled that the federal government could not force local sheriffs to perform background checks required by the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act.

• State Identity and Authority:     * Coyle v. Smith: This case involved the location of Oklahoma’s state capital. The Supreme Court ruled that while Congress can set rules for admitting a state to the Union, once admitted, the state has autonomy over internal governance, such as the location of its capital.

• Labor Standards and Functions:     * Garcia v. San Antonio Metropolitan Transit Authority: This case overturned the "traditional government functions" test established in National League of Cities v. Usery. It determined that the federal government could apply federal wage laws (Fair Labor Standards Act) to state and local employees because the "traditional government functions" test was unworkable.

Questions & Discussion

• Question: Out of things like Due Process and Takings, what is the most important concept to understand?

• Response: The Commerce Clause and Federalism are the most important. These are the "target rich" areas. Taxing and spending is less important and more confusing.

• Question: Can you give an example of the "Great Test" cases from early on?

• Response: McCulloch v. Maryland is the obvious example. It is fair game and falls within the approximately 10 cases from the first half of the semester that could be applicable to the specific 24-point section of the exam.

• Question: What is the most complicated case that hasn't been asked about yet?

• Response: Arizona v. United States regarding immigration. It is a federalism case that is highly sensitive to case facts; slight alterations in facts can drastically change the legal analysis.

• Question: Do we need to worry about the ideology of the Supreme Court?

• Response: I will not ask about the specific ideology or names of current justices, but understanding the ideology of the Court over time is useful for context regarding why certain decisions (conservative vs. liberal) were made.

• Question: What about dissents and concurrences?

• Response: Only the dissents and concurrences provided in the class notes are testable. They are most useful when constructing an argument for a side that might otherwise have a weak legal position.

• Question: Can you explain the difference between taxes?

• Response: A direct tax is on real property; an excise tax is on goods (like a sales tax); an indirect tax is on goods coming in or out of the country. The 16th Amendment settled much of the controversy regarding the income tax by removing the apportionment requirement.