Parts of Constitution 

• Amendments:

  • 1st

    • Speech, religion, press, assembly, petition 

  • 2nd

    • Right to bear arms 

  • 4th

    • No unlawful searches and seizures 

  • 5th

    • Due process

  • 6th

    • Speedy/public trial with an impartial jury 

  • 8th 

    • No Cruel or unusual punishments 

  • 14th

    • Equal citizenship rights 

  • 15th

    • Universal male suffrage (hypothetically)

  • 19th

    • Women voting 

  • 26th:

    • 18 year olds are voting limit 

• Other Parts:

  • Article 1

    • Legislative branch 

  • Article 2

    • Executive branch 

  • Article 3

    • Judicial Branch 

  • Article 1 section 2

    • Congress can impeach the president 

  • Article 1 Section 8 Clause 1

    • Congress can tax 

  • Article 1 section 9

    • Right to habeas corpus

  • Article 6 section 2

    •  Supremacy clause (no one is above the constitution) 

Federalist Papers 

• Federalist 47

  • Argued for separation of powers

  • Said that all the power in one entity is tyranny 

    • For example state legislatures during the AOC era

• Federalist 51

  • Checks and balances 

• Federalist paper 70

  • Energy for the executive branch 

• Federalist 78

  • Most related to rule of law

  • Argues for Judicial review and judicial independence

    • Judicial independence is just that the judicial branch is separate from the other branches and checks their powers

Supreme Court Cases:

• Trump v United States

  • President is immune from criminal prosecution for official presidential actions.

• United States v Nixon 

  • Affirmed the principle of executive privilege but ruled it is not absolute. Nixon had to give up the watergate tapes (he did nothing wrong)

• Dickerson v United States 

  • Upheld that Miranda rights need to be read to people who are arrested 

• Katz vs United States 

  • Putting taps on payphones is a violation of 4th amendment rights. Created the idea of “reasonable expectation of privacy”

• United States v Jones 

  • Upholded that Americans have constitutional protections against GPS surveillance by law enforcement on the basis that a GPS is a “search” under the 4th amendment.

• Marbury v Madison

  • Established judicial review 

• Dred Scott v Sandford

  • African Americans cannot be citizens, Slavery is a constitutional right, Missouri compromise was unconstitutional

• Brown v. Board of Education

  • Separate but equal is inherently unequal! No more segregation schools 

• Carpenter v United States

  • Court ruled that accessing historical cell phone records requires a warrant. 

• Riley v California

  • held that police must obtain a warrant before searching a cell phone seized during an arrest, emphasizing privacy in the digital age.

• Obergefell v Hobbs

  • Gay marriage legal 

• Roe v Wade

  • Protected abortion rights at a national level 

• Dobbs v Jackson

  • Abortion to the states 

• Batson v. Kentucky

  • Prosecution cannot use peremptory strikes to exclude a potential juror based on race.

• Gideon vs Wainwright 

  • This decision ensured that states are required to provide legal counsel to indigent defendants charged with a felony, significantly impacting the U.S. legal system and strengthening the right to a fair trial (rule of law) 

• Mccleskey v Kemp

  • Argued that the racial disproportion in the death penalty violated the 8th amendment. The Supreme Court said that this was not the case because broad data does not show specific discriminatory intent.

• Whren V United States

  • The court ruled that cops can make stops based on minor traffic violations without needing to prove racial bias, further proving that it is difficult to maintain rule of law when racial discrimination like this exists. 

Other Documents:

• Magna Carta 

  • A foundational document in establishing legal rights and limiting the power of the king. Due process, no unlawful searches and seizures, no taxation without consent.

• English Bill of Rights 

  • Rights of englishmen. Include: Habeas corpus, petition the king, freedom of speech in parliament, right to bear arms, free and frequent elections. 

• Intolerable Acts

  • A series of violating measures against the American colonies such as taxation and strict control 

• Writs of Assistance 

  • Legal documents allowing searches without specific warrants (colonial era) 

• Doctrine of incorporation (14th amendment) 

  • Applies the Bill of Rights to the states through the 14th Amendment.

• Civil Rights act

  • Legislation aimed at ending discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.

• Voting rights act 

  • Eliminate racial discrimination in voting by enforcing the voting rights guaranteed by the 14th and 15th Amendments

• Lincoln Dred Scott speech 

  • "They meant to set up a standard maxim for free society, which should be familiar to all, and revered by all; constantly looked to, constantly labored for, and even though never perfectly attained, constantly approximated."

  • (Strive for equality even though it can’t be fully achieved) 

• Hughes-Ryan Amendments of 1974

  •  President has to report covert acts of CIA to one or more congressional committees

• Ethics in government act of 1978

  • Mandates a public disclosure of financial and employment history of public officials and their families. It also restricted lobbying.