The constitutional law of the United States is the body of law governing the interpretation and implementation of the
United States Constitution
The Constitution of the United States is the Supremacy Clause, supreme law of the United States, United States of America. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, in 1789. Originally comprising seven ar ...
. The subject concerns the scope of power of the United States federal government compared to the individual states and the fundamental rights of individuals. The ultimate authority upon the interpretation of the Constitution and the constitutionality of statutes, state and federal, lies with the
Supreme Court of the United States
The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...
.
The Supreme Court
Judicial review
Early in its history, in ''Marbury v. Madison'', 5 U.S. 137 (1803) and ''Fletcher v. Peck'', 10 U.S. 87 (1810), the
Supreme Court of the United States
The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...
declared that the judicial power granted to it by Article III of the
United States Constitution
The Constitution of the United States is the Supremacy Clause, supreme law of the United States, United States of America. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, in 1789. Originally comprising seven ar ...
included the power of
judicial review
Judicial review is a process under which executive, legislative and administrative actions are subject to review by the judiciary. A court with authority for judicial review may invalidate laws, acts and governmental actions that are incompat ...
, to consider challenges to the constitutionality of a State or Federal law. The holding in these cases empowered the Supreme Court to strike down enacted laws that were contrary to the Constitution. In this role, for example, the Court has struck down state laws for failing to conform to the
Contract Clause
Article I, Section 10, Clause 1 of the United States Constitution, known as the Contract Clause, imposes certain prohibitions on the states. These prohibitions are meant to protect individuals from intrusion by state governments and to keep ...
(''see'', e.g.,
Dartmouth College v. Woodward
''Trustees of Dartmouth College v. Woodward'', 17 U.S. (4 Wheat.) 518 (1819), was a List of landmark court decisions in the United States, landmark decision in United States corporate law from the Supreme Court of the United States, United States ...
), the
Equal Protection Clause
The Equal Protection Clause is part of the first section of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. The clause, which took effect in 1868, provides "''nor shall any State ... deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal ...
(''see'', e.g.,
Brown v. Board of Education
''Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka'', 347 U.S. 483 (1954), was a landmark decision by the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled that U.S. state laws establishing racial segregation in public schools are unconstitutional, even if the segregat ...
), or the
Commerce Clause
The Commerce Clause describes an enumerated power listed in the United States Constitution ( Article I, Section 8, Clause 3). The clause states that the United States Congress shall have power "to regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and amon ...
of the Constitution (''see'', e.g.,
United States v. Lopez
''United States v. Alfonso D. Lopez, Jr.'', 514 U.S. 549 (1995), was a landmark case of the United States Supreme Court concerning the Commerce Clause. It was the first case since 1937 in which the Court held that Congress had exceeded its power ...
).
Scope and effect
The Supreme Court's interpretations of constitutional law are binding on the legislative and executive branches of the federal government, on the lower courts in the federal system, and on all state courts. This system of binding interpretations or precedents evolved from the
common law
In law, common law (also known as judicial precedent, judge-made law, or case law) is the body of law created by judges and similar quasi-judicial tribunals by virtue of being stated in written opinions."The common law is not a brooding omnipresen ...
system (called "
stare decisis
A precedent is a principle or rule established in a previous legal case that is either binding on or persuasive for a court or other tribunal when deciding subsequent cases with similar issues or facts. Common-law legal systems place great valu ...
"), where courts are bound by their own prior decisions and by the decisions of higher courts. Neither English common law courts nor continental
civil law courts had the power to declare legislation unconstitutional, the United States Supreme Court has long held the power to declare federal or state legislation unconstitutional.
Justiciability
Federal courts consider other doctrines before allowing a lawsuit to go forward:
* Actual dispute - the lawsuit concerns a "
case or controversy
The Supreme Court of the United States has interpreted the Case or Controversy Clause of Article III of the United States Constitution (found in Art. III, Section 2, Clause 1) as embodying two distinct limitations on exercise of judicial review: ...
" under the meaning of Article III, Section 2 of the U.S. Constitution
*
Standing
Standing, also referred to as orthostasis, is a position in which the body is held in an ''erect'' ("orthostatic") position and supported only by the feet. Although seemingly static, the body rocks slightly back and forth from the ankle in the s ...
- the party bringing the suit must have (1) a particularized and concrete injury, (2) a causal connection between the complained-of conduct and that injury, and (3) a likelihood that a favorable court decision will redress the injury
[Routh, Stephen, Genovese, Michael A. and Han, and Lori Cox,. "Writ of Certiorari." ''Encyclopedia of American Government and Civics.'' New York, NY, USA: Facts On File, 2017. Web.]
*
Ripeness
In United States law, ripeness refers to the readiness of a case for litigation; "a claim is not ripe for adjudication if it rests upon contingent future events that may not occur as anticipated, or indeed may not occur at all." For example, if a ...
- a party will lack standing where his/her case raises abstract, hypothetical or conjectural questions.
*
Mootness
The terms moot and mootness are used in both in English and American law, although with different meanings.
In the legal system of the United States, a matter is moot if further legal proceedings with regard to it can have no effect, or even ...
- a party is seeking redress over a case that no longer has a basis for dispute, though there are limited exceptions
*
Political question
In United States constitutional law, the political question doctrine holds that a constitutional dispute that requires knowledge of a non-legal character or the use of techniques not suitable for a court or explicitly assigned by the Constitution ...
- the issues raised in the suit are unreviewable because the Constitution relegates it to another branch of government.
The Supreme Court prohibits itself from issuing
advisory opinions
An advisory opinion is an opinion issued by a court or a commission like an election commission that does not have the effect of adjudicating a specific legal case, but merely advises on the constitutionality or interpretation of a law. Some cou ...
where there is no actual case or controversy before them.(''See'' ''Muskrat v. United States'',
219 U.S. 346 (1911)).
Differing views on the role of the Court
There are a number of ways that commentators and Justices of the Supreme Court have defined the Court's role, and its jurisprudential method:
*
Originalism
In the context of United States law, originalism is a theory of constitutional interpretation that asserts that all statements in the Constitution must be interpreted based on the original understanding "at the time it was adopted". This conce ...
is a family of similar theories that hold that the Constitution has a fixed meaning from an authority contemporaneous with its ratification, and that it should be construed in light of that authority.
[Schlag, Pierre, and David S. Clark. "Interpretation and Reasoning, Legal." ''Encyclopedia of Law and Society.'' Thousand Oaks, CA, USA: Sage Publications, 2007. Web.] Generally, originalism stands for the principle that the Constitution should be interpreted according to its meaning in the late 18th Century.
Prominent adherents include
Antonin Scalia
Antonin Gregory Scalia (; March 11, 1936 – February 13, 2016) was an American jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1986 until his death in 2016. He was described as the intellectu ...
and
Clarence Thomas
Clarence Thomas (born June 23, 1948) is an American jurist who serves as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. He was nominated by President George H. W. Bush to succeed Thurgood Marshall and has served since 199 ...
.
*
Purposivism
The purposive approach (sometimes referred to as purposivism, purposive construction, purposive interpretation, or the modern principle in construction) is an approach to statutory and constitutional interpretation under which common law courts i ...
is "an approach that places more emphasis on statutory purpose and congressional intent," practiced notably by
Stephen Breyer
Stephen Gerald Breyer ( ; born August 15, 1938) is a retired American lawyer and jurist who served as an associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court from 1994 until his retirement in 2022. He was nominated by President Bill Clinton, and repl ...
.
*
Judicial restraint
Judicial restraint is a judicial interpretation that recommends favoring the status quo in judicial activities; it is the opposite of judicial activism. Aspects of judicial restraint include the principle of stare decisis (that new decisions s ...
is the idea that the Supreme Court should decide as few cases as possible and on the narrowest possible grounds in order to allow the democratic process to play out without judicial interference wherever possible.
Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.
Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. (March 8, 1841 – March 6, 1935) was an American jurist and legal scholar who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1902 to 1932.Holmes was Acting Chief Justice of the Un ...
and
Felix Frankfurter
Felix Frankfurter (November 15, 1882 – February 22, 1965) was an Austrian-American jurist who served as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1939 until 1962, during which period he was a noted advocate of judicia ...
are often associated this approach.
* Instrumentalism is the approach that society and the law complement and ought to reflect each other, generally leading to the law shifting with public opinion.
Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Joan Ruth Bader Ginsburg ( ; ; March 15, 1933September 18, 2020) was an American lawyer and jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1993 until her death in 2020. She was nominated by President ...
was a notable jurist who utilized this philosophy.
Federalism
Political power in the United States is divided under a scheme of
federalism
Federalism is a combined or compound mode of government that combines a general government (the central or "federal" government) with regional governments (Province, provincial, State (sub-national), state, Canton (administrative division), can ...
, in which multiple units of government exercise jurisdiction over the same geographical area. This manner of distributing political power was a compromise between two extremes feared by the framers: the efficiency of tyranny when power is overly centralized, as under the British monarchy, on one end of the spectrum, and the ineffectiveness of an overly decentralized government, as under the
Articles of Confederation
The Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union was an agreement among the 13 Colonies of the United States of America that served as its first frame of government. It was approved after much debate (between July 1776 and November 1777) by ...
, on the other. Supporters of federalism believed that a division of power between federal and state governments would decrease the likelihood of tyranny. The framers felt the states were in the best position to restrict such movements. Another value of federalism is that the states are much closer to the people, so that they can be more responsive to and effective in resolving the localized concerns of the public. Federalism represented a middle ground by dividing power between the governments of the individual states and the centralized federal government.
The Constitution assigns the powers of the federal government to the legislative (
Article I Article One may refer to:
Legal codes
* Article One of the United States Constitution, pertaining to the powers of the United States Congress
* Article One of the Constitution of India, pertaining to the federal nature of the republic
Other us ...
), executive (
Article II), and judicial (
Article III) branches, and the
Tenth Amendment provides that those powers not expressly delegated to the federal government are reserved by the States or the people.
Legislative powers committed to the U.S. Congress (Article I)
Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution contains the
enumerated powers
The enumerated powers (also called expressed powers, explicit powers or delegated powers) of the United States Congress are the powers granted to the federal government of the United States by the United States Constitution. Most of these powers ar ...
of Congress.
[Faber, Michael. "Enumerated Powers." ''American Governance.'' Ed. Stephen Schechter. New York City, New York, USA: Macmillan US, 2016. Web.]
The federal commerce power
Congress is authorized to "regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among the several states, and with the Indian tribes" under
Article I, Section 8, Clause 3 of the Constitution.
Important early cases include ''
United States v. E.C. Knight Co.'' (1895) which held that the federal Sherman Act could not be applied to manufacture of sugar because the authority of the commerce clause was insufficient to affect the manufacture of goods. Further limitation continued in cases such as
''Schecter Poultry v. United States'', in which the Court invalidated a federal statute seeking to enforce labor conditions at a slaughterhouse for chickens; the Court held the relationship between labor conditions and chickens was too indirect - that chickens come to rest upon arrival at the slaughterhouse (thereby ending the stream of commerce), so whatever happened in the slaughterhouse was not Congress's business.
In ''Stafford v. Wallace'', the Court articulated a "stream of commerce" test; if a transaction affected commerce in a transition that was local, but supported interstate commerce, then Congress could regulate those transactions under the commerce clause. The judgement in ''Stafford'' began the Court's increased deference to Congress in matters regarding interpreatation of its powers.
["Wickard V. Filburn." ''Great American Court Cases, Gale.'' Eds. L. Mpho Mabunda, Allison McClintic Marion, and Mark F. Mikula. Farmington, MI, USA: Gale, 1999. Web.] Further expansion of Congress's commerce clause power continued with ''
Wickard v. Filburn
''Wickard v. Filburn'', 317 U.S. 111 (1942), is a United States Supreme Court decision that dramatically increased the regulatory power of the federal government. It remains as one of the most important and far-reaching cases concerning the New D ...
'' in 1942 involving a farmer's refusal to comply with a federal quota.
''Wickard'' articulated the aggregation principle: that effects of the entire class matter rather than composites of the class, so even if the single farmer did not substantially affect interstate commerce, all farmers - the class to which he belonged - do - they compete with the national market.
[Watts, Duncan. "Wickard V. Filburn (1942)." ''Dictionary of American Government and Politics.'' Edinburg, Scotland, UK: Edinburgh University Press, 2010. Web.] This case largely ended challenges to laws based upon the extent of power bestowed by the commerce clause until ''
United States v. Lopez
''United States v. Alfonso D. Lopez, Jr.'', 514 U.S. 549 (1995), was a landmark case of the United States Supreme Court concerning the Commerce Clause. It was the first case since 1937 in which the Court held that Congress had exceeded its power ...
'' (1995).
In 1995, the Court held that the Crime Control Act of 1990, which the Gun-Free School Zones Act was a part of, was unconstitutional because it was an "impermissible extension of congressional power under the Commerce Clause." ''Lopez'' remains the central case regarding the authority of Congress under the commerce power.
The spending power
Clause 1 of Article I, § 8 grants Congress the power to levy and collect taxes provided that they are uniform across the nation. Notable cases and challenges to the power of Congress include ''
McCray v. United States
''McCray v. United States'', 195 U.S. 27 (1904), was a 1904 case decided by the Supreme Court of the United States that greenlighted the use of the federal Taxing and Spending Clause, taxing power for regulatory purposes. The Court upheld by a 63 ...
'' (1904), ''
Flint v. Stone Tracy & Co.'' (1911), and ''
Printz v. United States'' (1997).
Other enumerated powers
Other federal powers specifically enumerated by Section 8 of Article I of the United States Constitution (and generally considered exclusive to the federal government) are:
* to coin money, and to regulate its value;
[Goldford, Dennis. "Federal Powers: General." ''American Governance.'' Ed. Stephen Schechter. New York City, New York, USA: Macmillan US, 2016. Web.]
* to establish laws governing bankruptcy;
* to establish post offices (although Congress may allow for the establishment of non-governmental mail services by private entities);
* to control the issuance of copyrights and patents (although copyrights and patents may also be enforced in state courts);
* to govern the District of Columbia and all other federal properties;
* to control naturalization (and, implicitly, the immigration) of aliens;
* to enforce "by appropriate legislation" the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution (a function of the Constitution's Necessary and Proper clause);
* to propose, by a two-thirds vote, constitutional amendments for ratification by three-fourths of the states pursuant to the terms of Article V.
Members of the Senate and of the House of Representatives have immunity for all statements made on the floor of Congress except in cases of "Treason, Felony, or Breach of the Peace "(Art. I Sec. 6).
Executive powers committed to the President of the United States (Article II)
Article II, Section 1, vests the executive power in the President of the United States of America. Unlike the commitment of authority in Article I, which refers Congress only specifically enumerated powers "herein granted" and such powers as may be necessary and proper to carry out the same, Article II is all-inclusive in its commitment of ''the executive power'' in a President of the United States of America.
Enumerated powers of the President Several important powers are expressly committed to the President under Article II, Section 2. These include:
* Commander-in-chief of the armed forces;
[Ramsey, Michael. "Executive Powers." ''American Governance.'' Ed. Stephen Schechter. New York City, New York, USA: Macmillan US, 2016. Web.]
* Power to pardon offenses against the United States;
* Power to make treaties (with consent of the Senate); and the
* Power to appoint judges, ambassadors, and other officers of the United States (with the advice and consent of the Senate);
The
Presentment Clause
The Presentment Clause (Article I, Section 7, Clauses 2 and 3) of the United States Constitution outlines federal legislative procedure by which bills originating in Congress become federal law in the United States.
Text
The Presentment Claus ...
(Article I, Section 7, cl. 2–3) grants the president the power to
veto
A veto is a legal power to unilaterally stop an official action. In the most typical case, a president or monarch vetoes a bill to stop it from becoming law. In many countries, veto powers are established in the country's constitution. Veto ...
Congressional legislation and Congress the power to override a presidential veto with a
supermajority
A supermajority, supra-majority, qualified majority, or special majority is a requirement for a proposal to gain a specified level of support which is greater than the threshold of more than one-half used for a simple majority. Supermajority ru ...
. Under the clause, once a bill has been passed in identical form by both houses of Congress, with a two thirds majority in both houses, it becomes federal law.
The president approves or rejects a bill in its entirety; he is not permitted to veto specific provisions. In 1996, Congress passed, and President
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...
signed, the
Line Item Veto Act of 1996
The Line Item Veto Act was a federal law of the United States that granted the President the power to line-item veto budget bills passed by Congress, but its effect was brief as the act was soon ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in '' ...
, which gave the president the power to veto individual items of
budgeted expenditures in appropriations bills.
["Clinton V. City of New York." ''Great American Court Cases, Gale.'' Eds. L. Mpho Mabunda, Allison McClintic Marion, and Mark F. Mikula. Farmington, MI, USA: Gale, 1999. Web.] The
Supreme Court
A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...
subsequently declared the line-item veto unconstitutional as a violation of the Presentment Clause in ''
Clinton v. City of New York'', .
The Court held that the Constitution's silence on the subject of such a procedure as "an express prohibition," and that statutes may only be enacted "in accord with a single, finely wrought and exhaustively considered, procedure", and that a bill must be approved or rejected by the president in its entirety.
Foreign affairs and war powers
Article I grants congress the power to declare war, raise, and support the
armed forces
A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...
of the United States, while, Article II grants the president the power of the commander-in-chief of the armed forces.
[Mcnown, Lauri. "Federal Powers: War." ''American Governance.'' Ed. Stephen Schechter. New York City, New York, USA: Macmillan US, 2016. Web.] The Supreme Court rarely addresses the issue of the president's use of troops, and have been dismissed on grounds that their use is a political question.
Appointment and removal of executive personnel
Article II, Section 2 grants the President the power, with the "advice and consent of the Senate," to appoint "ambassadors,... judges of the Supreme Court, and all other officers of the United States, whose appointments are not otherwise provided for" in the Constitution. This includes members of the
cabinet
Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to:
Furniture
* Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers
* Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets
* Filing ...
, top-level agency officials,
Article III judge
Federal tribunals in the United States are those tribunals established by the federal government of the United States for the purpose of resolving disputes involving or arising under federal laws, including questions about the constitutionality ...
s,
US Attorney
United States attorneys are officials of the U.S. Department of Justice who serve as the chief federal law enforcement officers in each of the 94 U.S. federal judicial districts. Each U.S. attorney serves as the United States' chief federal c ...
s, and the
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs
The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (CJCS) is the presiding officer of the United States Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS). The chairman is the highest-ranking and most senior military officer in the United States Armed Forces Chairman: app ...
, among many other positions. Under the modern interpretation of "advice and consent," a presidential appointment must be confirmed by majority vote in the Senate in order to take effect.
Article II, Section 2 gives Congress the discretion to vest the appointment of "inferior officers" in either the President alone, the heads of departments, or the lower federal courts.
The President has the authority to remove most high-level executive officers at will.
[Bailey, Jeremy. "Appointment and Removal Powers." ''American Governance.'' Ed. Stephen Schechter. New York City, New York, USA: Macmillan US, 2016. Web.] Congress, however, may place limitations on the removal of certain executive appointees serving in positions where independence from the presidency is considered desirable, such as stipulating that removal may only be for cause.
Executive Immunity
Sitting presidents enjoyed immunity from civil suit for damages arising from actions taken while in office, but this rule was significantly curtailed by the Supreme Court's decision in ''
Clinton v. Jones
''Clinton v. Jones'', 520 U.S. 681 (1997), was a landmark United States Supreme Court case establishing that a sitting President of the United States has no immunity from civil law litigation, in federal court, against him or her, for acts do ...
'', which held that sitting Presidents could be sued for actions before taking office or unrelated to the discharge of executive powers.
Judiciary structure and jurisdiction of the federal courts (Article III)
Article Three of the United States Constitution
Article Three of the United States Constitution establishes the judicial branch of the U.S. federal government. Under Article Three, the judicial branch consists of the Supreme Court of the United States, as well as lower courts created by Congres ...
vests the judicial power of the federal government in the Supreme Court.
The
Judiciary Act of 1789
The Judiciary Act of 1789 (ch. 20, ) was a United States federal statute enacted on September 24, 1789, during the first session of the First United States Congress. It established the federal judiciary of the United States. Article III, Secti ...
implemented Article III by creating a hierarchy under which circuit courts consider appeals from the district courts and the Supreme Court has appellate authority over the circuit courts.
[Epstein & Walker at 60-61.] The Judiciary Act of 1789 provided that the Supreme Court would consist of one chief justice and five associate justices; there have been nine justices since 1869.
[Epstein & Walker at 62.]
Powers reserved to the states
Some of the more important powers reserved to the states by the Constitution are:
* the power, by "application of two-thirds of the legislatures of the several states," to require Congress to convene a constitutional convention for the purpose of proposing amendments to or revising the terms of the Constitution (see Article V).
* The
Tenth Amendment establishes the system of dual sovereignty by reserving "the powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States...to the States respectively, or to the people."
Suits against states: effect of the 11th Amendment
The
Eleventh Amendment to the United States Constitution
The Eleventh Amendment (Amendment XI) is an amendment to the United States Constitution which was passed by Congress on March 4, 1794, and ratified by the states on February 7, 1795. The Eleventh Amendment restricts the ability of individuals to ...
defines the scope of when and in what circumstances a state may be taken to federal court. Taken literally, the Amendment prohibits a citizen from suing a state in federal court through the
sovereign immunity
Sovereign immunity, or crown immunity, is a legal doctrine whereby a sovereign or state cannot commit a legal wrong and is immune from civil suit or criminal prosecution, strictly speaking in modern texts in its own courts. A similar, stronger ...
doctrine. However, the Court has articulated three exceptions: 1) Particular state officials may be sued, 2) States can waive immunity or consent to suit, and 3) Congress may authorize suits against a state through the
abrogation doctrine
The Abrogation doctrine is a US constitutional law doctrine expounding when and how the Congress may waive a state's sovereign immunity and subject it to lawsuits to which the state has not consented (''i.e.'', to "abrogate" their immunity to such ...
. However, concerning this latter exception, the Supreme Court has held in ''
Seminole Tribe v. Florida
''Seminole Tribe of Florida v. Florida'', 517 U.S. 44 (1996), was a Supreme Court of the United States, United States Supreme Court case which held that Article One of the U.S. Constitution did not give the United States Congress the power to abrog ...
'' that Congress may not, outside of the Fourteenth Amendment, authorize federal lawsuits against states in abrogation of the Eleventh Amendment's guarantee of sovereign state immunity.
The United States government, its agencies and instrumentalities, are immune from state regulation that interferes with federal activities, functions, and programs. State laws and regulations cannot substantially interfere with an authorized federal program, except for minor or indirect regulation, such as state taxation of federal employees, a practice established in ''
McCulloch v. Maryland'' (1819).
["McCulloch V. Maryland." ''Great American Court Cases, Gale.'' Eds. L. Mpho Mabunda, Allison McClintic Marion, and Mark F. Mikula. Farmington, MI, USA: Gale, 1999. Web.]
Intergovernmental immunities and interstate relations
The United States government, its agencies and instrumentalities, are immune from state regulation that interferes with federal activities, functions, and programs. State laws and regulations cannot substantially interfere with an authorized federal program, except for minor or indirect regulation, such as state taxation of federal employees, a practice established in ''
McCulloch v. Maryland'' (1819).
Rights of individuals
Bill of Rights
First Amendment
= Freedom of expression
=
The freedom of speech has been widely controversial throughout American history, with cases such as ''
Schenck v. United States
''Schenck v. United States'', 249 U.S. 47 (1919), was a landmark decision of the U.S. Supreme Court concerning enforcement of the Espionage Act of 1917 during World War I. A unanimous Supreme Court, in an opinion by Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes ...
'' (1919) and ''
Brandenburg v. Ohio
''Brandenburg v. Ohio'', 395 U.S. 444 (1969), was a landmark decision of the United States Supreme Court interpreting the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The Court held that the government cannot punish inflammatory speech unless that sp ...
'' (1969) establishing the extent to which government can legally restrict speech. The freedom of speech does not extend to libel, but ''
New York Times Co. v. Sullivan
''New York Times Co. v. Sullivan'', 376 U.S. 254 (1964), was a landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision ruling that the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution's freedom of speech protections limit the ability of American public officials to sue for ...
'' (1964) established a higher level of protection for the press.
= Freedom of religion
=
In the United States,
freedom of religion
Freedom of religion or religious liberty is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or community, in public or private, to manifest religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship, and observance. It also includes the freedom ...
is a constitutionally protected right provided in the religion clauses of the
First Amendment
First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1).
First or 1st may also refer to:
*World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement
Arts and media Music
* 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...
. Freedom of religion is also closely associated with
separation of church and state
The separation of church and state is a philosophical and jurisprudential concept for defining political distance in the relationship between religious organizations and the state. Conceptually, the term refers to the creation of a secular sta ...
, a concept advocated by Colonial founders such as
Dr. John Clarke
John Clarke (October 1609 – 20 April 1676) was a physician, Baptist minister, co-founder of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, author of its influential charter, and a leading advocate of religious freedom in America.
...
,
Roger Williams
Roger Williams (21 September 1603between 27 January and 15 March 1683) was an English-born New England Puritan minister, theologian, and author who founded Providence Plantations, which became the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantation ...
,
William Penn
William Penn ( – ) was an English writer and religious thinker belonging to the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), and founder of the Province of Pennsylvania, a North American colony of England. He was an early advocate of democracy a ...
and later Founding Fathers such as
James Madison
James Madison Jr. (March 16, 1751June 28, 1836) was an American statesman, diplomat, and Founding Father. He served as the fourth president of the United States from 1809 to 1817. Madison is hailed as the "Father of the Constitution" for hi ...
and
Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson (April 13, 1743 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, architect, philosopher, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the third president of the United States from 18 ...
.
The long-term trend has been towards increasing secularization of the government.
[Marty, Martin. "Church and State." ''The Reader's Companion to American History.'' Eds. Eric Foner and John Arthur Garraty. Boston, MA, USA: Houghton Mifflin, 2014. Web.] The remaining state churches were
disestablished in 1820 and teacher-led public school prayer was abolished in 1962, but the military chaplaincy remains to the present day.
Notable cases include ''
Tennessee v. Scopes,
Engel v. Vitale
''Engel v. Vitale'', 370 U.S. 421 (1962), was a landmark United States Supreme Court case in which the Court ruled that it is unconstitutional for state officials to compose an official school prayer and encourage its recitation in public school ...
,
Abington School District v. Schempp
''Abington School District v. Schempp'', 374 U.S. 203 (1963), was a United States Supreme Court case in which the Court decided 8–1 in favor of the respondent, Edward Schempp on behalf of his son Ellery Schempp, and declared that school-spo ...
, Georgetown College v. Jones,
Lemon v. Kurtzman
''Lemon v. Kurtzman'', 403 U.S. 602 (1971), was a case argued before the Supreme Court of the United States.. The court ruled in an 8–0 decision that Pennsylvania's Nonpublic Elementary and Secondary Education Act (represented through David Kurtz ...
,
Goldman v. Weinberger
''Goldman v. Weinberger'', 475 U.S. 503 (1986), was a United States Supreme Court case in which a Jewish Air Force officer was denied the right to wear a yarmulke when in uniform on the grounds that the Free Exercise Clause applies less strictly t ...
,
County of Allegheny v. ACLU
''County of Allegheny v. American Civil Liberties Union'', 492 U.S. 573 (1989), was a Supreme Court of the United States, United States Supreme Court case in which the Court considered the constitutionality of two recurring Christmas and Hanukkah h ...
, and
Rosenberger v. University of Virginia
''Rosenberger v. Rector and Visitors of the University of Virginia'', 515 U.S. 819 (1995), was an opinion by the Supreme Court of the United States regarding whether a state university might, consistent with the First Amendment, withhold from stu ...
''.
Second Amendment
The Second Amendment states that “a well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed,”.
["Right to Bear Arms." ''Great American Court Cases, Gale.'' Eds. L. Mpho Mabunda, Allison McClintic Marion, and Mark F. Mikula. Farmington, MI, USA: Gale, 1999. Web.] It has been one of the most controversial rights in the Bill of Rights-notable cases consist of ''
United States v. Miller
''United States v. Miller'', 307 U.S. 174 (1939), was a landmark decision of the Supreme Court of the United States that involved a Second Amendment to the United States Constitution challenge to the National Firearms Act of 1934 (NFA). The cas ...
'' (1934), ''
Printz v. United States'' (1997), ''
District of Columbia v. Heller
''District of Columbia v. Heller'', 554 U.S. 570 (2008), is a landmark decision of the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution protects an individual's right to keep and bear arms, unconnected with service i ...
'' (2008), and ''
McDonald v. City of Chicago
''McDonald v. City of Chicago'', 561 U.S. 742 (2010), was a landmark decision of the Supreme Court of the United States that found that the right of an individual to "keep and bear arms", as protected under the Second Amendment, is incorporated ...
'' (2010).
= Third Amendment
=
The Third Amendment prohibits the quartering of soldiers in private residences and has never been the basis of a decision by the Supreme Court.
[Rick. "Third Amendment." ''The Encyclopedia of Civil Liberties in America.'' Eds. David Schultz and John R. Vile. London, UK: Routledge, 2005. Web.] ''
Engblom v. Carey
''Engblom v. Carey'', 677 F.2d 957 (2d Cir. 1982), is a List of landmark court decisions in the United States, landmark decision by the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit interpreting the Third Amendment to the United States Co ...
'' is the case most often mentioned involving Third Amendment claims.
Fourth Amendment
The Fourth Amendment prohibits the unreasonable search and seizure of one's effects and requires a warrant for both searches and arrests based upon probable cause.
["Payton V. New York." ''Great American Court Cases, Gale.'' Eds. L. Mpho Mabunda, Allison McClintic Marion, and Mark F. Mikula. Farmington, MI, USA: Gale, 1999. Web.] Important cases include ''
Coolidge v. New Hampshire
''Coolidge v. New Hampshire'', 403 U.S. 443 (1971), was a United States Supreme Court case dealing with the Fourth Amendment and the automobile exception.
The state sought to justify the search of a car owned by Edward Coolidge, suspected of ...
,
Payton v. New York'', ''
United States v. Watson,
Michigan v. Summers'', and ''New York v. Harris.''
Fifth Amendment
= The Takings Clause
=
Generally speaking, the Fifth Amendment prevents the government from taking private property "for public use without just compensation." This prohibition on takings is applicable to the states via
incorporation.
= Due Process
=
The Fifth Amendment ensures that no person will be deprived of "life, liberty, or property, without due process of law" and protects oneself against self incrimination.
["Chambers V. Florida." ''Great American Court Cases, Gale.'' Eds. L. Mpho Mabunda, Allison McClintic Marion, and Mark F. Mikula. Farmington, MI, USA: Gale, 1999. Web.] The
Miranda warning
In the United States, the ''Miranda'' warning is a type of notification customarily given by police to criminal suspects in police custody (or in a custodial interrogation) advising them of their right to silence and, in effect, protection fr ...
was a result of ''
Miranda v. Arizona
''Miranda v. Arizona'', 384 U.S. 436 (1966), was a landmark decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in which the Court ruled that the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution restricts prosecutors from using a person's statements made in response to ...
.'' Other notable cases include ''Michigan v. Tucker,
Rhode Island v. Innis
''Rhode Island v. Innis'', 446 U.S. 291 (1980), is a decision by the United States Supreme Court that clarifies what constitutes "interrogation" for the purposes of ''Miranda'' warnings. Under ''Miranda v. Arizona'', police are forbidden from inte ...
,
Edwards v. Arizona, and Kuhlmann v. Wilson''.
Sixth Amendment
The Sixth Amendment guarantees the right to a speedy, public trial, the power to compel witnesses, the right to counsel, and the right to an impartial jury. Cases concerning its interpretation include ''
Baldwin v. New York
''Baldwin v. New York'', 399 U.S. 66 (1970), was a decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in which the Court ruled that defendants have a Sixth Amendment right to a jury trial for offenses requiring imprisonment of more than six months.
Background
Ro ...
,
Barker v. Wingo
''Barker v. Wingo'', 407 U.S. 514 (1972), was a United States Supreme Court case involving the Sixth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, specifically the right of defendants in criminal cases to a speedy trial. The Court held that determination ...
,
Crawford v. Washington
''Crawford v. Washington'', 541 U.S. 36 (2004), is a landmark United States Supreme Court decision that reformulated the standard for determining when the admission of hearsay statements in criminal cases is permitted under the Confrontation Claus ...
,
Duncan v. Louisiana
''Duncan v. Louisiana'', 391 U.S. 145 (1968), was a significant United States Supreme Court decision which incorporated the Sixth Amendment right to a jury trial and applied it to the states.
Background
In October 1966, Gary Duncan, a 19-year- ...
, and
Melendez-Diaz v. Massachusetts.''
Seventh Amendment
The Seventh Amendment guarantees a jury trial in civil cases in addition to the guarantee of a jury in a criminal trial provided by the Sixth Amendment.
[John. "Seventh Amendment." ''The Encyclopedia of Civil Liberties in America.'' Eds. David Schultz and John R. Vile. London, UK: Routledge, 2005. Web.] Its guarantees are not incorporated to the states via the Fourteenth Amendment, although most state constitutions contain similar provisions.
''Hardware Dealers Mutual Fire Insurance Co. of Wisconsin v. Glidden Co.'' (1931) is the most recent significant case regarding the Amendment's interpretation.
Eighth Amendment
The Eighth Amendment prohibits the imposition of excessive bail, excessive fines, and cruel and unusual punishment.
["Eighth Amendment." ''World of Criminal Justice, Gale.'' Ed. Shirelle Phelps. Farmington, MI, USA: Gale, 2002. Web.] The Supreme Court declared the death penalty unconstitutional in ''
Furman v. Georgia
''Furman v. Georgia'', 408 U.S. 238 (1972), was a landmark criminal case in which the United States Supreme Court invalidated all then existing legal constructions for the death penalty in the United States. It was 5–4 decision, with each mem ...
'' (1972) under the Eighth Amendment.
["Furman V. Georgia." ''Great American Court Cases, Gale.'' Eds. L. Mpho Mabunda, Allison McClintic Marion, and Mark F. Mikula. Farmington, MI, USA: Gale, 1999. Web.] It was later reinstated in ''
Gregg v. Georgia
''Gregg v. Georgia'', ''Proffitt v. Florida'', ''Jurek v. Texas'', ''Woodson v. North Carolina'', and ''Roberts v. Louisiana'', 428 U.S. 153 (1976), is a landmark decision of the U.S. Supreme Court. It reaffirmed the Court's acceptance of the use ...
.''
Other notable cases include ''
Malloy v. Hogan
''Malloy v. Hogan'', 378 U.S. 1 (1964), was a case in which the Supreme Court of the United States deemed defendants' Fifth Amendment privilege not to be compelled to be witnesses against themselves was applicable within state courts as well as ...
'', ''
Witherspoon v. Illinois,
Gideon v. Wainwright
''Gideon v. Wainwright'', 372 U.S. 335 (1963), was a landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision in which the Court ruled that the Sixth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution requires U.S. states to provide attorneys to criminal defendants who are unable ...
,'' and ''Woodson v. North Carolina.''
["Gregg V. Georgia." ''Great American Court Cases, Gale.'' Eds. L. Mpho Mabunda, Allison McClintic Marion, and Mark F. Mikula. Farmington, MI, USA: Gale, 1999. Web.]
See also
*
Lists of United States Supreme Court cases
This page serves as an index of lists of United States Supreme Court cases. The United States Supreme Court is the highest federal court of the United States.
By Chief Justice
Court historians and other legal scholars consider each Chief J ...
*
United States Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...
*
The Imperial Presidency
''The Imperial Presidency'' is a nonfiction book by historian Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr. It was published in 1973 by Houghton Mifflin and reissued in 2004. The book details the history of the presidency of the United States from its conception by ...
*
United States Constitution
The Constitution of the United States is the Supremacy Clause, supreme law of the United States, United States of America. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, in 1789. Originally comprising seven ar ...
*
History of the United States Constitution
The United States Constitution has served as the supreme law of the United States since taking effect in 1789. The document was written at the 1787 Philadelphia Convention and was ratified through a series of state conventions held in 1787 and ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:United States Constitutional Law