Con Law Review

Front 1

Justiciable case or controversy - justicibility requirements

Back 1

1. Standing
2. Ripeness: Immediate threat of harm
3. Mootness
4. Political question

Front 2

Standing Requirements

Back 2

1. Injury
2. causation and redressibility
3. No third party standing
4. No generalized grievances

Front 3

Circumstances where states can be sued in federal court

Back 3

1. waiver
2. pursuant to federal laws adopted under section 5 of the 14th amendment
3. Federal government is suing
4. Bankruptcy proceedings

Front 4

Congress' police power

Back 4

Military
Indian reservations
Federal lands and territories
D.C.

Front 5

Commerce power

Back 5

1. Congress may regulate the channels of interestate commerce.
2. Congress may regulate instrumentalities of interstate commerce and persons or things in interstate commerce
3. Congress may regulate economic activities that have a substantial effect on interstate commerce

Front 6

Congress' power under Section 5 of the 14th amendment

Back 6

Congress may not act only to prevent or remedy violations of rights recoganized by the courts and such laws must be "proportionate" and "congruent" to remedying constitutional violations.

Front 7

Conflict with federal statute

Back 7

treaty = last in time
exec. agreement = fed statute

Front 8

Supremacy clause - implied preemption

Back 8

a. Federal and state laws are mutually exclusive
b. state law impeded the achievement of a federal objective
c. Congress evidences a clear intent to preempt state law.

Front 9

Dormant commerce clause

Back 9

State and local laws are unconstitutional if they place an undue burden on interstate commerce. (burden exceed benefits). Corporations and aliens can sue under it

Exception: Congressional approval and market participant exception

Front 10

Privileges and immunities clause

Back 10

Requires discrimination against out-of-staters in order to apply.
Requires discrimination with regard to civil liberties or important economic activities.
Corporations and aliens cannot sue under it.

No exception.

Front 11

Full faith and credit requirements

Back 11

1. court had jurisdiction over the parties and subject matter.
2. judgment on the merits
3. judgment is final

Front 12

Applying constitutional norms to private conduct

Back 12

1. race discrimination via 13th amendment
2. commerce power
4. public function exception
5. entanglement exception

Front 13

Strict scrutiny

Back 13

Law must be necessary to achieve a compelling government purpose.

Race
National Origin
Alienage
Travel
Voting

Front 14

Intermediate Scrutiy

Back 14

Law must be substantially related to an important government purpose

Gender
Illegitimacy
undocumented alien children

Front 15

Rational Basis

Back 15

Law must be rationally related to a legitimate government interest

Age
disability
wealth
sexual orientation
all other classifications

Front 16

Procedural Due process- What procedures must the government supply?

Back 16

Balance:
a) Importance of interest to the individual
b) ability of additional procedures to increase the accurancy of the fact finding
c) government's interests

Front 17

Taxpayer standing requirement

Back 17

Suit is attacking congressional taxing and spending measures on First Amendment Establishment grounds. Congress' spending power must be involved.

Front 18

Exceptions to Mootness

Back 18

1. Wrong capable of repetition but evading review
2. voluntary cessation
3. class actions suits

Front 19

Exceptions to NO third party standing

Back 19

1. close realtionship with the injured third party
2. injured third party is unlikely to be able to assert his or her own rights
3. Oganization:
a. the members would have standing to sue
b. the interests are germane to the organization's purpose
c. neither the claim nor relief requires participation of individual members.

Front 20

Contracts clause

Back 20

Interference with private contracts= substantial impairments - law must must a reasonably and narrowly tailored means of promoting an important and legitimate public interest.

Front 21

Right to travel

Back 21

1. laws that prevent people from moving into a state must meet strict scrutiny
2. durational residency requirements must meet strict scrutiny
3. Restrictions on foreign travel need meet only the rational basis test.

Front 22

Lemon Test

Back 22

1.There must be a secular purpose for the law

2. The effect must be neither to inhibit nor advance religion

3. there must not be excessive entanglement with religion

Front 23

scrutiny tests

Back 23

Strict = necessary; compelling

intermediate = substantially related; important

rational = rationally related; legitimate

Front 24

Abortion

Back 24

pre-viability: no prohibition; regulations cannot be an undue burden on right to have an abortion

post viability: prohibition okay unless woman's life in danger

Front 25

Content based - speech

Back 25

Presumed to be unconstitutional.

Restriction must be necessary and narrowly tailored to achieve an important government interest

Front 26

obscenity

Back 26

1) appeals to prurient
2) patently offense
3) lacks serious artistic, literary, scientific or political value

Front 27

Content neutral

Back 27

Public forum:
1) content neutral
2) narrowly tailored
3) important government interest
4) alternatives

LPF:
same as PF

non-public:
1) viewpoint neutral
2) reasonably related to legitimate government interest

Front 28

Dormant commerce clause

Back 28

no discrimination = violates the dormant commerce clause if law burdens interstate commerce and the burdens exceed its benefits

discrimination= violates the dormant commerce clause if law burdens interstate commerce unless it's necessary to achieve an important government purpose.

Front 29

Privileges and immunities

Back 29

violates the privileges and immunities clause unless necessary to achieve an important government purpose

Front 30

Vagueness

Back 30

A law is unconstitutionally vague if a reasonable person cannot tell what speech is prohibited and what is allowed.

Front 31

Overbroad

Back 31

A law is unconstitutionally overbroad if it regulates substantially more speech than the constitution allows to be regulated.