Con Pl

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Federal district courts can only exercise original and non-appellate jurisdiction plus the federal court is required to give full faith and credit to state court judgments.

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Congress has empowered only the U.S. Supreme Court to exercise federal appellate jurisdiction to reverse or modify a state court judgment from the state's highest court.

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DIVERSITY JURISDICTION:
no P and no D are domiciled in the same state and the amount of the Ps controversy must exceed $75,000 not considering any recovery of interests or court costs.

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federal courts generally abstain in child custody, alimony, and matters involving probate of a will.
an American citizen (physical and intent domicile ) must be on one side of the controversy

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The Constitution does not require 12-person juries

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although it does require unanimity where only a 6-person jury is used

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Motions to suppress evidence based on the exclusionary rule are premature in grand jury proceedings and will be denied.

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the grand jury is allowed to consider almost all kinds of evidence, even if there was no probable cause for the obtaining of the fingerprints.

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as long as there is a high governmental interest at stake, as long as the warrantless inspections are necessary to further those interests, and the statute allowing the inspections serves the same functions as a warrant, evidence found pursuant to those searches should not be suppressed.

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Because owners and operators of commercial properties in highly regulated industries have a lower expectation of privacy, and because the state's interest in the regulations are heightened, warrantless inspections of those commercial properties will be found reasonable under the Fourth Amendment.

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epileptic seizure would be a complete defense to the mens rea requirement, and thus be a defense to the charge of assault and battery

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While hypnotism, intoxication, and an inaccurate self-defense claim are all possible defenses to the charge, the best defense is the one in which the actor had absolutely no control over his actions.

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that the concept of federalism embedded in the Tenth Amendment disables Congress from requiring states to enact laws or to administer federal law.

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Congress has no authority to require a state legislature to enact any specified legislation

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the Supreme Court shall have original jurisdiction in all cases affecting certain foreign officials and suits in which a state is a party

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but that it shall only have appellate jurisdiction over all other types of suits.

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Doctrines of federalism, designed to keep the federal government from encroaching on state governments (and vice versa)

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provide that federal law generally cannot be applied to state legislators acting in the course of their official duties.

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A state law may be preempted by a federal law:

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1) where Congress expressed an intent to totally preempt;
2) where Congress’s regulation of the area in which the federal interest is so dominant and pervasive that it is assumed (implied) to preempt the entire area; or
3) where the state law stands as an obstacle to Congress’s objective so that it is impossible to comply with both statutes, or where state law frustrates the purpose of Congress in enacting the legislation

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Prison regulations, however, will be upheld if they bear a rational relationship to a legitimate penological interest (security, prison safety or rehabilitation of prisoners), even though the regulation infringes on an inmate’s constitutional rights.

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The following have been upheld as a rational response to legitimate security concerns:
(i) restrictions on prisoner’s access to the press.
(ii) prohibiting prisoners an opportunity to witness cell “shakedowns.”
(iii) restricting a prisoner’s right to receive certain visitors.
(iv) relocating a prisoner to another prison outside the state does not require a prior hearing.

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Religion Exercise:
the challenger can show that the government action targeted the religious practice in question.

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A court typically invalidates government action at strict scrutiny.

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for Equal Protection to apply

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There must be Classification.

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while taxpayers generally lack standing to challenge how money is spent, they have standing to challenge

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a tax they are subject to, and they have standing to challenge an exemption that would violate the establishment clause.

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Eleventh Amendment bars suits against states in federal courts only. It also limits the ability of Congress to abrogate states' immunity from suit under federal laws in their own state courts.

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However, it does not affect whether the state may be sued in its own courts directly under the Constitution.

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the Tenth Amendment-state reserve power.

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reserves to the states only those powers not given to Congress,

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Since the statute favors local commerce and discriminates against interstate commerce, it would be unconstitutional under the negative implications of the Commerce Clause (unless authorized by Congress).

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However, if Congress specifically authorized such discrimination, a state could then enact such a statute. Congress is the final arbiter of permissible state activity in interstate commerce.

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Article IV Privileges and Immunities does not apply to either aliens or to citizens of the state whose law is being challenged.

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Also, there is discrimination against newly arrived residents that is any different from long-term residents.

the Dormant Commerce Clause does not apply to the State as a market participant,

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When the purpose or effect of a state statute regulating commerce is to discriminate against out-of-state businesses,

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and the regulation addresses an area in which Congress has not exercised its full authority over interstate commerce, the Court may find a violation of the negative implications of the Commerce Clause.

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The validity of a state tax on businesses in interstate commerce

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To be valid, there must be a taxable nexus, there must be fair apportionment, the tax cannot discriminate against interstate commerce, and the tax must be related to the services rendered.

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A valid use of the spending power for the general welfare is to "mildly" encourage (to bribe) particular state action to comply with federal policy.

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the power of Congress to condition federal financial benefits upon compliance with unrelated federal policies under the spending power as the authority to pass this legislation.

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The President has absolute immunity from suit for damages arising out of his official conduct even after he leaves office.

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the President has no immunity for unofficial conduct committed prior to or during his presidency.

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adult films are not necessarily obscene and that the ordinance unconstitutionally infringes upon his freedom of speech by prohibiting him from operating a business in a certain location based on the content of the films to be shown.

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Such ordinances have been upheld when their primary purpose is to control the secondary effects such establishments have, (e.g., increased crime, drugs and prostitution) and the ordinance leaves open alternative methods of communication (other locations to open such shops).

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the First Amendment protects the right of a newspaper to publish the lawfully obtained name of a rape victim

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and that a state statute forbidding the publication of a lawfully obtained name to protect the privacy of the victim is unconstitutional.

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“the right of free exercise does not relieve an individual of the obligation to comply with a ‘valid and neutral law of general applicability on the ground that the law proscribes (or prescribes) conduct that his religion prescribes (or proscribes).’

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the use of peyote by Indian tribes in religious ceremonies was not protected against neutral state criminal statutes regulating hallucinogenic drugs.

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a challenge to the taxing and spending power is only possible where

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there is a positive limitation on those powers in the Constitution

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The Eleventh Amendment does not bar the suit when it was brought against state officers, and not the state itself,

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and when it seeks only prospective declaratory and injunctive relief, and not compensatory monetary relief.

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The Supreme Court will not hear cases from the highest state courts if the decisions of those courts rest on independent and adequate state law.

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the state court need not resolve the federal issue if it can decide the case on state grounds.

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The court should hold the statute to be unconstitutional in this case because requiring that all fabric be tested by a single company imposes an unreasonable burden on commerce, when other companies use the same methods.

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even if the statute is reasonably related to a legitimate state interest, it interferes unduly with interstate commerce.

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Even though the tax is high at 50%, Congress has broad power to raise revenue through taxes.

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A measure that appears to be revenue raising on its face is not invalid merely because it may have adverse economic consequences for the activity being taxed.

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Any state law that has a substantial effect on interstate commerce must not be protectionist or otherwise impose an undue burden on interstate commerce.

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A state law that discriminates against interstate commerce is protectionist unless it serves a legitimate local interest that cannot be served by nondiscriminatory legislation.

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When does The state law violate the negative implications of the commerce clause?

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When the state law has a purely discriminatory effect against interstate commerce and the state has less discriminatory alternatives available to protect the legitimate interests cited in the law.

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The contracts clause (Article I, Section 10, Clause 1 of the Constitution) does not forbid state laws affecting contractual relations between private parties so long as they are reasonably related to a legitimate state interest.

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Because the courts typically defer to state regulations of private contracts as reasonable, the statute at issue here is not likely to be found unconstitutional under the contracts clause.

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The Supreme Court has held that a short waiting period (48 hours) does not constitute an undue burden on a woman's right to an abortion.

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On the other hand, the Court has held that parental notification requirements violate a minor's right to an abortion where, as in this case, there is not a satisfactory judicial bypass procedure.

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The president, as the chief executive officer of the U.S. government, has authority to direct the actions of federal executive agencies, so long as the president's directives are not inconsistent with an act of Congress.

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as a general rule, the president does not have authority to direct the actions of persons outside the executive branch unless the president's direction is authorized by an act of Congress. There are no circumstances presented in the facts (such as a sudden attack on the U.S.) that might justify an exception to this general rule.

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A state may grant broader rights under its own constitution than are granted by the federal Constitution.

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when the state has a clear precedent that the recording violated the employee's state constitutional rights, and that it should be excluded as a remedy. The court should apply this precedent to grant the employee's motion.

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The Supreme Court has held that a threat communicated with the intent to intimidate the recipient, is not protected by the speech clause of the First Amendment.

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The Supreme Court has not held racially motivated threats to violate the Thirteenth Amendment's prohibition of involuntary servitude.(13th is only about slavery)

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The court will exercise strict scrutiny only if the challenger can show that the government action TARGETED (INTENDED) the religious practice in question.

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The government is required to select the least burdensome alternative only if a court exercises strict scrutiny to evaluate the action at issue.

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The injury in a right of publicity case is based on the commercial exploitation of someone's name or likeness.

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The plaintiff need not prove that he or she suffered any emotional or dignitary loss.

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the equal protection principles of the Fourteenth Amendment apply to actions of the FEDERAL GOVERNMENT through the due process clause of the Fifth Amendment.

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The privileges and immunities clause of Article IV prohibits actions by states that improperly discriminate against the citizens of other states. AND the Fourteenth Amendment prohibits states from depriving individuals of the privileges or immunities of United States citizenship.
These clauses does not apply to actions of the federal government.

Front 41

Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution gives Congress the POWER TO SPEND ON GENERAL WELFARE only, but this power is inapplicable at issue is not a spending measure.

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Section 5 of the Fourteenth Amendment gives Congress the power to enforce the provisions of the Fourteenth Amendment by appropriate legislation. Congressional legislation is appropriate within the meaning of Section 5 if (1) it seeks to prevent or remedy actions by state or local governments that violate provisions of the Fourteenth Amendment, and (2) its requirements are congruent with and proportional to the Fourteenth Amendment violations it addresses.

Front 42

The U.S. Supreme Court has not held access to medical services to be a fundamental right. Thus, even if the law unduly burdens such access, heightened judicial scrutiny would not be appropriate.

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The appropriate constitutional standard of review therefore is whether the law is rationally related to a legitimate government interest. The apparent legislative judgment that diagnostic centers not affiliated with hospitals would be less reliable than hospitals is rational, regardless of whether it is in fact correct.

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the spending clause of Article I gives Congress power to appropriate money for the general welfare of the United States, there is no clause of the Constitution that gives Congress power generally to regulate for the general welfare. Nor does the commerce clause of Article I give Congress power to regulate any activity that, taken in the aggregate, has a substantial effect on interstate commerce.

Back 43

The regulated activity must be economic or commercial in nature to trigger Congress's commerce power.
the concept of federalism embedded in the Tenth Amendment disables Congress from requiring states to enact laws or to administer federal law.

Front 44

The President lacks any constitutional power to override Congress' appropriations decisions.

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Congress has plenary power to spend for the general welfare, and that power includes the power to mandate how appropriations will be spent.

Front 45

The state court based its decision on its interpretation of the federal Constitution, an interpretation the Supreme Court found to be wrong. The Supreme Court has jurisdiction over the case because the case raises a federal question - the constitutionality of a state statute - and the Supreme Court will exercise that jurisdiction because it has deemed the question important.

Back 45

However, there is a chance that the state Supreme Court might interpret its own Constitution differently than the United States Supreme Court interpreted the United States Constitution. And for that reason, the Supreme Court will remand the case to the state to give it the opportunity to interpret its own constitutional provision, knowing accurately what the United States Constitution would require.