Constitutional Law I Exam II Review Sheet

Constitutional Law I Exam II Review Sheet

This exam is worth ten percent of your overall course grade and will be comprised of 25 multiple choice questions.

For each case listed (unless otherwise indicated by “focus on”), I expect you to be familiar with the facts, issues, holdings, and key parts of the reasoning of the opinion of the Court, concurring and dissenting opinions

Federalism
Definition of Federalism
Why is the US a federal system, according to James Madison in Federalist 39? Supremacy clause makes national government supreme by enumerated powers limit national government. States gain representation in three ways:  election of House by population, selection of Senate by state (two Senators per state), and selection of president by Electoral College.
Confederal systems: Allow greater member sovereignty that a federal system. Examples: UN, EU, and US under Articles of Confederation
Advantages of federalism: Hamilton and Brandeis
Alexander Hamilton: States control local, internal affairs. National government handles diplomacy, defense, national economy (e.g. currency)
Louis Brandeis: States are laboratories of democracy
Disadvantages of federalism: National government may grow too powerful. States may use their power to resist civil rights.

Tenth Amendment
Text of tenth amendment
National League of Cities v. Usery (1976)
Garcia v. San Antonio (1985)
Printz v. U.S. and Mack v. U.S. (1997)

Eleventh Amendment
Citizen diversity jurisdiction
Citizen state jurisdiction
Text of eleventh amendment took away citizen state jurisdiction
Federal question jurisdiction
Sovereign immunity
Abrogation of sovereign immunity
Seminole Tribe of Florida v. Florida (1996)
Alden v. Maine (1999) (remember this is more of a tenth than an eleventh amendment case )
Nevada Department of Human Resources v. Hibbs (2003)

The Scope of National Power
McCulloch v. Maryland (1819)
Necessary and proper clause
Supremacy clause

National Commerce Power
Contrast NLRB v. Jones & Laughlin Steel Co. (1937) with pre-1937 period
Wickard v. Filburn (1942)
Heart of Atlanta Motel v. U.S. and Katzenbach v. McClung (1964)
United States v. Lopez (1995)
United States v. Morrison (2000)
Gonzales v. Raich (2005)
Class of activities
Rational basis test
Jurisdictional hook or jurisdictional element (e.g. advertising to interstate travelers)
Substantial effects test from Lopez
Economic activity
Raich combines substantial effects and rational basis tests

Commerce Power and State Power
Four theories: concurrent power, dormant power, mutual exclusiveness, selective exclusiveness (and know which one Marshall used in Gibbons v. Ogden)
Gibbons v. Ogden (1824)
Cooley v. Board of Wardens (1851)
Pike v. Bruce Church (1970)
Granholm v. Heald (2005)

Takings Clause and Just Compensation
Know relevant portion of text of fifth amendment
Hawaii Housing Authority v. Midkiff (1984)
Kelo v. City of New London, Connecticut (2005)

Voting Rights and Race
Shaw v. Reno (1993) and Shaw v. Hunt (1996)
Hunt v. Cromartie (2001)

Campaign Finance
Buckley v. Valeo (1976). Focus on: Court strikes down restrictions on expenditures but upholds restrictions on contributions. Government has a compelling interest in preventing corruption or the appearance of corruption. The greatest risk of corruption comes from large contributions.
McConnell v. FEC (2003): Focus on: Court upholds restrictions on soft money.