Exam 4: Constitutional Law

The Bill of Rights:

The executive branch of government has been given the power to enforce laws.

If private entities engage in public functions, constitutional guarantees such as free speech and due process may apply to their actions under the __________ doctrine.

Under the Due Process Clause, social security payments are property which cannot be revoked without procedural due process.

The state of residence of the Jacobsen family passes a statute which requires that male heirs be preferred over female heirs in selecting an executor of an estate. Laura Jacobsen, a lawyer, would like to be the executor of her father's estate, but so would her eighteen-year-old brother who just flunked out of college. She challenges the provision as being a violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The case is now under consideration by the state's highest court. In deciding the constitutionality of the provision, the court will:

The Supreme Court has defined the scope of the Commerce Clause narrowly and, therefore, has restricted the powers of the federal government to regulate business.

Cary, a prominent local attorney, was the subject of a newspaper article concerning a trial in which he was involved as counsel. In that article, Cary was reported to have been disbarred in another state ten years previously. It is not true of Cary, but of his cousin, Frank. Cary will win a suit for defamation against the newspaper:

The U.S. Constitution vests power in the branches of government that form a "checks and balances" system. Those branches of government include:

The U.S. Supreme Court has held that the Takings Clause requires just compensation not only if a governmental taking actually occurs, but also if a governmental regulation reduces the value of the property.

In regard to same sex marriages licensed in a state where such unions are lawful, the U.S. Supreme Court held that the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment:

State action is a term that may include conduct by private parties who perform a public function.

The First Amendment guarantee of free speech applies not only to individuals but also to corporations.

The Congressional power to borrow money on credit of the United States and to coin money have enabled the federal government to establish a national banking system, the Federal Reserve System, and specialized federal lending programs such as the Federal Land Bank.

The states may enact legislation concerning a subject in which there is a federal statute if:

The Contract Clause of the Constitution applies only to the actions of state governments and not to the federal government.

U.S. Supreme Court held that the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment requires a state to license a marriage between two people of the same sex and to recognize a marriage between two people of the same sex when their marriage was lawfully licensed and performed in another state.

Judicial review:

Most constitutional protections apply only to governmental action.

The U.S. Constitution created a federal government of enumerated powers, and legislation enacted by Congress must be based on a specific power the Constitution grants to the federal government or be reasonably necessary for carrying out an enumerated power.

In the Brentwood Academy v. Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association case, the U.S. Supreme Court held that: