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SCOPE OF ARTICLE III JUDICIAL POWER
- - Interpretation of Constitution, federal laws, treaties, admiralty and maritime laws
- - Disputes between states, states and foreign citizens, and citizens of diverse
- citizenship
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RIPENESS (Definition)
Plaintiff must allege real harm or imminent threat of harm
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Mootness (Elements)
A CASE IS MOOT UNLESS
- Injury must be personal to that plaintiff,
- Case is a class action and issue still exists for at least one member of the class
- Case may seem moot, but there may be non-frivolous claims of monetary damages
- D stops the harmful action, but is still free to resume it at any time
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STANDING (Elements)
- Plaintiff must have suffered real or genuine injury, any kind
- Injury must be caused by the defendant
- The court must be able to do something to redress the injury
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STANDING (5 Exceptions)
- - Organization – orgs can have standing to sue for injury to itself, or its members if the
- member has standing, and member’s injury is related to the purpose of
- organization, and the individual participation isn’t required
- - Third parties – A party can raise the rights of someone else if the party has
- suffered actual injury and there is a special relationship between the party
- and the third party, and the third party is somehow hindered from raising their
- own rights
- Citizen – citizens have no standing
- - Taxpayer standing – taxpayers can challenge their own tax liability, but they have no
- standing to challenge how the government spends its money, except for money
- given to religion
- Legislators – Legislators have no standing to challenge laws which were properly enacted
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Jurisdiction of the Supreme Court
o Original – all cases affecting ambassadors, public ministers, consuls and those cases in which a state is a party
- o Appellate – all cases that federal power extends
- - Writ of Certiorari – cases from state courts challenging the constitutionality of a federal statute, federal treaty, or state statute
- - All cases from federal courts of appeals
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Political Question
Federal court won’t hear political questions when they are better left for another branch of govt, or if the judiciary is incapable of deciding them
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Adequate Independent State Grounds
- Supreme Court won’t exercise jurisdiction if state court decision is based on adequate and
- independent state grounds, even if federal issues exist
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ABSTENTION DOCTRINE (and Exception)
- Rule - Federal court won’t exercise jurisdiction over constitutional claim of a state law if
- the meaning of the law is unsettled or if it is already pending in state court
Exception – if the state proceedings are brought in bad faith
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ELEVENTH AMENDMENT
- Private party can’t sue a state in federal court unless the state consents, or unless Congress removes state immunity
- Private party can sue state officers individually though
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Limitation on Congress' NECESSARY AND PROPER Power
Must work in conjunction with another federal power, can’t stand alone
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Legislative TAXING Power
- o Power to tax, as long as they bear some reasonable relationship to revenue production OR if Congress has power to
- regulate activity being taxed
- o No tax exports to foreign countries
- o Use taxing power to regulate and prohibit behavior so long as the statute is capable of raising some money
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SPENDING POWER
- - spend to provide for the common defense and the general welfare – any public purpose
- - Congress uses this to bribe states to do what the federal govt wants by placing
- conditions on funds
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Limits on Spending Power Conditions
- - Condition must serve a public purpose
- - Condition must not be ambiguous
- - Condition must be related to the federal interest
- - Condition doesn’t violate an independent bar
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Commerce Power
- - Exclusive power to regulate all foreign and interstate commerce
- - Regulate 1) channels, 2) instrumentalities, 3) activities that have a substantial effect on interstate commerce
- - Regulate intrastate activity if it can be shown to have a substantial affect on interstate commerce or if its cumulative affects within the state substantially affect interstate commerce
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War Related Power
- - Declare war
- - Raise and support armies
- - Provide for and maintain navy
- - Economic regulation during wartime
- - Make rules for regulation of armed forces
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Property Power
Power to dispose of and make rules for territories and other properties of the U.S.
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Legislative Powers to Enforce the 13th, 14th, 15th Amendment
- 13th - abolish the badges and incidents of slavery
- 14th – applies only to state action, not acts of private parties
- 15th – right to vote
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Executive Pardon Power
Pres may grant pardons for all federal offenses but not for impeachment or civil contempt
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Exclusive Federal Powers
- - Coining money
- - Impeachment
- - Immigration
- - Establish requirements for federal
- citizenship
- - Declare war
- - Conduct foreign policy
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Exclusive State Powers
All powers not delegated to federal government are reserved to the states
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INTERSOVEREIGN LITIGATION
- · Suits By United States Against a State
- - U.S. can sue states without consent
- · Suits By a State Against U.S.
- - States cannot sue U.S. without its consent
- · Federal Officer as Defendant
- - Federal officers can be sued if acting beyond their authority and as long as the judgment sought wouldn’t be satisfied out of
- the public treasury and would not interfere with public administration
- · Suits by One State Against Another
- - States may sue one another without consent
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Privileges and Immunities Clause
- · Article IV – Privileges of State Citizenship
- o Prohibits discrimination by a state against
- nonresidents regarding commercial activities and the enjoyment of civil
- liberties
- o State law discriminating against nonresidents
- may be valid if state shows that nonresidents are part of the problem and that
- there are no less restrictive means to solve the problem
- · Fourteenth Amendment – Privileges of National Citizenship
- o States may not deny citizens the privileges or immunities of national citizenship
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Dormant Commerce Clause
- Where Congress has not acted, state law may still be invalid if it
- discriminates against or unreasonably burdens interstate commerce
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State Regulation of Commerce
- - Laws that favor in-state commerce are always struck down
- - Laws that discriminate for the purpose of promoting health or safety are struck down, unless state shows there are no reasonable, non-discriminatory means alternatives
- - A state MAY prefer its own citizens when acting as a market participant
- - If a nondiscriminatory state law burdens interstate commerce, it will be valid unless the burden outweighs the promotion
- or a legitimate local interest
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