• Constitutional Law
• What unit of government provides authoritative interpretations of constitutional law?
• The Constitution
  • Article I - Legislative Branch
  • Article II - Executive Branch
  • Article III - Judicial Branch
  • Artivle IV - V - Relations between the states, between national and states, amendments, and limitations on government power.
  • Article VI - Supremacy Clause
  • Article VII - Ratification
  • Bill of Rights
  • Flexibility
• Fundamental principles
  • Rule of Law
  • Separation of Powers
  • Checks and Balances
  • Federalism
  • Individual Rights - protection of liberty and property
  • Supremacy Clause
• Courts
• Trial court vs. appellate court
• Trial courts - original jurisdiction, one judge, juries.
• Appellate courts - collegial decisionmaking, sources of information.
• Three part definition of jurisdiction
  • Subject matter
  • Personal
  • Geographic
• Federal Courts
  • Compare to state courts
  • U.S. District Courts
  • U.S. Circuit Courts of Appeal
  • U.S. Supreme Court
• Civil vs. criminal law
• Hierarchy of law
• Habeas Corpus
• Parties to a lawsuit (litigants)
  • Plaintiff, Defendant or Petitioner, Respondent
  • Appellant, Appellee or Petitioner, Respondent
• Federal court caseload - Article III subject matter jurisdiction
• Federal judges & justices - appointment and removal
  • Independent judiciary
• Procedure before U.S. Supreme Court
  • Major role
  • Writ of certiorari - what it is and how it is granted
  • Judicial review
  • 9 justices
  • Constitutional origin
• Understanding appellate court decisions/opinions
  • Name of case (style)
  • Facts
  • Issue(s)
  • Holding
  • Reasoning
  • Majority (or plurality) opinion
  • Dissenting opinion
  • Concurring opinion
  • Writing a brief
• Interpretivism (doctrine of original intent) vs. noninterpretivism
• Judicial activism vs. judicial restraint
• Stare Decisis
• Standing
• Judicial Review
• Marbury v. Madison (1803)
  • Courts have duty to interpret the law
  • Constitution is the supreme law of the land
  • Courts can declare void laws that conflict with the Constitution
• State courts can interpret federal law, but U.S. Supreme Court is the final authority on federal law
• Federal court power of judicial review concerns federal law only, not state law
• Dred Scott case (1857)
• A modern example of judicial review - Texas v. Johnson (1989)
• Checks on judiciary held by Congress
  • Budget
  • Organization and structure of courts
  • Jurisdiction
• Congressional override of Supreme Court decisions
  • Statute or regulation interpreted - pass another statute
  • Constitution interpreted - propose an amendment
  • Most effective method of overruling - Constitutional amendment
• Chisholm v. Georgia (1793) - 11th Amendment
• Three Civil War Amendments (overruled Dred Scott)
  • 13th Amendment - slavery
  • 14th Amendment - recognized all persons born or naturalized in U.S. as citizens
  • 15th Amendment - voting
• Checks on the judiciary held by the executive branch
  • President can nominate new federal judges
  • Executive branch enforcement of court orders

Chapter 1

• Theory of natural rights
• Civil rights vs. civil liberties
• 1st Amendment
• 2nd Amendment
• 5th Amendment
• 6th Amendment
• 7th Amendment
• 8th Amendment
• 9th Amendment
• Bill of Rights
• Importance of 14th Amendment
• Substantive due process vs. procedural due process
• State action
• DeShaney v. Winnebago Social Services (1989)
• Under what circumstances will private action be state action?
• Historic (1791) application of Bill of Rights to levels of government
• Selective incorporation
• Tests or standards for review for cases alleging discrimination or violations of fundamental rights
  • Rational basis test
  • Strict judicial scrutiny
  • Immediate or heightened scrutiny

Chapter 5

• Balance of Interests
  • Government control of crime
  • Protection of individual rights and liberties and privacy
• 4th Amendment search and seizure
• Historic view of 4th Amendment search - Olmstead v. U.S. (1926)
• Modern view of 4th Amendment search - Katz v. U.S. (1967)
• Probable cause
  • Illinois v. Gates (1983) Totality of the circumstances test
  • No formula applicable to every case
• General rule for searches and seizures
  • Warrant requirement
  • Neutral judicial officer
  • Probable cause
  • Description of places to be searched; things to be seized
• Exceptions to 4th Amendment warrant requirement
• The "Automobile Exception" - Carroll v. United States (1925)
• Scope of a warrantless auto search - Ross v. U.S. (1982) and California v. Acevedo (1991)
• Investigatory Detentions
  • Terry v. Ohio (1968)
  • Stop based on reasonable suspicion
  • Limites search if reason to believe armed, dangerous
• Arrest - "Free to leave" test
• Purpose, development and incorporation of the exclusionary rule
  • Weeks v. U.S. (1914)
  • Mapp v. Ohio (1961)
• Good faith exception - U.S. v. Leon (1984)
• 5th Amendment protection against self-incrimination - Miranda v. Arizona (1968)
• Miranda reaffirmed - Dickerson v. U.S. (2000)
• Exceptions to Miranda requirements
  • Public safety exception - New York v. Quarles (1984)
• Development of 6th Amendment right to counsel
  • Powell v. Alabama (1932)
  • Gideon v. Wainright (1963)
  • Argersinger v. Hamlin (1972) as modified in 1979
• 5th Amendment protection against double jeopardy
• Prisoner civil rights
  • Hutto v. Finney (1978)
  • Conditions of confinement - 8th Amendment proscription against cruel and unusual punishment
  • Conditions of confinement include housing assignments, physical punishment, violence, medical care, etc.
  • 1st Amendment speech and religion rights
  • 5th Amendment due process rights
  • 4th Amendment protection against unreasonable search
• The death penalty
  • Furman v. Georgia (1972)
  • Gregg v. Georgia (1976)
  • Ring v. Arizona (2002)
  • Atkins v. Virginia (2002)
  • Wiggins v. Smith (2003)
  • Roper v. Simmons (2005)
  • Moratoriums and recent events
• Procedural due process in juvenile proceedings - In re Gault (1967)

Chapter 6

• Privacy
• Political philosophies of libertarianism and conservatism
• Constitutional foundations for a privacy right
  • 1st Amendment
  • 3rd Amendment
  • 4th Amendment
  • 5th Amendment
  • 9th Amendment
• Early Supreme Court cases suggesting or predicting a privacy right
  • Jacobson v. Massachusetts (1905)
  • Myer v. Nebraska (1923)
  • Pierce v. Society of Sisters (1925)
  • Skinner v. Oklahoma (1942)
• Griswold v. Connecticut (1965)
• Eisenstat v. Baird (1972)
• Lawrence v. Texas (2003)
• Roe v. Wade (1973)
• Planned Parenthood v. Casey (1992)
• Partial birth abortion cases
• Distinguish right to refuse medical treatment from right to assisted suicide
  • Cruzan v. Missouri Health Department (1990)
  • Vacco v. Quill and Washington v. Glucksberg (1972)
  • Gonzales v. Oregon (2006)

Chapter 3

• 1st Amendment - a basis for free speech and expression and peaceful assembly
• 1st Amendment incorporated - Gitlow v. New York (1925)
• Right to 1st Amendment expression is not absolute
• Types of speech receiving no 1st Amendment protection
• History of Clear and Present Danger Test
  • Schenck v. U.S. (1919)
  • Whitney v. California (1927)(J. Brandeis, concurring)
  • Brandenburg v. Ohio (1969)
• Fighting Words
  • Historic view - Chaplinksy v. New Hampshire (1942)
  • Modern view - Cohen v. California (1971) and Gooding v. Wilson (1972)
• Profanity - Cohen v. California (1971)
• Symbolic speech - Tinker v. Des Moines Ind. School Dist. (1969)
• Indecency or public nudity - Barnes v. Glen Theatre (1991)
• Obscenity
  • The Miller test - Miller v. California (1973)
  • Child pornography
• Freedom of Assembly
  • Edwards v. South Carolina (1963)
  • Adderly v. Florida (1966)
  • Abortion protest cases
• Public Forum
• Time, Place, and Manner Regulations

Chapter 7

• Foundations for an anti-discrimination principle
  • Declaration of Independence
  • 14th Amendment (state government)
  • 5th Amendment (federal government)
• Analyses or tests used for Equal Protection Clause cases
  • Rational basis test
  • Strict judicial scrutiny
    • Korematsu v. United States (1944)
    • compelling state interest
    • the "suspect" classifications
  • Heightened judicial scrutiny
• Racial discrimination cases
  • Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)
  • Missouri ex rel. Gaines v. Canada (1938)
  • McLaurin v. Oklahoma State Regents (1950)
  • Sweatt v. Painter (1950)
  • Brown v. Board of Education I (1954)
• Sex discrimination cases
  • Frontiero v. Richardson (1973)
  • Mississippi Univ. for Women v. Hogan (1982)
  • United States v. Virginia (1996)

Recent Decisions

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Instructor: Dr. Lowell Markey, Humanities Building H-21, Allegany College of Maryland, 12401 Willowbrook Road, SE, Cumberland, MD 21502-2596. 301-784-5300. E-mail address: lmarkey@allegany.edu

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