Law and Public Affairs: Midterm Exam PDF

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Professor David Cox...

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Format ● Knowing material + being able to apply it (ie. Not gonna be what is due process - here are the situations which is less likely to fulfill constitutional due process?) ● 50 questions -> lots of true or false ● First 25 q’s are applying the material second 25 constitution assignment (due process 5th 6th 14th applicable to states) STUDY GUIDE ●

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Framers of Constitution ○ Founding Fathers: John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and George Washington ○ 1787 Constitutional Convention ○ Virginia Plan - bicameral legislature; New Jersey Plan - one vote per state Sources of Law ○ US Constitution ○ Common Law: Magna Carta ■ Based on broad principles ■ Innocent until guilty ■ 1215 by King John ■ established the principle that everyone is subject to the law, even the king, and guarantees the rights of individuals, the right to justice and the right to a fair trial US Constitution 1787 ○ Strict document vs. flexible document -> ie. interstate commerce issues and other issues that were not even envisioned by those who wrote the Constitution ○ 7 Articles & Bill of Rights ○ 16 additional times the Constitution was amended (once every 15 years) ○ Founders wanted it to be a difficult process so it would not be frivolous or casual ○ Article 5 addresses the details of amending the Constitution Constitutional Concepts ○ Organization of Government ■ Three branches: executive, legislative, judicial ■ Each branch has a system of checks and balances ○ Fundamental Rights ■ Right to bear arms, freedom of religion press speech assembly ○ Standing ■ Whether you can get involved in a decision the government is making ■ Standing limits participation in lawsuits and asks whether the person bringing a lawsuit has show an “injury in fact” to their own legal interests ○ Due Process ■ Cannot be deprived right to life, liberty and property without due process of law ■ Hearing + notice = fairness

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Concept that anybody who is going to be affected by a decision has the right to know what a government is going to do and be heard ○ Equal Protection ■ Trying to look at people with a fresh look (no bias on aspects like gender) ○ Jurisdiction ■ Two kinds: territorial and subject matter ■ Territorial jurisdiction of the state of Arkansas is anywhere within the boundary of Arkansas (the physical boundaries) ■ Subject matter jurisdiction is what types of cases is a court authorized to hear or what types of regulation/decisions as a governmental entity allowed to exercise jurisdiction over ○ Takings ■ Government can take your land ■ Eminent domain Amendment V ○ Preemption ■ In order for preemption to apply, essentially federal government has to be regulating in a specific field ■ Invalidation of a U.S. state law that conflicts with federal law ■ Constitution Article VI Clause 2: Supremacy Clause ○ Commerce Clause ○ Revising the Constitution ■ ⅔ of both House and Senate ■ ⅔ of states call a convention for proposing amendments ■ ratified by the legislatures of ¾ states Executive Branch ○ President and Vice President ○ Qualifications ■ Has to be at least 35 years old ■ Natural born US citizen ○ Terms ■ President selected every 4 years ■ Can be elected two times ■ Cannot exceed constitutional limit of 10 years (passed after FDR) ■ Example of Ford, Nixon, JFK ○ Authorities ■ Executive Orders ■ International Treaties ■ Political Appointments ■ Budget ■ Role in Lawmaking ■ Presidential Products Legislative Branch ○ Congress

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Qualifications ■ Senate: 30 years old, US citizen for 9 years ■ House: 25 years old, US citizen for 7 years ○ Terms ■ Re-elected every 2 years ○ Authorities ■ Statutes (a written law passed by a legislative body) ■ Role in International Treaties ■ Role in Political Appointments ■ Budget ■ Congressional Products ● Judicial Branch ○ Courts ○ Qualifications ■ No age requirement to become a federal judge ■ Have to be US citizen ○ Terms ■ Until they resign, die or are removed from office ○ Court Opinions ● Administrative ‘Branch’ ○ Bureaucracy ○ Qualifications ■ Are not elected ■ People who work in the bureaucracy (ie. EPA) ■ Career people who work for these various agencies ○ Terms ○ Authorities ■ Regulation ■ Guidance Executive ● Executive Order ○ Order issued by the President which doesn’t require any approval by Congress ○ Only applicable to executive branch not other branches ○ Laws can’t be changed because of executive orders ○ Ceremonial function or goal statement ● International Treaties ○ Agreement between two or more countries on any subject ○ Once negotiations are done between the national leaders, Senate has to approve international treaty by majority vote ● Political Appointments ○ You become president of the US and then appoint people to executive positions like head of EPA ○ Usually appoint those who will help your agenda

○ Check and balances: US Senate has to approve of the highest appointments Budget ○ OMB, CBO ○ President signs it and it becomes law ○ President vetoes it then ⅔ House and Senate majority vote can override it Legislative ● Statutes ○ USCA: United States Code Annotated has certain notes relating laws Bureaucracy ● Regulations ○ Rules designed to implement statutes Four phases of changes in the law ●

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Demand ○ Formal: lobbyists ○ Informal: crisis, emergency Process Notes ● Interpretation ● Budget ● Courts ○ Interpret the law ● Presidential Succession ○ President ○ Vice President ○ Speaker of the House

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Senate President Pro Tempore (ranking person in terms of seniority in US senate) ○ Secretary of State Presidential Campaign ○ Elections used to be more confined before ○ Early campaign - posturing ○ Primaries ○ Party Convention ■ Kickoff to formally name president and vice president running mates ■ Public event ○ Fall Campaign Constitutional Approach to presidential campaign ○ Election day ■ First Tuesday after first monday of november ○ Popular vote ■ Basically the raw score ○ Electoral vote ■ Electoral college elects the president under the constitution ■ Each congressional district gets to name a member ■ Members of electoral college are not required to vote for the same candidate its state’s popular vote voted for ■ Selection process ■ Electoral college ● 538 electors - 435 Representatives, 100 Senators, 3 Electors (DC) ● 270 required ○ House of Representatives Presidential Impeachment ○ High crimes and misdemeanors ○ House ○ Vote on charges ■ Majority required -> Impeached ○ Impeach does not mean get removed from office, it is being on trial ○ Trial Phase ■ House as prosecutor ■ Senate as jury ■ Chief Justice as judge ■ President as defendant ■ Vote ■ 60 + / 100 Senators vote, President is removed from office ○ 3 Presidents in history who have been impeached: bill clinton, andrew johnson, and richard nixon resigned before he could be impeached...