Lecture - Congress - Professor Ian Drake Introduction to Law PDF

Preview

Summary

Professor Ian Drake
Introduction to Law...

Description

-CongressThe Inner Workings and Constitutional Right

Congress Coalition - nobody in majority, add parties together, to make 51% or more(majority) to form a government - Often considered weak, because they disagree with each other to begin with, and now they have to work together as one. - Produces uniformity throughout entire country - Avoids extremes in politics Congress is NOT a parliament* - *Law making body, but doesn’t need approval - Parliament - Physical Design - Face each other - Prime Minister = president of england(currently Horrace Johnson) - Big difference: people don’t elect the prime minister, they are chosen by party Democracy - Citizens choose president - Republic: representative does law making Classical Athens - ‘demos’(the people), ‘-kratia’(rule) - Chosen by lottery, male citizen’s names were in pot, whoever was chosen ruled the land, one to two chances in a lifetime of being in assembly Edmund Burke Representative in parliament in 18th century(1774) - “Parliament is not a congress of ambassadors of different and hostile interests, which interests must each maintain as an agent, an advocate against other agents and advocates. Parliament is a deliberative assembly of one negative, one interest, that above all where not local preferences, not local prejudices often guide, but the general good resolving for the general reason of the whole…” - Arguing in favor of the larger good vs the individual districts Tip O’Neil - Lost his first race by 160 votes, because he took his own neighborhood for granted - Father told him “all politics is local” - Every next time he ran, he did a survey of the needs of his locals, and found out that education had to be his priority Lobbying - Persuasion, comes from when people would literally grab their representatives in hotel lobbies and express their concerns, it is a constitutional right to lobby

Why do (govt) members vote the way they do?

- Party loyalty: voting with party, unify interests, strength in numbers, get things done - Ideology: Beliefs so strong that facts won’t overcome belief, very powerful, propels members to advocate things that they believe in (and know that constituents don’t believe in) - Constituent Service(BrainDead!): Work for the people, in order to be re-elected, make the people’s issues their issues Incumbency - person running for re-election, rate is 94-95% NJ Senators - Cory Booker (Democrat) - Robert Menendez (Democrat) *Of the 14,000 bills introduced between 2007 and 2009, only 3.3%, 462, were enacted - More bills = more chance for re-election How does a bill become a law? 1. Someone introduces a bill thinking it might be able to become a law 2. The bill is assigned to a committee before it’s tabled 3. Hearings and consultations will be made to see if the bill should be passed 4. The bill comes out of the house and committee system 5. A vote is made by both houses ● President can veto at any time ● Any revenue bills have to be introduced first in the house To know from Ritchie book - The ‘Imperial Presidency’ (Schlesinger), treads line between being constitutional and being unconstitutional - Iron Triangles: Constituents, Legislators, Agencies - E Pluribus Unum: out of many[states] come one[nation] Constitutional Rights Basic Requirements - Standing(injury and likelihood of redress) - State action - “Case or controversy” - No advisory opinions, courts only settle disputes, can’t issue advisory opinions - Mootness and ripeness doctrines - Ripeness: case/law not ready, then court has no jurisdiction - Mootness: Madisonian Dilemma - The idea of self government, and division of powers so that majorities won’t over power minorities

Rights and Liberties

Parchment Barriers - Madison feared that government would just ignore anything in written documents, and had every right to be fearful Versions of Rights - What govt does - What govt protects Procedural Rights - Rights to proceedings - Due process: everyone must be given procedural protections before any property is derived or treatment is given( trial, evidence, court hearing, etc) - Equal protection: treat like alike, no varied treatments of people based on characteristics Substantive Rights - These are just the givens - Right to free speech, freedom of press, etc Fundamental Rights - “substantive due process” (no longer procedural guarantee, fairness of hearing etc, but added new rights) - Marriage - Privacy - Voting - Child Custody - Interstate Travel - Contraception - Procreation Suspect Classifications - “laws that affect discrete and insular minorities” require a “more searching judicial inquiry.” - Race - Religion - National Origin - Alien Status Means vs. Ends - 3 levels of scrutiny 1) Rational Basis ○ Means: Rational related ○ End: Legitimate govt interest ○ Used when no fundamental rights or suspect classifications are involved 2) Intermediate Scrutiny ○ Means: Substantially Related ○ End: Important govt interest ○ Used when protected classes are involved, mainly gender and illegitimate children 3) Strict Scrutiny ○ Means: Narrowly Tailored(some type of method for achieving goal that is least restrictive on rights) ○ End: Compelling govt. Interest(important for court) ○ Used when fundamental rights or suspect classifications are involved, not much of a test *What role does the court play? Similar to legislator: judge goals, figure out the means they want to achieve with each case Way court evaluates is: figures out whether you’re dealing with a fundamental right, whether

you’re dealing with a suspect classification, and if so, what are the means and what is the end? Relies upon the government’s statements and the plaintiff’s Different outcomes based upon who is on the court, and what are their jurisprudential views...