CONSTITUTIONAL LAW
PROFESSOR PREMPEH
Constitutional Interpretation – begin with language of text as well as the structure of the government itself – separation of powers – coined to describe the arrangement of the federal government
1. Text
2. Structure of Government
3. History/Originalism – original intent of the framers or original intent of the ratifiers (who approved the constitution) – to determine how to interpret the constitution
4. Doctrine – make decisions based upon prior precedent cases – what the courts have said on the issue
5. Policy
I. THE FEDERAL JUDICIAL POWER
A) Judicial Review : Source and Scope
Constitution TWO schools ofthought
(1) Jeffersonian (antifederalist)
(a) Leave government decision making to the people (people are good, civic minded, and will come to the right results; unlikely to oppress)
(b) Less of a national government the better—more decisions on the local level
(c) Thought factions were real but could be controlled without structure (probably wrong)
(d) Approach would probably be better for avoiding corruption of elected officials however.
(2) The Federalists (Madison, Hamilton, Jay, The Federalist Papers)
(a) Fear of factions: Group of persons with a common interest has a risk of promoting that interest at the expense of minority
(b) Wanted to structure the constitution with the goal of preventing factions from interfering with our core values (liberty, etc).
(c) Federalists over Jefferson: Built checks and balances into the Constitution. BIGGER government divided into Federal and State and then three branches under that would prevent factions.
Judicial Review: the SC’s authority to review the actions of the legislative and executive branches to determine their constitutionality. The doctrine requires courts to interpret and apply the constitution to acts to determine their validity. The power a federal court has to adjudicate over claims brought before it.
Power of Judiciary: BIG Questions on its role: When law directly conflicts with constitutional provision which prevails, the law or the constitution AND who interprets the law?
ii) Marbury v. Madison. The authority for Judicial Review of Congressional and Presidential Actions. § 13 of the Judiciary Act 1789 and Article III § 2 clause 2 of the Co
Where does the constitution come from? Directly from the people.
(3) Constitution written down; meant to last not to change.
(4) Supremacy Clause (textual clues) and Framer’s intent
Original Jurisdiction: Art III §2 – authority to first hear cases involving:
a) Ambassadors
b) Public Ministers
c) Cases in which the state is a party
Appellate Jurisdiction – Art III §2 – may also hear other (non-original) jurisdictional cases that come to court by appeal.
Marbury v. Madison
Essentially the executive branch wins this case -> because in the small picture, since there wasn’t jurisdiction the court did not grant mandamus
– but in the big picture the executive branch lost, because through this decision, the court established its power of judicial review, in which it could make laws repugnant to the constitution void
Under the judiciary act it gave the Supreme Court the power to issue writs of mandamus
