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150 cards
1What are the three branches of the federal government?
2How does the Constitution prevent one branch of government from exercising too much power?
3May Congress exercise powers other than those specifically enumerated in Article I of the Constitution?
4What express limits does the Constitution place on Congress’s powers?
5What implied power does the Necessary and Proper Clause in the U.S. Constitution give to Congress?
6How have courts interpreted Congress’s implied powers under the Necessary and Proper Clause?
7May the Necessary and Proper Clause serve as the sole basis for an exercise of congressional power?
8What powers does Congress have under the Commerce Clause?
9What is interstate commercial activity?
10What are the channels of interstate commerce?
11What are the instrumentalities of interstate commerce?
12What are the three main areas of interstate commerce that Congress can regulate under the Commerce Clause?
13What is intrastate commercial activity?
14May Congress regulate some intrastate commercial activity?
15What are the bases of Congress’s power to regulate wholly intrastate commerce?
16What is the stream-of-commerce theory of Congress’s commerce power?
17Under what circumstances will a court find that intrastate commercial activity has a substantial effect on interstate commerce?
18Under what circumstances does wholly intrastate commercial activity have a close and substantial relationship with interstate commerce?
19For purposes of the Commerce Clause, what is the aggregation principle?
20Concerned about the large numbers of states legalizing the recreational use of marijuana, Congress enacted a new criminal law that imposed a tough ...
21Under what circumstances may Congress use its commerce power to regulate intrastate commercial activity that has no substantial effect on interstat...
22What is rational basis review?
23What standard of review does a district court use when a claimant raises a Commerce-Clause challenge to a federal statute regulating wholly intrast...
24For purposes of the Commerce Clause, what is economic activity?
25Does the U.S. Supreme Court use the same standard of review to evaluate economic and noneconomic activity?
26Under what circumstances may Congress regulate wholly intrastate noneconomic activities under its commerce power?
27May Congress use its power to regulate interstate commerce to require individuals to enter a given market?
28What two main powers does Congress have under the Taxing and Spending Clause?
29What is a direct tax?
30What is an indirect tax?
31Must income taxes be apportioned?
32May Congress use its taxing power to indirectly penalize undesirable conduct or activity?
33May Congress use its taxing power to regulate a matter reserved to the states or the people?
34Congress passed a law that placed a federal tax on selling illegal drugs. The law was based on a percentage of sales. To generate revenue and avoid...
35Congress wanted to require all individuals to have health-insurance coverage. However, some members of Congress were concerned that a law directly ...
36What limits does the Constitution impose on how Congress may spend any revenue it collects?
37May Congress use its spending power to encourage states to adopt desired regulatory schemes?
38Can Congress put conditions on a state’s receipt of federal funding?
39Congress enacted a criminal statute that made it illegal for local public officials involved in any program that received federal funds to receive ...
40What enumerated powers does Congress possess with respect to war, defense, and foreign affairs?
41Has the U.S. Supreme Court interpreted Congress’s war powers broadly?
42May Congress establish military courts and tribunals?
43A war effort was winding down. Troops were being demobilized and sent home. The demobilization caused a spike in the demand for residential apartme...
44Can treaties address subjects outside of Congress’s regulatory powers?
45If a state’s activity does not conflict with federal law, can a state engage in foreign relations?
46Do federal treaties and executive agreements preempt state and local laws?
47Upset about a recent incident overseas, a state government adopted a law that prohibited a particular foreign country from owning any land within t...
48What are the Reconstruction Amendments?
49What powers do the Reconstruction Amendments grant Congress?
50Which constitutional amendments grant Congress enforcement powers?
51For purposes of the Thirteenth Amendment, what are the badges and incidents of slavery?
52Does Congress have the power to regulate private conduct under the Thirteenth Amendment?
53What rights does the Fourteenth Amendment guarantee?
54What enforcement powers does the Fourteenth Amendment grant to Congress?
55Under its power to enforce the Fourteenth Amendment, can Congress pass a law governing the actions of private individuals or businesses?
56May Congress use its enforcement powers under the Fourteenth Amendment to regulate federal actors?
57Can Congress use its power under the Enforcement Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to enact laws to prevent future violations of the Fourteenth Am...
58May Congress define a violation of the Fourteenth Amendment’s due process and equal protection guarantees?
59Are there any limits to how Congress may fashion remedies for violations of the Fourteenth Amendment under its enforcement powers?
60Data showed that a large percentage of people with disabilities did not have access to state-government services. After looking at this data, Congr...
61What rights does the Fifteenth Amendment guarantee?
62What powers does the Fifteenth Amendment grant Congress?
63Does Congress have the power under the Fifteenth Amendment to prohibit voting-rights discrimination based upon national origin?
64May Congress use its Fifteenth-Amendment enforcement powers to prohibit conduct that the U.S. Supreme Court has not yet held violates the amendment...
65May Congress use its enforcement powers under the Fifteenth Amendment to regulate private parties?
66What power does the Property Clause grant Congress?
67In the context of constitutional law, what is the police power?
68Does the Property Clause of the U.S. Constitution give Congress broad authority to regulate the use of federal public lands?
69A state passed regulations permitting individuals to kill any wolf in the state that reasonably appeared to pose a danger to people or property. La...
70Can Congress regulate the conduct of elections for membership in the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate?
71What is Congress’s Treaty Power?
72What powers pertaining to money does the Constitution vest in Congress?
73What powers pertaining to immigration does the Constitution vest in Congress?
74In which branch of government does the Constitution vest the power to regulate the mail service?
75What powers pertaining to intellectual property does the Constitution vest in Congress?
76Does Congress have the constitutional authority to create perpetual or infinite copyrights?
77Does Congress have any expressly enumerated powers over the federal judiciary?
78Does Congress have constitutional authority with respect to maritime law?
79What constitutional authority does Congress have with respect to the District of Columbia?
80May Congress pass laws that govern military installations, such as forts and bases?
81What are the constitutional sources of the president’s power?
82Is presidential power at its broadest when Congress expressly or impliedly authorizes an action?
83What authority does the Take Care Clause vest in the president?
84The president of the United States wanted to initiate a criminal prosecution against an individual who appeared to have violated federal drug laws....
85May the president create law?
86Malware threatened to cripple the operation of cell-phone networks. To avoid damage to the national economy, the president of the United States iss...
87Does the president have the power to decline to prosecute offenses against the United States?
88What is an executive order?
89By what authority may the president issue an executive order?
90What powers does the Commander-in-Chief clause grant the president?
91Do the president’s commander-in-chief powers include the power to create military tribunals that adjudicate charges against foreign nationals invol...
92Does the president have the power to declare war?
93Do the president’s commander-in-chief powers include the power to deploy U.S. military forces to engage in emergency tactical operations without fi...
94Congress was concerned about the increasing cost of military operations abroad. To address this budgetary concern, Congress enacted a law that requ...
95What is a writ of habeas corpus?
96Under what circumstances may the president suspend the writ of habeas corpus in his role as commander in chief?
97In his role as commander in chief, may the president detain citizens indefinitely without due process?
98What powers does the president have with respect to foreign affairs?
99The president of the United States decided to recognize a new foreign government. However, both houses of Congress expressly objected to recognizin...
100What is a treaty?
101What is a self-executing treaty?
102What is a non-self-executing treaty?
103What powers with respect to treaties does the Constitution vest in the president?
104Do the president’s constitutional treaty powers include the power to use a self-executing treaty to amend or annul an existing federal statute?
105As part of a deal with a country run by a dictator, the president of the United States proposed and the Senate ratified a non-self-executing treaty...
106May the president unilaterally rescind a treaty without congressional approval?
107What is an executive agreement?
108Does the president have the power to enter into an executive agreement with another nation?
109What are the primary similarities between a treaty and an executive agreement?
110What is the primary difference between a treaty and an executive agreement?
111Are treaties and executive agreements that violate the Constitution enforceable?
112What procedures does the Constitution define for the appointment of officials?
113Does Congress have the constitutional authority to appoint principal officers of the United States?
114Can Congress make the president seek the Senate’s consent to remove a principal officer of the United States?
115For purposes of constitutional law, what is an inferior or non-core officer?
116May Congress restrict the power of the president of the United States by requiring the president to show good cause for the removal of non-core exe...
117Congress enacted a law stating that the attorney general of the United States could remove an independent counsel only for good cause. The presiden...
118May Congress vest the power to appoint or remove inferior executive-branch officers in the federal courts?
119What is a recess appointment?
120Can Congress require the president to seek its approval before exercising his constitutional authority to execute the laws?
121The president sought to use the presidential power to execute federal law by entering into a certain type of contract. However, Congress wanted to ...
122May Congress require the administrative agencies acting under delegated executive power to make reports to Congress on their uses of delegated auth...
123Congress enacted a review statute that required federal administrative agencies, including all cabinet departments, to report major rules to Congre...
124May Congress act to limit the president’s actions during wartime?
125What is impeachment?
126What are the three grounds that Congress can use to impeach an executive official?
127What is the House of Representatives’s role in the impeachment process?
128What is the Senate’s role in the impeachment process?
129For what offenses may federal officials be impeached?
130What penalties may the Senate impose on an impeached official?
131May Congress’s impeachment and conviction of a federal official be reviewed in federal court?
132Can Congress authorize a legislative officer to execute a federal statute?
133Must Congress present legislation to the president for signature before the bill becomes law?
134What options does the president have when Congress presents him with a bill?
135Congress enacted a bill and promptly adjourned for a month. The president of the United States neither signed nor vetoed the bill. Ten business day...
136May the president of the United States strike a single proposed item from a bill before signing the rest of the bill into law?
137What is a legislative veto?
138Can Congress enact a statute delegating regulatory or policy-making authority to one of the other branches?
139Congress enacted a statute that gave an executive-branch agency the sole power to establish standards of professional conduct for attorneys. These ...
140The president of the United States wanted to promote electrically powered vehicles. The president asked Congress to give him the authority to impos...
141What is executive immunity?
142What type of executive immunity does the president enjoy?
143A member of the armed forces was killed during active duty while engaged in a conflict overseas. The member’s family believed that the president of...
144What type of executive immunity do executive-branch officials subordinate to the president enjoy?
145May the president withhold confidential information during judicial or legislative proceedings?
146What is the source of the president’s qualified privilege to withhold confidential information during judicial or legislative proceedings?
147What is legislative immunity?
148Does the Speech and Debate Clause provide absolute immunity for statements made in conjunction with a speech or debate in either house of Congress?
149A senator sat on the Senate Armed Services Committee. The day after a hearing involving a particular defense contractor, the senator tweeted that t...
150What is judicial immunity?
All flashcards
150 cards