Introductions

• Meredith King• Carly Ross

Constitution Day!!!!!•History and Content of the Constitution

•Case Discussion: The First Amendment

•Case Discussion: The Fourth Amendment

•Questions

•A Moment of Zen From Your Law School Friends

THE CONSTITUTION

The Structure of the Constitution

The Constitutio

nArticle 1: The Powers of Congress

•Raise Revenue •Raise Military Forces•Lay and Collect Taxes•Coin Money•Regulate Interstate and International Commerce•Establish Rules for Immigration•Declare Ware•Establish Post Office •Establish Federal Courts (Art III)•Enforce the 14th Amendment

The Constitutio

nArticle 2: The Powers of the President

•Commander in Chief

•Make Treaties (with advise and consent of the Senate)

•Appoint Ambassadors

The Constitutio

nArticle 3: Powers of the Judiciary

•Decide Federal Questions•Decide Cases Involving Ambassadors•Decide Cases Involving Navigable Waters•Decide Cases in Which the United States is a Party•Decide Cases Between Two or More States•Interpret the Constitution and the laws of the United States?

No!"[T]here is not a syllable in the [Constitution] which directly empowers the national courts to construe the laws according to the spirit of the Constitution." --Alexander Hamilton, Federalist No. 81

Marbury v. Madison•Supreme Court decided that where an act of Congress violates the Constitution Federal Courts must follow the Constitution and invalidate the law

•First time in Western history a court invalidated a law by declaring it “unconstitutional”

•Opinion was written by John Marshall, first Chief Justice of the United States

"The aim of [the] [C]onstitution is, or ought to be, first to obtain for rulers men who possess most wisdom to discern, and most virtue to pursue, the common good of the society; and in the next place, to take the most effectual precautions for keeping them virtuous whilst they continue to hold their public trust." --James Madison, Federalist No. 57

Wait!!! What about the Bill of Rights?

The Bill of Rights

The Bill of RightsFreedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of assembly, freedom of religion, freedom to petition the government

First Amendment:

Second Amendment:

Right to keep and bear arms

Third Amendment: No solider can be quartered in any house during a time of peace

Fourth Amendment:Right to be free from unreasonable search and seizure

The Bill of RightsDouble Jeopardy – No person shall be tried for the same crime twice; Due Process– No person shall be deprived life, liberty, or property w/out due process of law

Fifth Amendment:

Sixth Amendment:

Right to a speedy & public trial; right to counsel, right to obtain witnesses in your favor, right to confront witnesses and accusers

Seventh Amendment:

Right to a trial by jury in civil cases; Juries decide the facts of a case

The Bill of RightsFreedom from excessive bail, excessive fines, and cruel and unusual punishments

Eighth Amendment:

Ninth Amendment: All rights not listed in the Constitution are reserved for the people

Tenth Amendment: All powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution are reserved for the states

Bill of Rights: A Controversial Position

[The] bills of rights . . . are not only unnecessary in the proposed constitution, but would even be dangerous.

-Alexander Hamilton, Federalist No. 84

Ninth Amendment: All rights not listed in the Constitution are reserved for the people

Dissention

Soo… What’s the theme?

“It would be inappropriate to offer a last word on this story (the story of our Constitution), since the whole point of [the] most insightful argument[s] for the new Constitution was that it enshrined an argumentative process in which no such thing as a last word would ever be uttered.”

THE FIRST AMENDMENT

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or

prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press, or the right of the people to peaceably to assemble, and to petition

the Government for a redress of grievances.”

SCHWARZENEGGER

V. ENTERTAINMENT MERCHANTS

ASSOCIATION

Super Columbine Massacre RPG!

Click icon to add picture

WHAT DID THE COURT DECIDE?

Video game HAS first amendment protection

Can block minors from obscene material, but a video game is not obscene

No link between video games and aggression

Law imposes restriction on speech merely because it is violent and must be struck down because there is no compelling interest and law fails to narrowly address reason

THE FOURTH AMENDMENT

Right to be Free from Unreasonable Search and Seizures

No Warrants can be Issued Without Probable Cause

Savana Redding Safford Unified School District v. Redding—a 13-year-old who was strip-searched by school officials after a classmate’s uncorroborated accusation that she previously possessed ibuprofen.

Stratford High School Raid

School locker searches can be

based on a "reasonable

suspicion" of illegal activity

Our Moment of Zen:

What does the Constitution mean for you?