WHAT IS LIBERTY?SESSION 4:

LAST TIME …

SOURCES OF CONSTITUTIONAL DEBATE: PEOPLE: WHO ARE PEOPLE ? EQUALITY: WHAT DO DIFFERENT PEOPLE DESERVE IN ORDER TO MAKE THEM EQUAL? DUE PROCESS: WHAT PROCESSES LEGITIMIZE TAKING LIFE, LIBERTY, OR PROPERTY FROM PEOPLE?

LIFE, LIBERTY, AND THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS

… — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — …

… That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, …

…laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.

‣ NEARLY EVERY COURT HAS THE POWER TO FIND PRIMARY LEGISLATION UNCONSTITUTIONAL. ‣ CONSTITUTIONAL REVIEW IS NOT SPECIALIZED

REVIEW & NOT CONFINED TO A SPECIALIZED CONSTITUTIONAL COURT ‣ 50 SEPARATE STATE COURT SYSTEMS. EACH

STATE HAS ITS OWN STATE LAWS AND COURTS.

LEGISLATIVE POWER

ARTICLE I, SEC. 1ALL LEGISLATIVE POWERS HEREIN GRANTED SHALL BE VESTED IN A CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES, WHICH SHALL CONSIST OF A SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.

ARTICLE I, SEC. 2HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES CHOSEN EVERY

SECONDYEAR BY THE PEOPLE OF THE SEVERAL STATES,

(MIN. 25 YEARS OLD, MIN. 7 YEARS U.S. CITIZEN, RESIDENT OF STATE WHERE RUNNING.)

ON REPRESENTATIVE TAXATION & VACANCIES ONLY THE HOUSE HAS THE POWER TO IMPEACH

ARTICLE I, SEC. 3SENATE = 2 SENATORS FROM EACH STATE WITH 1 VOTE EACH CHOSEN EVERY SIX YEARS BY THE STATE LEGISLATURE, DIVIDED INTO THREE CLASSES WITH I/3 VOTED-IN EVERY TWO YEARS. MIN. 30 YEARS OLD, MIN. 9 YEARS U.S. CITIZEN, RESIDENT WHERE YOU ARE RUNNING.

SENATE TRIES ALL IMPEACHMENTS

ARTICLE I, SEC. 4THE TIMES, PLACES AND MANNER OF HOLDING ELECTIONS FOR SENATORS AND REPRESENTATIVES, SHALL BE PRESCRIBED IN EACH STATE BY THE LEGISLATURE THEREOF; BUT THE CONGRESS MAY AT ANY TIME BY LAW MAKE OR ALTER SUCH REGULATIONS, EXCEPT AS TO THE PLACES OF CHOOSING SENATORS.

ARTICLE I, SEC. 9‣NO BILL OF ATTAINDER OR EX POST FACTO LAWS. ‣CAPITATION OR OTHER DIRECT TAX MUST BE PROPORTIONATE ‣NO TAX OR DUTY ON ARTICLES EXPORTED FROM ANY STATE. ‣NO TITLE OF NOBILITY GRANTED BY THE UNITED STATES ‣NO PERSON HOLDING OFFICE OF PROFIT/TRUST SHALL ACCEPT

PRESENT, EMOLUMENT, OFFICE, OR TITLE,

ARTICLE I, SEC. 7PASSING LAWS

ARTICLE I, SEC. 7ALL BILLS FOR RAISING REVENUE SHALL ORIGINATE IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES; BUT THE SENATE MAY PROPOSE OR CONCUR WITH AMENDMENTS AS ON OTHER BILLS.

OBAMACARE

THE PATIENT PROTECTION AND AFFORDABLE CARE ACT (PPACA)

THE AFFORDABLE CARE ACT (ACA) OBAMACARE

ARTICLE I, SEC. 8ENUMERATED POWERS

A “[S]HARED RESPONSIBILITY PAYMENT”

PARTIES

JURISDICTION

STANDING

MOOTNESS

RIPENESS

JUSTICIABILITY

STARE DECISIS

AUTHORIZES CONGRESS "TO MAKE ALL LAWS WHICH SHALL BE NECESSARY AND PROPER FOR CARRYING INTO EXECUTION"

COMMERCE OR TAX?

“TO AN ECONOMIST, PERHAPS, THERE IS NO DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ACTIVITY AND INACTIVITY; BOTH HAVE MEASURABLE ECONOMIC EFFECTS ON COMMERCE. BUT THE DISTINCTION BETWEEN DOING SOMETHING AND DOING NOTHING WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN LOST ON THE FRAMERS, WHO WERE “PRACTICAL STATESMEN,” NOT METAPHYSICAL PHILOSOPHERS.”

ORIGINALISM

AN INDIVIDUAL WHO BOUGHT A CAR TWO YEARS AGO AND MAY BUY ANOTHER IN THE FUTURE IS NOT “ACTIVE IN THE CAR MARKET” IN ANY PERTINENT SENSE.

WHAT IS A TAX?

LIVING CONSTITUTINALISM

LEGAL REALISM

U.S. Constitutional Law and Jurisprudence Course Materials by Lakshmi Gopal is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.