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Click here to view constitution summary handout.
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Did you realize that the Constitution was so legalistic and that the Declaration of Independence reads like divorce papers served to King George? Why do we have a federal constitution? It sets up governmental powers and keeps them in check, it creates laws for organized society and prosecution, it structures the day to day functions of government. What is a constitution? This class will probably not be able to answer this question with absolute certainty, but we will explore it. Here is an example of what I mean:
a. Is the constitution a living breathing document open to change and modern day interpretation or is it static and fixed?
b. Is it a public policy or is it a law or both?
c. Is it an organizational chart that structures and directs the functions of government by setting up the checks and balances of government?
d. Outline for civil society?
e. Does it give rights or does it take rights away?
f. Does it provide the freedom of doing particular things or the freedom from particular persons or groups?
g. Is it a tool of government control or the voice of the public?
h. Principles of elites or best interests of citizens?
i. Does it provide equal justice or protection or security to the public?
j. Is it a steadfast definition of the U.S. and its peoples?
The point, for me, is that the constitution represents a record of decisions made when the U.S. was founded and that we use to this day to keep the wheels of government turning.
They could have gone with Athenian democracy which is direct democracy. But instead, they went with representative democracy. They could have opened the constitutional convention up to the public, but they did not. They could have held town hall meetings and gathered input from citizens on the document, but they did not. The actual processes of how the constitution came into being are examples of decision making. The framer's wanted to encourage rational decision making and compromise. They did not want to have to worry about re-election or what their constituents would think. Because the votes in the convention were by state only (13 states- actually 12 because Rhode Island did not show) the 55 delegates knew that there would be no public record kept of their personal leanings. All of this affected the decision making process.
Why did the idea of a constitution come about in the first place?
a. Britain set up colonies in the Americas and paid for people to come over here to settle the colonies. A misnomer is the picture of these patriots fleeing the tyranny of King George to come to America and be free. No! Who do you think provided the ships to get here? The colonizers were not free patriots setting out to create a new free land; they were citizens of Britain , accountable to the King and protected by Parliament. They knew that there were certain freedoms like land ownership that they could pursue here that they could not in Europe . But it was not until they had been here for awhile that they started to say, hey wait a minute, George I think you are no good and you are really far away so we are going to do what we want and we sure are not going to pay your taxes. Hence the Revolutionary War.
Now, what were the states called before they were states back in the mid 1700's? Colonies, British colonies. And what does colonialism mean? Colonialism is a system in which a nation claims sovereignty over land and peoples outside of its own national boundaries, often to facilitate economic domination over their resources, labor and markets. Colonialism is also the spread of beliefs used to legitimize or promote the system (democracy, capitalism), especially the belief that the ways of the colonizer are superior to the ways of the colonized. Advocates of colonialism argue that colonial rule benefits the colonized by developing the economic and political infrastructure necessary for modernization and democracy. “Modernization” promotes science---do away with rituals, promote written history do away with oral history, promote English, promote “nutrition.”
Is colonialism over? Was there such a thing as “a” colonial era?----No.
a. Where the colonists colonizers or colonized or both?
b. Why is it important to study colonialism in a constitutions class? (Colonialism was not just a moment in time, but an ideology informed by a particular epistemology that we still see in the U.S. government today and the constitution embodies this ideology.)
The start of the Revolutionary War sparked a desire to be independent from Britain . Basically, it does not feel too good to be attacked and killed by the people you are paying taxes to. So, in 1776 Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence and it was signed by 50 members of the Continental Congress. This Declaration was like serving the King with divorce papers. It was essentially a list of all the things the colonists thought the King had done wrong, why they wanted a legal separation, and it was an announcement to the international community to say, hey, we are here, we are on our own, watch out. But once you do this it is kind of like calling out the bully in the school yard. You very quickly start looking around to see where your friends are. The colonists realized that there was power in numbers and they needed to organize.
So, this group also wrote the Articles of Confederation which were meant to organize the colonies into states and lay down the laws of the land. Power rested with the states and not with a centralized government. The Articles set up a common legislature, but that is it. No executive branch, no judicial branch, no checks and balances.
The problem was that the members of the legislature were elected by their state's legislature and not by the people. Also, state's started fighting economic wars against each other by imposing tariffs on imports and not all the state's used the same currency. Such events led to Shay's rebellion in Massachusetts over taxes. Fears of chaos and anarchy started to spread. The colonists knew about the idea of government free from the spoils of politics. They had an interest in keeping government as objective as possible. The seeds for the concept of bureaucracy had been planted. Bureaucracy via checks and balances and levels of government would insure an efficient and controlled administration.
So, the colonists realized they needed to get control over the states. 55 representatives from 12 of the 13 states got together for the first Constitutional Convention and again the decision making process was key.
a. Madison was concerned that human impulses and greed and personal interests would over-ride government, so he wanted a document that would protect government against this. (Federalism)
b. Hamilton wanted centralized government with formal authority. (Federalism)
c. Jefferson wanted decentralized government with informal authority. (Anti- federalism)
In the end they went with centralized government (Federalism) through representation. Further, they would essentially scrap the Articles of Confederation and start over with three branches of government to foster a system of checks and balances:
executive branch, judicial branch and legislative branch. The Constitution requires that these levels of government work together in order to prevent one group from getting too much power.
Along with this, the Electoral College was created because the delegates at the constitutional convention did not trust the people to make good decisions when electing a President (this is Madison 's philosophy coming through here). In other words, the framer's created the Electoral College to save us from ourselves. (LAID OUT IN Article II)
The president and vice-president are the only two nationally elected officials. They are elected through the popular vote and the electoral vote. There were fears from the smaller states even back when the constitution was written that the larger states (because they get electors based on population) would dominate the presidency. In the beginning the Electoral College voted for two people for president. Nobody ran for vice president. Basically, the Electoral College voted for two people to be president and who ever cam in second was the VP. There was none of this “running mate” or party ticket stuff. Then it was changed in 1804 and the Electoral College was given separate ballots for the president and for the vice president. If nobody receives the majority in the Electoral College, then it goes to a vote in the house and the senate. In other words, there are two important points here: 1) the Electoral College vote supercedes the popular vote. 2) If the electors are given separate ballots for each presidential candidate and each VP candidate, then was it possible that they could have elected Bush and Edwards or Kerry and Cheney?
The Virginia Plan was presented to the convention for consideration. This plan gave each state a certain number of representatives based upon that state's population. Well, smaller states did not like this very much.
The New Jersey Plan was presented as an alternative and it suggested that each state should get just one vote in Congress regardless of the state's population.
Instead, a Great Compromise was reached: two house legislature (bicameral). The upper house is the Senate with two representatives from each state and the lower house is the House of Representatives and they get representatives based upon state population. To be in the Senate you had to be at least 30 years old and a citizen for the past 9 years. To be in the House of Representatives you had to be at least 25 years old and a citizen for the past 7 years.
BUT THIS ISSUE OF REPRESENTATIVES N THE HOUSE BASED UPON POPULATION CREATED A HUGE DEBATE. Who is to be counted as a “person?” THE WORD SLAVE IS NEVER USED IN THE CONSTITUTION.
At the constitutional convention, delegates from the northern states wanted to abolish slavery, but not count slaves for representation purposes. Delegates from southern states wanted slavery and wanted slaves to be counted as part of the population because it would increase the number of representatives the south could send to the House of Representatives.
A compromise was reached and slaves/ “other persons” were counted as 3/5 of a person. Native Americans who did not pay taxes, were simply not counted at all. This is laid out in Article I section 2: representatives shall be determined by adding the whole number of free persons, including those bound to service for a term of years, and excluding Indians not taxed, 3/5 of all other persons.
ARTICLE I
1) What is the legislative branch? (Congress, bicameral, Article 1 of Constitution) What can they do? (collect taxes, spend money, borrow money, make rules about trade between the states, tribes and foreign countries, rules about citizenship, bankruptcy law, to make money and decide how much it is worth, determine a set of weights and measures, make laws for punishing counterfeiters, set up the postal system and roads, give patents, set up a system of courts with less power than the supreme court.)
i. The elastic clause: in Article I Section 8, Congress is given the power to make laws necessary to carry out the powers given to it by the Constitution and all other powers vested in the government of the U.S. Very broad. Plenary power means complete or full power over something. For example, Congress has plenary power over the U.S. territories.
ii. Territories . Congress uses the elastic clause to rule over U.S. territories and applies parts of the constitution, the full constitution without having state powers, or none of the constitution.
There are three types of territories: legally administered, occupied and disputed. Congress and the DOI rule over each type in varying degrees.
Under the legally administered territory there are four types of classifications:
a. unorganized (no organic Act),
b. organized (organic Act),
c. unincorporated (only select parts of the constitution apply). They may not apply for statehood.
d. incorporated (Congress applies the full law of the constitution, but the territory is not a sovereign unit like a state). They are eligible to apply for statehood.
e. Commonwealth: a semi-autonomous area under the authority of the U.S. , but with a local constitution and the ability to govern its internal affairs to a greater extent than a territory. They can apply for statehood. Like Puerto Rico is an unincorporated, organized territory, but it is a commonwealth. Therefore, it is eligible to apply for statehood.
Organic Act: Congress has accepted a constitution from the territory and the territory is organized with limited self-government.
What are some reasons the U.S. does not want territories to become states? If they are not states, then certain laws do not apply: EPA, taxes, fair labor, things manufactured in a territory get to say “made in the U.S.A. ” on them.
What do territories get as a possession of the U.S. ? They cannot vote in federal elections. However, they can elect local officials, but the officials must be U.S. citizens. Territories have no senators to represent them or representatives in the House of Representatives (fiR). However, some do have non-voting delegates in the HR. Washington D.C., American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands have such delegates, but they can only speak in debates and only vote in committees, no voting is allowed on the floor as far as legislation or bills go.
Therefore, while most inhabitants of territories do not have citizenship, Puerto Rico as a commonwealth does have statutory U.S. citizenship, but it is second class citizenship as they do not have all the rights of a citizen in state. This statutory citizenship was granted by the Jones Act of Congress in 1917 and NOT given by the U.S. constitution. Therefore, it can be taken away.
Territories get protection as long as it is in the interests of the U.S. as decided by Congress (we wouldn't squash a civil war or riots necessarily like we would in a state: think L.A. , Seattle).
Territories cannot enter into international agreements because they are not a sovereign entity. Puerto Rico would have to become an independent nation for this to occur.
Commonwealths like Puerto Rico do have access to some federal benefits (food stamps, welfare) while not having to pay federal income taxes (which means the U.S. tax payers support them). However, Puerto Ricans do contribute to Social Security and Medicare systems. However, Puerto Rico is only eligible to receive $200 million annually in Medicaid (capped). In other words, the Feds fund 15% of Medicaid spending in Puerto Rico, while the Feds fund 85% of Medicaid spending in the U.S.
So, how does a territory become a state?
a. Must be incorporated, organized or a commonwealth territory in the possession of U.S. control.
b. The territory must receive majority support from its citizens to petition the U.S. Congress for admittance to the union. Puerto Rico has put it to a local vote twice and it did not pass. Then a bill called an “enabling act” must gain majority vote in both houses of the U.S. Congress. When approved, the President has to sign off on it. Statehood does not cause any changes to the U.S. constitution and it does not require ratification by any of the other 50 states. This enables the territory to start becoming a self-governing state. Congress then either rejects or accepts the new state government through an Act of Admission.
c. However, some states have bypassed the enabling act and went straight to an Act of Admission. Specifically, this happened after the civil war when the southern states wanted back into the union.
Washington D.C. is not a state. The residents of D.C. pay the second highest taxes in the nation plus all the federal taxes that residents of the 50 states pay, yet D.C. has no representation. This is taxation without representation which the U.S. constitution is supposed to protect against as it was the battle cry in the revolutionary war. In 2000, D.C. added the words “taxation without representation” to their license plates and is currently trying to add it to the district's flag.
D.C. does have a locally elected mayor and city council, but all laws passed must go up for review in Congress.
Washington D.C. is a legally administered territory or “district” and is incorporated and organized; therefore, it is eligible to achieve statehood. In fact, this is a big hot button issue right now for those of you who follow the national news.
UP UNTIL 1961, WASHINGTON D.C. DID NOT HAVE ANY ELECTORS IN THE ELECTORAL COLLEGE. However, amendment 23 to the Federal Constitution was ratified in 1961 and allows D.C. the same number of electors as if D.C. had representatives and was a state. However, D.C. cannot have more electors than the state with the smallest population.
So how many electors does D.C. have?= 3. They get this due to their population and the fact that they have one non-voting “delegate” in the House of Representatives and one “shadow” representative in the House and two “shadow” senators in the senate: the shadow people can't do a darn thing.
So, we know why the framers did not want D.C. to be a state (the seat of the federal government should be protected against a monarchy). But why would the current government not want D.C. to become a state? Here are some things to think about:
a. If D.C. were a state, then all residents and workers and visitors would be subject to the laws of that state (drunk driving, EPA, security, etc.)
b. The headquarters for the World Bank and the IMF are located in D.C. – lobbyists.
c. Demographics: 60% African American, 28% White, 8% Hispanic, 3% Asian, 2% mixed race. 13% of D.C. residents are foreign born.
d. In 1978 an amendment to the constitution giving D.C. full voting rights was passed by the house and the senate, but when the seven year limit on ratification of the amendment expired in 1985, only 16 of the 38 states necessary had passed it. So maybe the rest of us really just don't care about D.C.
e. Statehood was proposed again in 1993 and defeated in the HR.
ARTICLE II
The Presidency. The United States was the first nation to create the office of President. Article II of the constitution is all about the Presidency. “The executive power shall be vested in the President of the United States of America .”
To carry out these powers, the president presides over the executive branch of the federal government. This organization includes about 4 million people, including an additional 1 million active duty military personnel.
The president has four main arenas of power: executive, legislative, judicial, and foreign affairs.
Executive powers:
a. the president can issue rules, regulations, and instructions called executive orders, which have the binding force of law upon federal agencies, but they do not require congressional approval. The president is in charge of the execution or enforcement of laws. This means that there are implied powers needed for the president to do this part of his job.
In times of war or emergency, the Congress can grant the president even broader powers to manage the national economy and do whatever is necessary to protect the security of the U.S. The president is also responsible for preparing the budget of the U.S. , but Congress has to approve it. The president has “the power of the sword” as commander in chief of the military. The president wages war, but it is up to Congress to declare war and authorize money for it. Commissioning of military officers. Basically, the president is your commander and chief so if you are a solider and he tells you to go to war, then you go to war. However, officers in the military pledge first to uphold the constitution just like the president pledges. Therefore, the rule of law supercedes the rule of just one person; the president.
War powers resolution of 1973. Requires that the president consult with and notify Congress within 48 hours of engaging troops in military action. The resolution also stated that troops could only be committed for 60 days if the president did not receive approval from Congress after engaging the troops. However, if presidents never submit the notification and consultation report, then the 60 day time limit is not triggered. Clinton did this with Somalia , Haiti and Bosnia .
Presidential appointment and removal powers. In 2003, more than 3,000 executive agency positions were subject to presidential appointment, with more than 1,200 requiring Senate approval. Presidential appointments to the Cabinet and sub cabinet, for members of regulatory commissions, for heads of executive offices, for ambassadorships, for judgeships and for members of numerous advisory boards, are subject to approval by the senate. In other words, the president may have the power to appoint, but the senate has the power of veto. Cabinet officers serve at the pleasure of the president. These people were not elected, they were appointed by the president. If the president wants to force you to put your opinion about an issue in writing, then you have to do it.
Inherent powers? Due to the nature of the office/job? This is also referred to as “executive privilege” and has been used by presidents to protect them. They use it to justify the withholding of documents and information from other branches of government. The argument is this: the separation of powers embodied in the constitution states that the three branches of government have to share power, BUT they are allowed to operate without the control or supervision of the other branches (to a degree).
Legislative powers: while the constitution provides that all legislative powers reside with the Congress, the reality is that the president is the chief formulator of public policy and he has a major legislative role.
a. He can veto any act of congress, and, unless the house and senate override the veto by a majority, the bill does not become a law.
b. The executive branch initiates much of the legislation decisions that congress deals with.
c. Can influence public opinion and thereby influence legislative decisions.
d. The state of the union address is required by the constitution. Here the president gives his legislative proposals for the upcoming year. If Congress should adjourn without acting on those proposals, the president has the power to call the congress back in for special sessions.
e. In other words, the president has the legislative power to convene and adjourn congress. If the Congress is deadlocked on an issue, he can shut congress down for awhile to break the tie and reach a compromise.
Judicial powers:
a. President can pardon people. We saw Clinton do this and set a record the night before he left office.
Foreign Affairs powers:
a. Make and negotiate treaties. However, the treaties still have to pass by a majority in the Senate before they become law. But, the constitution does not tell us who has the power to terminate treaties. The president is the main diplomat of the U.S.
b. Through the department of state and the department of defense, the president is responsible for the protection of U.S. citizens when they are abroad, and for the protection of foreign nationals when they are within the borders of the U.S.
The U.S. President is both the head of state and the head of government. So he is the commander and chief while at the same time being a figure head for the country. Presidency: we talk about it terms of an office with many departments, a position with specific governmental duties attached to it and the president as a person with human values and opinions. Personal power: the capacity a president has naturally as a leader and how he uses his personality to gain or maintain his power. The president is a man: he is fallible, is affected by his environment and he can be helped or hampered by his own personality. Power is not fixed. Institutions, systems, rules and the players of power change over time. Presidential power may be dictated by time and historical place instead of the actual power the president has as a person and elected official. Constraints on power: They have to deal with decisions made previously by other administrations. There are existing policies, laws, budgets, personnel, programs and treaties that the new president is constrained by. (those that have come before, gender, race, access to information, education, being regarded as a knowledge holder. Each state within the U.S. federal government is a sovereign entity. Meaning the U.S. federal government cannot go in and destroy the state government through military take over. However, the feds can directly act upon the residents of each state individually, i.e. taxation.)
The president's term is four years and he has to be 35 and a natural born citizen of this country and been a resident for at least 14 years. The president is limited to serving a maximum of either two full terms or a maximum often years in office. So, if they were VP and the president died and they stepped in and got elected twice, they would only be allowed to serve a max often years total. Only four presidents have served two full terms or 8 years: Eisenhower, Reagan, Clinton, and G.W. Bush.
Natural born citizen and resident for at least 14 years? This way, someone who was born here, is a U.S. citizen but has lived in England for 34 years could not run for president. But why was this important when the constitution was written? Vile writes that this was intended to prevent people who were not thoroughly acculturated to American ideals from running for office, plus it would prevent the possibility of a foreign king taking over.
Acculturation means that you modify your own culture by taking on, accepting, wearing, believing in a culture different from your own. So you do not just conform your behaviors for a brief time period, you literally accept the ways of a people as your own. This is another example of how the ideology of colonialism is burnt into the constitution.
The vice president. Other than presiding over the senate, the constitution does not list any specific duties for him. He is simply the president in waiting. The line of succession for the presidency is 17 people long starting with the VP and ending with the Secretary of Veterans Affairs.
Presidential salary. Congress cannot raise or lower it on a whim. If this were the case then Clinton would have had a negative paycheck. A bill can be proposed to raise or lower the presidential salary, but it would not take place until the current president left the position.
a. The first U.S. congress in 1789 voted to pay George Washington a salary of $25,000 a year. Today the president makes $400,000 a year.
b. Traditionally, the president, as the most important official in the U.S. government, is the highest paid government employee. Consequently, the president's salary serves as a cap for all other federal officials
c. The raise from $200,000 to $400,000 in 2001 was approved by congress and Clinton right before he left because other officials who receive annual cost of living increases had salaries approaching the president's. So, to raise everybody else's salary they had to raise the president's.
Presidential oath. What is he swearing or pledging? To preserve, protect and defend the constitution. No where in there does it say amend the constitution. Also, the words “so help me God” are usually added on to the oath, but are not required by the constitution.
Impeachment. The president can be impeached for treason, bribery and other high crimes and misdemeanors. That is it. The president cannot be impeached based upon a vote of no confidence from Congress. Impeachment proceeding start in the house of representatives judiciary committee, then it goes to a house vote, if the articles of impeachment pass by a majority, then it goes to the senate judiciary committee, then it goes to a senate vote, if it passes by majority here too then the president is impeached.
What do president's get when they leave office?
a. The president's and their families used to be protected for life by the secret service. Clinton is the last one to get that. Starting with Bush, they will only be protected for 10 years.
b. They get free mailing privileges
c. Free office space
d. Hold a diplomatic passport
e. Get a budget for staffers
f Get a pension
g. Get funding to build their own library
ARTICLE III
The Judicial Branch of government. Specifically, the federal constitutional courts. Article III is more of an outline for the judiciary, it does not lay down as many specifics for structures and procedures as Articles I and II did about Congress and the Presidency. Arguably, the Framers did this intentionally to allow for structures and powers to develop as needed for the judicial branch.
This is the first branch of government we have talked about where the members are not elected, they are appointed. Think about this for a minute. Have any of you ever voted for a judge??? I have. I voted for city and county and state judges in the last election. So, what does this mean that this is the first branch of government in the Constitution where the members are not elected, but are appointed? Because we are talking about THE FEDERAL CONSTITUTIONAL COURTS. If they are federal judges, they are not elected, they are appointed. All the members of all federal constitutional courts are nominated and appointed by the president with the advice and consent of the Senate.
There are three tiers to the federal constitutional courts. Remember federal law over rules state law, so each tier of the federal court system I am about to tell you about is higher than any state, county or city court or state, county or city law.
a. The bottom level is the district courts. There are currently 94 of them and they are trial courts where cases are tried and juries are formed. Each state has at least one district court.
b. The next level up, the middle level, are the circuit courts of appeal. There are currently 13 of them and each covers a specific geographic region of the U.S. (Northwest, Southwest, etc.). These courts hear appeals from the courts below them which are the district courts. They also hear cases from the state supreme courts.
c. The final and highest level of federal constitutional courts is the U.S. Supreme Court. They oversee the circuit appeal courts and the district Courts. The Supreme Court currently operates under the rule of four, the will not accept a case unless four justices agree to accept it. They hear cases based upon two things: subject matter and the parties involved.
i. Subject matter
1. Constitutional issue, federal law, federal treaties, maritime law.
ii. Parties involved
1. Ambassadors, public ministers or consuls, controversies involving the U.S. as a nation, cases involving two or more
states, cases involving a state and citizens of another state, cases between citizens of different states, citizens who claim land in other states, cases involving a state suing its citizens/another state or a foreign nation.
Judicial Qualifications: what does the constitution say about the qualifications of judges? Is there an age limit? A residency requirement? A term limit? A citizenship requirement? Nope. The Framers apparently assumed that legal education would screen out those who were unfit for office.
Judicial pay: unlike the pay raises for president's (make sure they remember), federal constitutional court judges can have their pay raised but not lowered during their time in office.
Number of justices: the number of federal judges is not specified in the U.S. Constitution. Congress could add or take away judges to any level of the federal constitution court system. However, for about the last hundred years the number of Supreme Court justices has been fixed at nine, with eight associate justices and a chiefjustice. This came about through a law passed by Congress. Whenever the idea comes up to enlarge or reduce this number, it is viewed as party politics trying to pack the court.
Supreme Court decisions:
a. the constitution does not require unanimous decision making. Instead, decisions are made by a majority vote, 5 to 4 for example.
b. Amicus curiae brief: friend of the court. This is a formal mechanism by which approved social interest groups may lobby the Supreme Court.
c. Stare Decisis: making decisions based upon past decisions- precedent.
Trial by jury: the last component of Article III is about how the judiciary protects people under law. Specifically, the trial of all crimes other than impeachment must be by a jury of the accused peers and take place within the state where the crime was committed. This was a very controversial constitutional right during the sniper hearings. The crimes occurred in multiple states.
The end of Article III also defines treason. Treason is very narrowly defined as “levying war” against the United States , or “in adhering to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort.” No person may be convicted of treason without his own confession or that of two witnesses.
Judicial power? What do the courts do? This is up for debate. Some argue that the federal courts should interpret the laws and the Constitution. This power is called statutory construction because the judges are essentially creating statutes or laws from their interpretations of existing laws. However, these statutory constructions may be reversed by Congress creating a law. Congress can overturn a ruling by a federal court if they create and pass a law which contradicts and is after the original ruling.
However, the Supreme Court can guard against this to a degree. Another power the federal courts have is judicial review. If a federal court is confronted with a congressional law or executive action which specifically applies to cases currently under review by the federal courts; a federal court can declare the law or executive action unconstitutional and, therefore, void. This is very controversial because it means that the decisions made by elected officials (Congress) can be rejected by appointed officials (judges).
The practice of judicial review also applies to previous federal court decisions, A previous decision such as Roe vs. Wade could come under the scope of judicial review and be overturned as unconstitutional.
Questions about judicial power:
a. Should judges be activists or use judicial restraint?
b. Should judges interpret laws and the constitution or should judges read the laws and the Constitution literally as they were written at the time? This gets back to our question on the first day of class about what a constitution is. Is it a living breathing document open to interpretation under modern day circumstances? Or is it a fixed document to be read as the Framer's intended at the time?
7:20pm
BREAK
7:30PM
Role play workshop about the constitutional framework being static or dynamic (to be carried into next week). Click here to view handout.
8:15pm
BREAK
8:30pm
Seminar