The broad topic of constitutional
law deals with the interpretation
and implementation of the
United States Constitution (
http://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/constitution.overview.html
). As the Constitution
is the foundation of the United States,
constitutional law deals with some
of the fundamental relationships within
our society. This includes relationships
among the states, the states and the
federal government, the three branches
(The Executive, Legislature, Judiciary)
of the federal government, and the
rights of the individual in relation
to both federal and state government.
The Supreme Court has played a crucial
role in interpreting the Constitution.
Consequently, study of Constitutional
Law focuses heavily on Supreme Court
rulings.
While the topic
also covers the interpretation and
implementation of state constitutions,
without qualification it is usually
understood as referring to the Federal
Constitution.
The Constitution
establishes the three branches of
the federal government and enumerates
their powers. Article I establishes
the House of Representatives and
the Senate. See
U.S. Const. art. I (
http://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/constitution.table.html
). Section 8 enumerates
the powers of Congress. See
U.S. Const. art. I., § 8 (http://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/constitution.articlei.html#section8).
Congress has specifically used its
power to regulate commerce (the
commerce clause) with foreign nations
and among the states to enact broad
and powerful legislation throughout
the nation. The sixteenth Amendment
gives Congress the power to collect
a national income tax without apportioning
it among the states. See
U.S. Const. amend. XVI (http://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/constitution.amendmentxvi.html).
Section 9 of Article I prohibits
Congress from taking certain actions.
See
U.S. Const. art. I, § 9 (http://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/constitution.articlei.html#section9).
For example, until the passage of
the 16th Amendment Congress could
not directly tax the people of the
United States unless it was proportioned
to the population of each state.
See
U.S. Const. art. I, § 9 (http://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/constitution.articlei.html#section9).
Section 10 of Article I lists a
number of specific actions that
individual states may no longer
take.
U.S. Const. art. I, § 10 (http://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/constitution.articlei.html#section10).
Article II of the
Constitution establishes the presidency
and the executive branch of government.
The powers of the President are
not as clearly enumerated as those
of the Congress. He is vested with
the "executive" power
by section 1.
See
U.S. Const. art. II, § 1 (http://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/constitution.articleii.html).
Section 2 establishes him as the
"commander and chief"
and grants him power to give pardons,
except in cases of impeachment,
for offenses against the United
States. See
U.S. Const. art. II, § 2 (http://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/constitution.articleii.html#section2).
Section 3 provides the power to
make treaties (with the advice and
consent of two-thirds of the Senate)
and the power to nominate ambassadors,
ministers, Judges of the Supreme
Court, and all other Officers of
the United States. See
U.S. Const. art. 2, § 3 (http://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/constitution.articleii.html#section3).
The role of the
Supreme Court and the rest of the
judicial branch of the federal government
is covered by Article III. See
U.S. Const. art. III, § 2 (http://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/constitution.articleiii.html#section2).
Article V of the
Constitution provides the procedures
to be followed to amend the Constitution.
See
U.S. Const. article V (http://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/constitution.articlev.html).
Currently, the Constitution has
been amended twenty-seven times
(including the Bill of Rights).
Article VI of The
United States Constitution states
that the "Constitution, and
the Laws of the United States which
shall be made in Pursuance thereof;
and all treaties made or shall be
made, under the Authority of the
United States, shall be the Supreme
Law of the Land." See
The Supremacy Clause: U.S. Constitution,
art. VI, § 2 (http://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/constitution.articlevi.html#section2).
Furthermore, all federal, state,
and local officials must take an
oath to support the Constitution.
This means that state governments
and officials cannot take actions
or pass laws that interfere with
the Constitution, laws passed by
Congress, or treaties. The Constitution
was interpreted, in 1819, as giving
the Supreme Court the power to invalidate
any state actions that interfere
with the Constitution and the laws
and treaties passed pursuant to
it. That power is not itself explicitly
set out in the Constitution but
was declared to exist by the Supreme
Court in the decision of
McCulloch v. Maryland (http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct-cgi/get-us-cite?17+316).
The first section
of the fourth article of the Constitution
contains the "full faith and
credit clause." See
U.S. Const. art. IV, § 1 (http://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/constitution.articleiv.html).
This clause provides that each state
must recognize the public acts (laws),
records, and judicial proceeding
of the other states. The Fourth
Article also guarantees that a citizen
of a state be entitled to the "privileges
and immunities" in every other
state. See
U.S. Const. art. IV, § 2 (http://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/constitution.articleiv.html#section2).
The power of the
federal government is not absolute.
The tenth Amendment specifically
states that "the powers not
delegated to the United States by
the Constitution, nor prohibited
by it to the States, are reserved
to the States respectively, or to
the people. See
U.S. Const. amend. X (http://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/constitution.billofrights.html#amendmentx).
Specific provisions
of the Constitution protect the
rights of the individual from interference
by the federal and state governments.
The first ten amendments, called
the Bill of Rights, were enacted
in 1791 to provide a check on the
new federal government. See
The Bill Of Rights: U.S. Const.
amendments I - X (http://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/constitution.billofrights.html).
The first eight amendments provide
protection of some of the most fundamental
rights of the individual. For example,
the First Amendment protects the
fundamental civil rights of free
speech, press and assembly, See,
First Amendment Rights. Subsequent
amendments have also broadened the
protection afforded the rights of
the individual. The 13th Amendment
made slavery illegal. See
U.S. Const. amend. XIII (http://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/constitution.amendmentxiii.html).
The fourteenth Amendment prohibits
the states from abridging "the
rights and immunities" of any
citizen without due process of law.
See
U.S. Const. amend. XIV (http://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/constitution.amendmentxiv.html).
The "due process" clause
of the 14th Amendment has been interpreted
by the Supreme Court as affording
citizens protection from interference
by the state with almost all of
the rights listed in the first eight
amendments. The exceptions are the
right to bear arms in the second
Amendment, the 5th Amendment guarantee
of a grand jury in criminal prosecutions,
and the right to a jury for a civil
trial under the seventh Amendment.
The Fourteenth Amendment also guarantees
the equalprotection of the laws.
See
Equal Protection (http://www.law.cornell.edu/topics/equal_protection.html).
The right to vote is protected by
the 15th Amendment ("right
to vote shall not be denied. . .
on account of race."), the
19th Amendment (guaranteeing the
right to vote regardless of sex),
and the 24th Amendment (extending
the right to vote to those who are
18 years of age). See U.S.
Const. Amendments
XV (http://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/constitution.amendmentxv.html),
XIX (http://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/constitution.amendmentxix.html),
and
XXIV (http://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/constitution.amendmentxxiv.html).