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| Jaffree v. Board of School Commissioners of Mobile County |
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| In 1982, a non-Christian lawyer by the name of Ishmael Jaffree filed a complaint in federal district court in Mobile conetending that his children's teachers were violating the 1st amendment by leading their public school classes in Christian prayers. Alabama argued that the amendment didn't prohibit IT from establishing a religion, just congress. Judge Hand agreed. The case was appealed. |
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| Brzonkala v. Virginia Polytechnic was one of the first cases filed under the VAWA (1994) Civil Rights Remedy. Debate focused on whether the U.S. Congress has the power to enact the VAWA Civil Rights Remedy under the Commerce Clause and/or the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Fourteenth Amendment. The "Brzonkala v. Virginia Polytechnic" case ruling determines whether or not Brzonkala, a former VPI student, can use federal law enacted under VAWA to sue two men she alleges raped her. the U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against Christy Brzonkala, 7-4. This case eventually became US v Morrison |
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| Jeffery Wasson was arrested and charged with solicitation of same sex sodomy as the result of an undercover operation conducted by the Lexington police. Near the end of a conversation, Wasson invited an officer to come home with him. When prodded for details, Wasson suggested sexual activities that violated the Kentucky statute prohibiting homosexual activity. In its recitation of the facts, the Kentucky Supreme Court noted that there "was no suggestion that sexual activity would occur anyplace other than in the privacy of Wasson's home. The sexual activity was intended to have been between consenting adults. No money was offered or solicited." In a 4-3 ruling, the Court struck down anti-sodomy laws in effect since 1860, declaring them unconstitutional in Kentucky law with the declaration that it violated both the right to privacy and the right to equal protection under the law found in the Kentucky Constitution. |
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| US v Curtiss-Wright Export Corp. |
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| Curtiss-Wright was charged with conspiring to sell fifteen machine guns to Bolivia, which was engaged in an armed conflict in the Chaco. This violated a Joint Resolution of Congress and a proclamation issued by President Roosevelt. Did Congress in its Joint Resolution unconstitutionally delegate legislative power to the President? The Court agreed that the President was allowed much room to operate in executing the Joint Resolution; it found no constitutional violation. Making important distinctions between internal and foreign affairs, Justice Sutherland argued because "the President alone has the power to speak or listen as a representative of the nation," Congress may provide the President with a special degree of discretion in external matters which would not be afforded domestically. |
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| In December 1916, the United States entered into a treaty to protect a number of migratory birds in the U.S. and Canada. Congress passed the Migratory Bird Treaty Act in 1918 in order to facilitate enforcement of the treaty. When Ray P. Holland, the U.S. Game Warden, threatened to arrest citizens of Missouri for violating the Act, the state of Missouri challenged the treaty. Did the treaty infringe upon rights reserved to the states by the Tenth Amendment? No. In a 7-to-2 decision, the Court held that the national interest in protecting the wildlife could be protected only by national action. The Court noted that the birds the government sought to protect had no permanent habitats within individual states and argued that "[b]ut for the treaty and the statute there soon might be no birds for any powers to deal with." The Court thus upheld the exercise of the treaty power and thus found no violation of the Tenth Amendment. |
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| In 1933, the United States established formal diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union. This case involved a Russian metal works company which had deposited money in an American bank prior to the Russian Revolution of 1917. The Soviet Union nationalized the company and attempted to reclaim its assets with the help of the United States. The bank refused to cooperate, citing protection of a New York law. Did the diplomatic agreements between the two countries compel the bank to release the assets? Yes. Even though the diplomatic agreements had not been implemented as formal treaties with Senate approval, they did empower the United States to seek assets on the Soviet Union's behalf. Justice Sutherland argued for a unanimous Court that different kinds of treaties existed which did not require Senate approval, but nonetheless overrode state statutes. |
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| In a case similar to United States v. Belmont (1937), the United States attempted to assist the Soviet Union in recovering assets of the First Russian Insurance Company which the New York Superintendent of Insurance refused to release. Did U.S. agreements with the U.S.S.R. compel New York to release the assets? The Court required New York to release the assets. Justice Douglas affirmed Justice Sutherland's reasoning in Belmont and argued that New York could not "rewrite our foreign policy to conform to its own domestic policies. Power over external affairs . . . is vested in the national government exclusively." |
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| In reaction to the seizure of the U.S. embassy and American nationals in Iran, President Jimmy Carter invoked the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) and froze Iranian assets in the United States. When the hostages were released in 1981, Treasury Secretary Donald Reagan affirmed the agreements made the Carter administration that terminated all legal proceedings against the Iranian government. Did the president have the authority to transfer Iranian funds and to nullify legal claims against Iran? The Court held that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act constituted a specific congressional authorization for the President to order the transfer of Iranian assets. The Court further held that although the IEEPA itself did not authorize the presidential suspension of legal claims, previous acts of Congress had "implicitly approved" of executive control of claim settlement |
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| Lincoln proclaimed a blockade of southern ports in April 1861. Congress authorized him to declare a state of insurrection by the Act of July 13, 1861. By the Act of August 6, 1861, Congress retroactively ratified all Lincoln's military action. These cases involved the seizure of vessels bound for Confederate ports prior to July 13, 1861. Did Lincoln act within his presidential powers defined by Article II when he ordered the seizures absent a declaration of war? The President had the power to act. A state of civil war existed de facto after the firing on Fort Sumter (April 12, 1861) and the Supreme Court would take this fact into account. |
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| Lambden P. Milligan was sentenced to death by a military commission in Indiana during the Civil War; he had engaged in acts of disloyalty. Milligan sought release through habeas corpus from a federal court. Does a civil court have jurisdiction over a military tribunal? Davis, speaking for the Court, held that trials of civilians by presidentially created military commissions are unconstitutional. Martial law cannot exist where the civil courts are operating. |
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| During World War II, Presidential Executive Order 9066 and congressional statutes gave the military authority to exclude citizens of Japanese ancestry from areas deemed critical to national defense. Did the President and Congress go beyond their war powers? The Court sided with the government and held that the need to protect against espionage outweighed Korematsu's rights. Justice Black argued that compulsory exclusion, though constitutionally suspect, is justified during circumstances of "emergency and peril." |
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| Rasul v. Bush, Hamdi v Rumsfeld |
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Do United States courts have jurisdiction to consider legal appeals filed on behalf of foreign citizens held by the United States military in Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, Cuba? Yes. In a 6-to-3 opinion written by Justice John Paul Stevens, the Court found that the degree of control exercised by the United States over the Guantanamo Bay base was sufficient to trigger the application of habeas corpus rights.
Did the government violate Hamdi's Fifth Amendment right to Due Process by holding him indefinitely, without access to an attorney, based solely on an Executive Branch declaration that he was an "enemy combatant" who fought against the United States? Does the separation of powers doctrine require federal courts to defer to Executive Branch determinations that an American citizen is an "enemy combatant"? Justice Sandra Day O'Connor wrote that although Congress authorized Hamdi's detention, Fifth Amendment due process guarantees give a citizen held in the United States as an enemy combatant the right to contest that detention before a neutral decisionmaker. The plurality rejected the government's argument that the separation-of-powers prevents the judiciary from hearing Hamdi's challenge. |
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| The Commonwealth of Massachusetts challenged the constitutionality of the war. It passed a law stating that no resident of Massachusetts "shall be required to serve" in the military abroad if the armed hostility has not been declared a war by Congress. The attorney general of Massachusetts asked the U.S. Supreme Court to hear its case to test the legality of the Vietnam War. The court declined to hear the case. |
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| In 1867, Congress passed the Reconstruction Acts. Although President Andrew Johnson vetoed the Acts, Congress overrode the veto. In an attempt to delay or prevent Reconstruction, the state of Mississippi appealed directly to the Supreme Court. Mississippi asked the Court for an injunction preventing the President from enforcing the Acts on the ground that they were unconstitutional. Could the Supreme Court constitutionally issue an injunction directed against the President? In a unanimous decision, the Court held that it had "no jurisdiction of a bill to enjoin the President in the performance of his official duties...." |
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| Suspecting a plot against Justice Stephen J. Field's life, the U.S. Attorney General appointed Neagle, a U.S. Marshall, to protect him. Acting as Field's bodyguard, Neagle shot and killed a man who appeared about to attack the justice. After California officials arrested and jailed Neagle, the U.S. sought his release by a writ of habeas corpus. Was the state obligated to obey the writ even though no national statute empowered the Attorney General to provide judges with bodyguards? Yes. The Court held that the Attorney General acted appropriately since assigning Neagle as Field's bodyguard assured that the nation's laws would be faithfully executed. |
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| Eugene Debs, a well-known labor leader, was imprisoned for refusing to comply with a federal injunction against a boycott. Debs had helped organize the boycott of all Pullman carriers in support of the Pullman strike against pay cuts. The government arrested him under the Sherman Antitrust Act. Debs's lawyers petitioned for a writ of habeas corpus, arguing that the matter was outside of federal jurisdiction. The Court denied the writ, ruling that the government's actions were legal under its right to regulate interstate commerce and mail transportation. |
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| Youngstown Sheet and Tube Co. v. Sawyer |
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| In April of 1952, during the Korean War, President Truman issued an executive order directing Secretary of Commerce Charles Sawyer to seize and operate most of the nation's steel mills. This was done in order to avert the expected effects of a strike by the United Steelworkers of America. Did the President have the constitutional authority to seize and operate the steel mills? In a 6-to-3 decision, the Court held that the President did not have the authority to issue such an order. The Court found that there was no congressional statute that authorized the President to take possession of private property. |
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| In what became known as the "Pentagon Papers Case," the Nixon Administration attempted to prevent the New York Times and Washington Post from publishing materials belonging to a classified Defense Department study regarding the history of United States activities in Vietnam. The President argued that prior restraint was necessary to protect national security. Did this violate the 1st amendment? Yes. In its per curiam opinion the Court held that the government did not overcome the "heavy presumption against" prior restraint of the press in this case. Justices Black and Douglas argued that the vague word "security" should not be used "to abrogate the fundamental law embodied in the First Amendment." |
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| A temporary injunction was granted against The Progressive in order to prevent the publication of an article by activist Howard Morland that purported to reveal the "secret" of the hydrogen bomb. The article was eventually published after the government dropped their case during the appeals process, calling it moot after other information was independently published. |
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| An 1876 law provided that postmasters of the first, second, and third classes shall be appointed and may be removed by the President with the advice and consent of the Senate. President Woodrow Wilson removed Myers, a postmaster first class, without seeking Senate approval. Did the Act unconstitutionally restrict the President's power to remove appointed officials? Yes. After tracing legislative debate of the First Congress in 1789 which dealt with the interpretation of the President's appointment power, Chief Justice Taft concluded that the power to remove appointed officers is vested in the President alone. |
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| Humphrey's Executor v. US |
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| President Hoover appointed, and the Senate confirmed, Humphrey as a commissioner of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). In 1933, President Roosevelt asked for Humphrey's resignation since the latter was a conservative and had jurisdiction over many of Roosevelt's New Deal policies. When Humphrey refused to resign, Roosevelt fired him because of his policy positions. However, the FTC Act only allowed a president to remove a commissioner for "inefficiency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance in office." Did section 1 of the Federal Trade Commission Act unconstitutionally interfere with the executive power of the President? The unanimous Court found that the FTC Act was constitutional and that Humphrey's dismissal on policy grounds was unjustified. The Court reasoned that the Constitution had never given "illimitable power of removal" to the president. |
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| Due to rising government budget deficits during the first term of the Reagan Administration, Congress passed the Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Deficit Control Act of 1985. The act was designed to eliminate the federal budget deficit by restricting spending during fiscal years 1986 through 1991. Under the law, if maximum allowable deficit amounts were exceeded, automatic cuts, as requested by the Comptroller General, would go into effect. The Court found that the duties which the Congress delegated to the Comptroller General did violate the doctrine of separation of powers and were unconstitutional. |
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| The Ethics in Government Act of 1978 created a special court and empowered the Attorney General to recommend to that court the appointment of an "independent counsel" to investigate, and, if necessary, prosecute government officials for certain violations of federal criminal laws. Did the Act violate the constitutional principal of separation of powers? Court held that the means of selecting the independent counsel did not violate the Appointments Clause; the powers allocated to the special court did not violate Article III; and the Act was not offensive to the separation of powers doctrine since it did not impermissibly interfere with the functions of the Executive Branch. |
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