constitutionality

Examples of constitutionality in the following topics:

• The Last Days of the Federal Presidency: The Midnight Judges

  • Chief Justice Marshall's decision about "midnight judges" gave the Court authority to declare the constitutionality of congressional and presidential acts.
  • However, Marshall had established the foundational concept of judicial review—the power of the Supreme Court to rule on the constitutionality of congressional legislation and presidential acts.

• The First National Bank

  • While there was little objection to other aspects of Hamilton's recommendations, as outlined in the Second Report (such as the establishment of the US Mint), there was a heated debate between Democratic-Republicans and Federalists over the constitutionality of a National Bank.
  • The debate over the National Bank also raised early questions of constitutionality in the new government.
  • Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson argued that the Bank violated traditional property laws and that its relevance to constitutionally authorized powers was weak.
  • Additionally, his belief was that if the Constitution's writers had wanted Congress to have such power they would have made it explicit.
  • While Jefferson and Randolph proclaimed the Bank unconstitutional, Hamilton, in his Defense of the Constitutionality of the Bank, explicated a broad constructionist interpretation of the Constitution that argued that any congressional actions not specifically prohibited by the Constitution could be employed by Congress to achieve an end for the common good.

• Hamilton's Achievements

  • Hamilton justified the Bank and the broad scope of congressional power necessary to establish it by citing Congress' constitutional powers to issue currency, regulate interstate commerce, and enact any other legislation "necessary and proper" to enact the provisions of the Constitution.This broad view of congressional power was enshrined into legal precedent in the Supreme Court case McCulloch v.
  • Maryland, which granted the federal government broad freedom to select the best means to execute its constitutionally enumerated powers.

• McCulloch v. Maryland

  • The Court invoked the "Necessary and Proper" clause of the Constitution, which allowed the federal government to pass laws not named in the Constitution's list of express powers, provided those laws usefully furthered the express powers of Congress under the Constitution.
  • The Constitution grants to Congress implied powers for implementing the Constitution's express powers, in order to create a functional national government.
  • Marshall invoked the first Bank of the United States' history as authority for the constitutionality of the second bank, stating that the first Congress enacted the bank after great debate and that it was approved by the executive.
  • The Court held that for these reasons, the word "necessary" in the Necessary and Proper Clause does not refer to the only way of doing something, but rather applies to various procedures for implementing all constitutionally established powers.This principle had been established many years earlier by Alexander Hamilton:

• The Final Document

  • In doing so, they went beyond the Constitution's provision for the most voters for the state legislature to make a new social contract among, more nearly than ever before, "We, the people. " (You can read the full text of the Constitution at www.boundless.com/constitution/)
  • A minority of the Constitution's critics continued to oppose the Constitution.
  • But he was elected the Constitution's President unanimously, including the vote of Virginia's presidential elector, the Anti-federalist Patrick Henry .

• The Expansion of the Federal Government

  • The landmark decision helped define the power of the judiciary as a co-equal branch of the government, constitutionally separate from the executive and judicial branches.
  • The Court invoked the "Necessary and Proper" clause of the Constitution, which allowed the federal government to pass laws not named in the Constitution's list of express powers, provided those laws usefully furthered the express powers of Congress under the Constitution.
  • The Constitution grants to Congress implied powers for implementing the Constitution's express powers, in order to create a functional national government.

• Marbury v. Madison

  • The landmark decision helped define the power of the judiciary as a co-equal branch of the government, constitutionally separate from the executive and judicial branches.

• From Gradualism to Abolition

  • Using an argument based upon Natural Law and a form of social contract theory, they said that slavery existed outside of the Constitution's scope of legitimate authority and therefore should be abolished.

• "The People"

  • For example, if a law was enacted that violated the Constitution, not just anybody could challenge the statute's constitutionality in court; instead, only an individual who was negatively affected by the unconstitutional statute could bring such a challenge to a court of law.
  • In the same vein, courts will not answer hypothetical questions about the constitutionality of a statute.

• The Division and Separation of Power

  • This concept is not written into the Constitution, but was envisioned by many of the Constitution's framers.
  • The power to review the constitutionality of laws may be limited by Congress, which has the power to set the jurisdiction of the courts.