1. Unit 2 – U.S. Constitution
Objective 1 Analyze the structure and flexibility of the Constitution. Objective 2 Evaluate the principles of democracy and protection of liberties found in the Constitution, Bill of Rights, and landmark Supreme Court decisions.

2. Purpose
“We the people of the United States…do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”
In order to:
Form a more perfect union
Establish justice
Insure domestic tranquility
Provide for the common defense
Promote the general welfare
Secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity
Examples?

3. Structure Preamble: Purpose
Articles 1-3: Separation of Powers into Legislative, Executive, and Judicial Branches
Article 4 & 6: Federalism, the division of powers between federal and state gov’t
Article 5: Amendment process
Article 7: Ratification
Amendments 1-10: Bill of Rights

4. Amendments
Video link

5. Proposed Amendments
Team talk: Should they be passed?
Why / why not?

6. link

7. link

8. Principles Rule of Law Federalism Separation of Powers
No one is above the law
Federalism
Power shared between levels, with Federal gov’t supreme
Separation of Powers
Power shared between branches
Checks and Balances
Power between branches is equal
Popular Sovereignty
Consent of the governed
Republican Gov’t
Representative democracy

9. Circuit Courts of Appeals
Separation of Powers
EXECUTIVE
LEGISLATIVE
JUDICIAL
President
Congress
Supreme Court
Senate
House
Cabinet
Circuit Courts of Appeals VP
Departments Agencies
District Courts

10. Legislative Most important: MAKE LAWS Levy taxes Coin money
Regulate trade
Provide military
Declare war
Implied Powers
Elastic Clause gives Congress the ability to make laws “necessary and proper” to carrying out these functions
Ex. National Bank

11. Executive Make treaties Appoint judges, heads of agencies
Executive Orders
Have the force of law
Limited, usually deal with matters of national security
Most Important:
CARRY OUT LAWS
Command the military
Veto/sign bills into law

12. Judicial Most important: INTERPRET LAWS
Judicial review to determine if an act is constitutional or not, applies to:
Congress
President
States
Other cases involving
Federal laws
Disputes between states

13. Podcast on Separation of Powers
Former Justice Dept. Employee / Law Professor John Yoo
Modern Examples of Executive Overreach?
If so, explain why / why not:
Building a Wall
NAFTA pullout
Guantanamo Bay closing
Ban of immigrants from 7 nations
Ordering Waterboarding / Drone Strikes

14. Checks and Balances

15. Supremacy Clause = Federal Gov’t is supreme!
Federalism
Federal
Expressed (a.k.a. Delegated or Enumerated)
State
Reserved
Shared
Concurrent
Supremacy Clause = Federal Gov’t is supreme!

16. Expressed Only the Federal government can: Coin money
Maintain the military
Declare war
Regulate interstate or foreign trade
Make laws necessary for carrying out expressed powers of the federal gov’t
Why shouldn’t states have these powers?

17. Reserved Only state governments can:
Regulate trade within the state (intrastate)
Provide education
Regulate marriage
Conduct elections
Even national elections are run by the state
Establish local governments
Why should states have these powers?

18. Concurrent Both federal and state governments can:
Make and enforce laws
Levy taxes
Establish courts
Borrow $
Provide for general welfare

19. Informal Change to the Constitution
Case Study: Obamacare
Necessary and Proper Clause – Clause 18
Commerce Clause
Court Decisions
Legislative Action
Ex: fiscal federalism
Presidential Actions
Ex: Wilson and State of the Union, Harding and budget
Custom
Ex: political parties

20. Exhibit: Excerpt from Majority Opinion in Obamacare Case

21. What are the other major amendments?
Bill of Rights: Amendments include civil liberties, legal protections, and clarification of limits on federal gov’t
Civil War: Amendments include abolition of slavery, civil rights, and right to vote regardless of skin color
What are the other major amendments?

22. What are the limits on these freedoms?
Civil Liberties
Freedoms of religious and political expression in the 1st Amendment
Religion
Establishment clause
Free exercise clause
Speech
Includes “symbolic ”
Press
No prior restraint
Assembly
Petition
What are the limits on these freedoms?

23. Legal Protections
Rights of the accused and due process of law to protect “life, liberty, and property”
4th: Search warrants and probable cause
5th: Double jeopardy, grand jury indictments, self-incrimination, eminent domain
6th: Speedy, public trial w/ jury and lawyer
8th: Reasonable bail, fines, punishments

24. Civil Rights
Citizens given equal protection under the law in the 14th Amendment
What does this mean?
Besides African Americans, what other groups have struggled with how this Amendment has been interpreted over time?

25. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws. 

26. Due Process Part
Says now STATES cannot take your civil liberties away from you.
As cases where states have deprived people of their civil liberties come before the court, precedent is established limiting the state in threatening that liberty.
Called “selective incorporation”

27. Equal Protection Part
Protects groups that have historically suffered discrimination.
Race = highest scrutiny
Gender, sexual orientation = medium scrutiny
Age, disability = rational standard

28. Key Developments
Brown v. Board of Education outlawed segregation in 1954
The Civil Rights Acts of 1964:
Banned discrimination on the basis of race, ethnicity, religion, gender, nationality
“Title IX” specifically is about gender discrimination
Led to the development of affirmative action programs aimed at “leveling the field” of opportunity.

29. Case Question Constitutional Issue
Tinker v. Des Moines
Do students have the right to protest at school?
Civil liberties, 1st Amend. freedom of speech
Hazelwood v. Kuhlmeier
Can schools censor student publications?
Civil liberties, 1st Amend. freedom of press
Engel v. Vitale
Can schools sponsor a moment of prayer?
Civil liberties, 1st Amend. freedom of religion, establishment and free exercise clauses
New Jersey v. TLO
Do schools have the right to search students without a warrant?
Legal Protection/Due Process
4th Amend. search and seizure, probable cause
Brown v. Board of Ed
Is school segregation constitutional?
Civil Rights, 14th Amend.
Equal protection
Swann v. Charlotte-Meck
What are schools required to do to integrate by race?
Univ of CA v. Bakke
Can universities use affirmative action in admissions?

30. Affirmative Action Critical Viewing: link
Myths and Realities about Affirmative Action
Myth: Affirmative Action has mainly benefitted black people.
Reality: Women have been the biggest benefactors of affirmative action.

31. Myth: Affirmative Action programs were mainly about hiring and admissions to college.
Reality: While hiring and admissions were one part, another major part was “contract set asides”. The government set aside contracts for minority-owned businesses, encouraging people to invest in those businesses.

32. Sample Case Law Bakke v. University of CA (1978):
Bakke sued, claiming “reverse racism”
He won, courts eliminated “quotas” for admission.
Gratz v. Bollinger (2003):
Schools can’t use mathematical formulas that advantage minorities
Grutter v. Bollinger (2003):
Schools can use race as a factor in a wholistic process
Key shift: Not about the past but about grooming future leaders in a diverse nation.