The US Constitutional law theory that allows the president of the United States with the authority to control the entire executive branch is the Unitary Law (Ch.4 PPT, slide 14)
I do not think that the president should have total control over this subject manner, in fact, I do not think they should have total control over something. According to the chapter four PowerPoint, the theory states that in Unitary Law the president controls totally and completely. In the end, we are all human, we are in the year 2022, I do not think torture such as waterboarding is a good way for interrogation. With the intervention of Congress, there is a line, a limit that is being placed, that will not let people go into extreme measures.
Chapter 4
Constitution Law and U.S. Commerce
1-1
ROAD MAP
o Constitution Law and U.S. Commerce
o Learning Objectives:
o (1) Discuss separation of powers and checks
and balances among the three branches of
government
o (2) Explain how the Constitution resolves
conflicts between state and federal laws
o (3) Describe the role between business and the
Bill of Rights
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1-2
Learning Objective
(1) Discuss separation of powers and checks and
balances among the three branches of
government
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1-3
The Constitution
o A constitution is the basic law of a nation or
state.
o The U.S. Constitution provides the
organization of the national government.
o Each state also has a constitution that
determines the state’s governmental structure
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4
The Constitution
• The U.S. Constitution is the supreme law
of the land.
• If a law conflicts with the Constitution,
the law is unconstitutional.
1-5
The Constitution
o The biggest rule laid down in the Constitution
is the separation of powers
o Separation of powers: The division of
enumerated powers of government among
separate branches, typically the legislative,
executive, and judicial
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The Constitution
o Bill of Rights: The first ten amendments
to the U.S. Constitution
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Learning Objective
(2) Learn how the Constitution resolves
conflicts between state and federal laws
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1-8
Federalism
o Article I of the Constitution establishes the
legislative branch through a bicameral
legislature – a legislature with two chambers,
or houses
o The lower House of Representatives has 435
members, with representation spread
proportionately to a state’s population.
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Federalism
o As a check on the majority will, and on the
power of larger states, the Senate is a smaller
body
o One hundred members; less frequent
elections
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Federalism
o The House retains the right to impeach
officials for “high crimes and misdemeanors,”
and the Senate tries such impeached officials
o Impeach: To formally accuse an elected
official of misconduct
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Federalism
Federalism refers to the division and sharing of power
between state and federal governments.
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Federalism
o Article II of the Constitution establishes the
executive branch of government.
o Article II sets forth some of the mechanisms
for becoming president.
o It is the only place in the Constitution that
prescribes a specific oath of office.
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Federalism
o The Constitution’s deliberate ambiguity on the
powers of the president left much room for
debate on how strong the executive branch
should be
o Unitary executive: A theory in
constitutional law that the president controls
the entire executive branch, totally and
completely.
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Preemption
o The doctrine that permits federal law to render
unenforceable conflicting state laws.
o When there is no direct conflict between state
and federal law, then the rules of preemption
state that courts must look to whether or not
Congress intended to preempt the state law
when it passed the federal statute.
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Preemption
• Preemption is the process by which a
court decides that a federal statute must
take precedence over a state statute.
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Learning Objective
(3) Examine the role between business
and The Bill of Rights
7-17
1-17
Business and the Bill of Rights
o The Constitution does not contain the word
“corporation”
o As corporations have some characteristics of
being a “person,” various courts have held
that several of these civil rights also apply to
business entities
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Business and the Bill of Rights
o Some observations about civil liberties:
o There are no absolute rights, in spite of the
wording of any specific amendment.
o Instead of absolute rights, courts have to
constantly balance competing interests in
deciding where the limits of our rights lie.
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Business and the Bill of Rights
o The First Amendment protects the right to
freedom of speech
o Courts generally recognize political speech as
speech most deserving of protection
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Business and the Bill of Rights
o Political speech isn’t always written or
uttered—it can sometimes take place through
symbolic speech
o Symbolic speech: Speech that is not uttered
or printed but displayed or performed
instead
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Symbolic Speech
o Speech often includes not only what we say,
but also what we do to express our political,
social, and religious views.
o The courts generally protect symbolic speechgestures, movements, articles of clothing, and
other forms of nonverbal expressive conduct.
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Business and the Bill of Rights
o The First Amendment contains several
important clauses pertaining to speech
and religion.
o There are two different clauses on
religion.
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The Establishment Clause
o The establishment clause prohibits the government
from establishing a state-sponsored religion, as well
as from passing laws that promote (aid or endorse)
religion or that show a preference for one religion
over another.
o The Supreme Court has held that for a government
law or policy to be constitutional, it must be secular
in aim, must no have the primary effect of advancing
or inhibiting religions, and must not create an
excessive government entanglement with religion.
o Lemon v. Hurtzman, 403 U.S. 602 (1971)
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The Free Exercise Clause
o The free exercise clause guarantees that a
person can hold any religious belief that he or
she wants; or a person can have no religious
belief.
o When religious practices work against public
policy and the public welfare, however, the
government can act.
o For example, regardless of a child’s or
parent’s religious beliefs, the government
can require certain types of vaccinations.
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Business and the Bill of Rights
o Obscene: A legal standard that, if met, means
the work in question has no protection under
the First Amendment
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Obscenity
o In Miller v. California, the Supreme Court created a
test for legal obscenity, which involved a set of
requirements that must be met for material to be
legally obscene:
o (1) whether the average person finds that it violates
contemporary community standards (not national
standards, as some prior tests required),
o (2) the work, taken as a whole, appeals to the prurient
interest; and
o (3) whether the work lacks serious redeeming literary,
artistic, political, or scientific merit.
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Business and the Bill of Rights
o Equal Protection Clause: The portion of the
Fourteenth Amendment requiring states to
provide the equal protection of laws to persons
within their jurisdiction
o It is implicated anytime a law limits the
liberty of some people but not others
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Business and the Bill of Rights
o Legislation frequently involves making classifications
that either advantage or disadvantage one group of
persons, but not another.
o States allow 16-year-olds to drive, but don’t let 12year-olds drive. Indigent single parents receive
government financial aid that is denied to
millionaires.
o Obviously, the Equal Protection Clause cannot mean
that government is obligated to treat all persons
exactly the same–only, at most, that it is obligated to
treat people the same if they are “similarly
circumstanced.”
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END
o Chapter 4 PPT
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