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University of Vermont2008 Study of U.S. Institute

An Introduction to American Constitutional Lawand the Constitution of the United States

Lawrence WhitePhiladelphia, Pennsylvania

July 17, 2008

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Fundamental Precepts of American Constitutional Governance

I. Federalism

• The United States is a federation of sovereign states; we have a Federal government and fifty state governments, each with defined spheres of power and authority.

• The constitutional form of government means that governments exercise only those powers explicitly delegated to them by the people.

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Fundamental Precepts of American Constitutional Governance

I. Federalism

• The United States is a federation of sovereign states; we have a Federal government and fifty state governments, each with defined spheres of power and authority.

• The constitutional form of government means that governments exercise only those powers explicitly delegated to them by the people.

II. Separation of Powers

• Power is allocated among three branches of government (legislative, executive, judicial), each with its own unique function and it own unique mechanism for making law.

• Checks and balances ensure that each branch is subordinate to the other two--no branch predominates.

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Branch of Government

Title Under the U.S. Constitution

Typical Title Under State Constitutions

Legislative United States Congress

General Assembly

Executive President of the United States

Governor

Judicial Supreme Court of the United States

Various—Supreme Court, Court of Appeals

Separation of Powers -- The Three Branches of Government

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Distribution of Federal Civilian Employment by Branch for September 2006

www.opm.gov/.../html/2006/september/charts.asp

Executive Branch (97.7%) - 2,637,146Judicial Branch (1.2%) - 33,760Legislative Branch (1.1%) - 29,486

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Branch of Government

Function Means

Legislative Enactment of laws Statutes (also called “public laws”)

Executive Implementation and enforcement of laws

Regulations

Judicial Resolution of disputes over the meanings of laws

Court decisions

How Each Branch Makes Policy

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An Exercise:

Draft a law protecting disabled individuals from unreasonable discrimination in the workplace.

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Section 102(a) of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990:

No employer shall discriminate against a

qualified individual with a disability … in

regard to … [the] terms, conditions, and

privileges of employment.

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Section 102(a) of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990:

No employer shall discriminate against a

qualified individual with a disability … in

regard to … [the] terms, conditions, and

privileges of employment.

??

“The term ‘employer’ means a person engaged in an industry affecting commerce who has 15 or more employees for each working day in each of 20 or more calendar weeks in the current or preceding calendar year ….”

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Section 102(a) of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990:

No employer shall discriminate against a

qualified individual with a disability … in

regard to … [the] terms, conditions, and

privileges of employment.

??

“ ‘Disability’ means … [a] physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more of the major life activities of such individual ….”

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Section 102(a) of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990:

No employer shall discriminate against a

qualified individual with a disability … in

regard to … [the] terms, conditions, and

privileges of employment.

??

“ ‘Disability’ means … [a] physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more of the major life activities of such individual ….”

“ ‘Physical or mental impairment’ means: … (1) Any physiological disorder, cosmetic disfigurement, or anatomical loss …; or (2) Any psychological disorder.”

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Section 102(a) of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990:

No employer shall discriminate against a

qualified individual with a disability … in

regard to … [the] terms, conditions, and

privileges of employment.

??

“ ‘Disability’ means … [a] physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more of the major life activities of such individual ….”

“ ‘Physical or mental impairment’ means: … (1) Any physiological disorder, cosmetic disfigurement, or anatomical loss …; or (2) Any psychological disorder.”

“The term ‘substantially limits’ means … [u]nable to perform a major life activity that the average person in the general population can perform ….”

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Section 102(a) of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990:

No employer shall discriminate against a

qualified individual with a disability … in

regard to … [the] terms, conditions, and

privileges of employment.

??

“ ‘Disability’ means … [a] physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more of the major life activities of such individual ….”

“ ‘Physical or mental impairment’ means: … (1) Any physiological disorder, cosmetic disfigurement, or anatomical loss …; or (2) Any psychological disorder.”

“The term ‘substantially limits’ means … [u]nable to perform a major life activity that the average person in the general population can perform ….”

“ ‘Major Life Activities’ means functions such as caring for oneself, performing manual tasks, walking, seeing, hearing, speaking, breathing, learning, and working.”

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Section 102(a) of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990:

No employer shall discriminate against a

qualified individual with a disability … in

regard to … [the] terms, conditions, and

privileges of employment.

??

“ ‘Qualified individual with a disability’ means an individual with a disability who satisfies the requisite skill, experience, education and other job-related requirements of the employment position such individual holds or desires, and who, with or without reasonable accommodation, can perform the essential functions of such position.”

“The term ‘reasonable accommodation’ means … modifications to the work environment, or to the manner or circumstances under which the position held or desired is customarily performed, that enable a qualified individual with a disability to perform the essential functions of that position.”

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House Senate

Number of Members

435 100

How elected By Congressional District

By State

Length of term

2 years 6 years

The Two Houses or “Chambers” of Congress

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Texas

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The current House of Representatives:

• Total number of seats: 435.

• Democrats: 233.

• Republicans: 202.

Democrats “control” the House and are entitled to appoint its leaders (the Speaker of the House [Nancy Pelosi] and the Majority Leader [Steny Hoyer]) nd select all committee chairs.

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Red districts are held by Republican incumbents.

Blue districts are held by Democratic incumbents.

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The current Senate:

• Total number of seats: 100.

• Democrats: 49.

• Republicans: 49.

• Independents: 2 (Senator Bernie Sanders from Vermont and Senator Joe Lieberman from Connecticut).

Democrats “control” the Senate because the two Independents are aligned with that party. Democrats, therefore, appoint the Senate Majority leader (Harry Reid of Nevada) and select all committee chairs.

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The Legislative Process

1. Introduction; printing; referral to committee.

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The Legislative Process

1. Introduction; printing; referral to committee.

2. Committee hearings; committee vote; reporting.

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The Legislative Process

1. Introduction; printing; referral to committee.

2. Committee hearings; committee vote; reporting.

3. Floor debate; amendment; vote.

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The Legislative Process

1. Introduction; printing; referral to committee.

2. Committee hearings; committee vote; reporting.

3. Floor debate; amendment; vote.

4. Process repeated in the other chamber.

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The Legislative Process

1. Introduction; printing; referral to committee.

2. Committee hearings; committee vote; reporting.

3. Floor debate; amendment; vote.

4. Process repeated in the other chamber.

5. Conference committee.

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The Legislative Process

1. Introduction; printing; referral to committee.

2. Committee hearings; committee vote; reporting.

3. Floor debate; amendment; vote.

4. Process repeated in the other chamber.

5. Conference committee.

6. Presidential signature or veto; veto override.

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How the federal court system is organized—

District courts, courts of appeal, and the Supreme Court

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“United States District Court for the _____ District of Pennsylvania”

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“United States Court of Appeals for the _____ Circuit.”

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United States Supreme Court

Appellate Court(13 in all, geo-

graphically defined)

(“United States Court of Appeals for the ____ Circuit”)

(Usually an appeal as a matter of right.)

Trial Court (94 in all; some

states have one, others two, some as many as four)

(“United States District Court for the _ _ District of ____”)

(Petition for writ of certiorari must be granted by the Supreme Court –

and only about 78 of 8,6000 petitions are granted every year.)

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The Court in 1980:

Ultra Lib……….Lib……………….Center………...Cons……….Ultra Con

Marshall Brennan Stewart Stevens Blackmun White Powell Burger Rehnquist

The Court today:

Ginsburg Stevens Breyer Souter Kennedy Roberts Alito Thomas Scalia

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