constitutional law

Definition

A subjective test with which a court weighs competing interests, e.g. between an inmate's liberty interest and the government's interest in public safety, to decide which interest prevails.

Illustrative caselaw

See, e.g. Wilkinson v. Austin, 545 U.S. 2009 (2005).

See also

• Bright-line rule

Definition

A national organization that engages in litigation, legislative lobbying, and educational outreach in order to preserve and further individual rights and liberties that are guaranteed by the Constitution and laws of the United States.

Definition

A 2005 U.S. Supreme Court case in which the court held that displaying a monument inscribed with the Ten Commandments on the grounds of the Texas State Capital does not violate the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment.

Definition

The Supreme Court case that reaffirmed the aspect of Roe v. Wade (1973) that prohibited states from disallowing abortion prior to viability.

Definition

A U.S. Supreme Court case in which the Court held that President Truman lacked either constitutional or statutory authority to seize the nation's strike-bound steel mills (the Court noted, however, that Congress would have had constitutional authority to do so). The President had ordered the Secretary of Commerce to take possession of and operate the mills in order to maintain steel production during the Korean War. 

Definition

A 1926 U.S. Supreme Court case in which the court held that a zoning ordinance can be a valid exercise of a state's police powers.

Illustrative caselaw

Village of Euclid v. Ambler Realty Co., 272 U.S. 365 (1926).

See also

• Real property

Definition

The Supreme Court case that held that the Constitution protected a woman’s right to an abortion prior to the viability of the fetus; thus, government regulation of abortions must meet strict scrutiny in judicial review.

Overview

The case involved a Texas statute that categorically prohibited abortion except where to save the life of the pregnant woman. The Supreme Court, in a decision written by Justice Blackmun, recognized a privacy interest in abortions.

Definition

The Supreme Court case that invalidated as unconstitutional a provision of the National Industrial Recovery Act (NIRA) that authorized the President to approve “codes of fair competition” for the poultry industry and other industries.

Definition:

The Supreme Court case, since overturned by Brown v. Board of Education (1954), which upheld the constitutionality of “separate, but equal facilities” based on race.

Overview:

Louisiana had adopted a law in 1890 that required railroad companies to provide racially segregated accommodations.

Definition

The Supreme Court case that defined the scope of the federal legislative power and the federal government’s relationship with state government authority.

The United States Congress incorporated a federal Bank of the United States through a legislative act. The State of Maryland imposed a tax on any bank operating within the state that did not possess a state charter. The state obtained a judgment against McCulloch, the cashier of the Baltimore branch of the Second Bank of the United States, for issuing bank notes without paying the required tax.