constitutional law

 Constitutional Avoidance is the principal that, if possible, the Supreme Court should avoid ruling on constitutional issues, and resolve the cases before them on other (usually statutory) grounds.

Federal courts will refuse to hear a case if they find it presents a political question.  This phrase is construed narrowly, and it does not stop courts from hearing cases about controversial issues like abortion, or politically important topics like campaign finance.  Rather, the Supreme Court has held that federal courts should not hear cases which deal directly with issues that Constitution makes the sole responsibility of the other branches of government.

Definition

A calculation used to analyze a claim that a jury pool did not represent a fair cross-section of the community. Calculated by subtracting the percentage of a group in the jury pool from the percentage of that group in the general population.

Illustrative caselaw

See, e.g. Berghuis v. Smith, 130 S.Ct. 1382 (2010).

See also

• Jury of one's peers
• Venire

Abortion: an overview

In 1973, Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113, changed the legal status of abortion by striking down a Texas law that criminalized abortion except as a means of saving the mother’s life. The case pitted individual privacy rights against States’ interest in regulating the life of the fetus.

First Amendment protections of speakers’ rights to speech and assembly vary based on the speakers’ chosen forum. The Supreme Court breaks down forums into three types: traditional public forums, designated forums, and nonpublic forums. See Perry Educ. Ass’n v. Perry Educators’ Ass’n, 460 U.S. 37 (1983). Finally, some public property is not a forum at all.

Although the First Amendment’s Free Speech Clause limits government regulation of private speech, it does not restrict the government when the government speaks for itself. For example, if the government allows private groups to hold rallies in a public park, it may not exclude a white supremacist rally solely because it disagrees with the rally’s message. See Forums. The city is not, however, required to include the white supremacists’ message when it holds diversity programs at its schools.

fifth amendment: an overview

The Fifth Amendment of the U.S.

Justiciability refers to the types of matters that the federal courts can adjudicate.  If a case is "nonjusticiable." a federal court cannot hear it.  To be justiciable, the court must not be offering an advisory opinion, the plaintiff must have standing, and the issues must be ripe but neither moot nor violative of the political question doctrine.  

fourth amendment: an overview

The Fourth Amendment of the U.S.

A doctrine holding that the 5th and 14th Amendments require all governmental intrusions into fundamental rights and liberties be fair and reasonable and in furtherance of a legitimate governmental interest. The U.S. Supreme Court during the middle of the 20th Century used substantive due process to give added force to the 4th, 5th and 6th Amendments of the U.S. Constitution by constraining certain actions by law enforcement, prosecutors, and judges.

See due process