government

Definition

Also called a qui tam action. See qui tam.

Definition

A legislative-like act undertaken by an entity other than a legislature. For example, rulemaking undertaken by an administrative agency is a quasi-legislative act.

Illustrative caselaw

See, e.g. Humphrey's Ex'r v. United States, 295 U.S. 602 (1935). 

See also

• Administrative law

Definition

A city, town, village, or county that has been incorporated by a state and is authorized to administer local, governmental affairs, e.g. to establish a police force. A municipal corporation is created by a state's legislature which also controls, inter alia, its duration, rights, and powers. Also called a municipality.

Illustrative caselaw

See, e.g. Barnes v. District of Columbia, 91 U.S. 540 (1875).

Definition

Also called a quasi-corporation. See quasi-corporation.

Illustrative caselaw

See, e.g. Pleasant Tp. v. Aetna Life Ins. Co., 128 U.S. 67 (1891).

See also

• Municipal corporation

• Public corporation

   

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

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

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 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.

Definition

A Supreme Court case that adopted an expansive view of the scope of the Commerce Clause of the Constitution by holding that Congress had the power to regulate interstate commerce.