wex definitions

Definition

A '90s class action case in which plaintiffs, undocumented aliens, challenged I.N.S. regulations for allegedly, unduly restricting the eligibility of undocumented aliens who might become public charges for legalization under the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986.

The Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (IIRAIRA) represents an effort by Congress to strengthen and streamline U.S. immigration laws. The Act was designed to improve border control by imposing criminal penalties for racketeering, alien smuggling and the use or creation of fraudulent immigration-related documents and increasing interior enforcement by agencies charged with monitoring visa applications and visa abusers.

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.

Plyler v. Doe is a U.S. Supreme Court case in which the Court struck down a Texas statute that denied funding to local school districts for the education of children who were not "legally admitted" into the United States, and which authorized local school districts to deny enrollment to such children.

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 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 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, 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.