纽约律考AlienNotesNYbarConstitutionalLawRBK.doc

NEW YORK COURSE CONSTITUTIONAL LAW Professor Erwin Chemerinsky This subject is usually not tested in the NY part, and when it does only regarding the 1st Amendment. OVERVIEW OF ORGANIZATION THE FEDERAL JUDICIAL POWER (15% of the constitutional law questions) THE FEDERAL LEGISLATIVE POWER THE FEDERAL EXECUTIVE POWER (II III together: 20% of the constitutional law questions) FEDERALISM (20% of the constitutional law questions) THE STRUCTURE OF THE CONSTITUTION’S PROTECTION OF INDIVIDUAL LIBERTIES DUE PROCESS EQUAL PROTECTION (V-VII together: 25% of the constitutional law questions) VIII. FIRST AMENDMENT (20% of the constitutional law questions) I. THE FEDERAL JUDICIAL POWER A. The requirement for cases and controversies There are 4 juscitciability requirements for Federal courts to acquire jurisdiction: 1. Standing. This is the most important requirement (consisting of 2-3 questions). Standing is the question of whether the plaintiff is the proper party to bring a matter to the court for adjudication. a. Injury. i. Plaintiffs only may assert injuries that they personally have suffered. Sierra Club v. Morton (complaint didnt allege personal injury and was dismissed). If a question asks which plaintiff has the best standing, first look which one suffered personal injury; if more than one then look for the one whose personal injury is economic. ii. Plaintiffs seeking injunctive or declaratory relief must show a likelihood of future harm. City of Los Angels v. Lyons (plaintiff, a felon chocked during his investigation petitioned against chocking suspects. Court held he didnt show that hes likely to be chocked again in the future). b. Causation and redressability. The plaintiff must allege and prove that the defendant caused the injury so that a favorable court decision is likely to redress the injury. The reason being that Article III was designed to prevent Federal courts from giving advisory opinions