Notes Aug 22 2013 Article II Executive Branch Section 1 Executive power President of US puts laws into effect Holds office for 4 years w a VP Some believed Congress should choose President not separation of powers Some believed there should be committees instead of 1 president committees make bad decisions as proven in the past People will choose electors electors will choose President Each state chooses of electors roughly calculated by population o Ex Georgia has 14 Representatives 2 Senators 16 Electors Electors electoral college representatives chosen by the people o Rather than having the people vote directly o Can t be members of Congress usually people who have worked many years for a party o Winner of that state get all elector votes When the constitution was written there were no political parties most people didn t know any other Electors from other states except the Electors that travel around 1796 there were two parties o Federalist led by John Adams o Democratic Republican led by Thomas Jefferson Original plan was winner gets to be President 2 nd place will be VP o Invitation for assassination of president so the other party VP will become president 12th Amendment 1804 electors will vote in separate ballots for president and VP After JFK died VP becomes President now there s no VP 25 Amendment if vacancy in VP new president nominates someone to be VP with approval of Congress o Ex Nixon nominated Ford as VP in place of resigned Agnew Thomas Jefferson doesn t believe a government will last more than 30 years o Amendments people have a chance to alter the government Section 2 Powers of President o Commander in Chief the most powerful person on Earth o Treaties Appointment 2 3 of Senators must concur usually happens judges of Supreme Court ambassadors all other officers of the US Check on executive branch vote by Congress o Vacancies power to fill them expire at end of their next Session Section 3 Duties of President o Make sure laws are faithfully execute o Oath of office swears he will preserve protect defend the Constitution of the US Section 4 Impeachment o Another check on the executive branch o Shall be removed from office for Conviction Treason Bribery or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors o Treason giving aid to the enemies of the US Article III Judicial Branch Section 1 Judicial Powers Courts Judges o Power in one Supreme Court and some inferior Federal courts o Judges shall hold office during good behavior Section 2 Jurisdiction o In most cases Supreme Court will have appellate jurisdiction o In cases where a State shall be a Party the Supreme Court shall have original jurisdiction o Original Jurisdiction first court to hear a case o Appellate Jurisdiction where a case is appealed until it reaches to the Supreme Court o Ex how a state is a party GA vs FL would go straight to Supreme Court o No check for Judicial Branch NOT GOOD MOST IMPORTANT SUPREME COURT CASE o Marbury vs Madison James Congress after Constitution was made passed Judiciary Act of 1789 which set up system of lower courts and gave US Supreme Court some additional power more original jurisdiction President Adams appointed a lot of people to the courts He lost election of 1800 President Adams appointed someone to low level of court signed sealed delivered but new president came in and the appointments weren t delivered so new President Thomas Jefferson s Secretary of State James Madison throws them out Marbury was the person appointed by old President as Justice of the Peace Marbury wants Madison to send them but he says no Supreme Court said the Marbury is right because there is nothing that says anything about the new President changing anything This will make President angry though and he may defy Supreme Court they re in a pickle They reread Constitution and found a contradiction More power to Supreme Court not good Court rule Judiciary Act contradicts constitution so it is no longer law Judicial review power of court to declare act of Congress President unconstitutional and therefore null and void o Two decisions made 1 Yes Marbury has the right to be the Justice Court ruled in his favor 2 A provision of Judiciary Act of 1789 was unconstitutional and thus started the Judicial Review Section 3 Treason