LEB 320F 1st Edition Lecture 3 Outline of Last Lecture I Common Statutory V Flagiello v PA Hospital VI Precedent II Statutes III Tennessee Valley Authority v Hill IX Uniform laws A UCC Outline of Current Lecture I US Constitution II Supreme law of the US Commerce clause A Interstat e B Intrastate Gonzales v Raich III IV Supremacy clause preemption Granholm v Heald V Full faith credit VI Privileges and Immunities clause The Bill of Rights 10 A Freedom of religion B Freedom of speech VII Pit News v Pappert Equal protection VIII Affirmative action Gruter v Bollinger Current Lecture Chapter 1 4 US Constitution o Start with power where o After the Articles st o 14 presidents before Washington John Hanson was the 1 President of the US Supreme law of the US o Presidents congress states may not conflic t o Most powers belong to the states o Some powers go to federal 3 branches House of Representatives elected every 2 years Senate every 6 years President every 4 years Judiciary for life Same for states o Checks and balances Commerce clause o Regulate commerce among several states o Interstate federal 3 areas 1 Channels of interstate commerce 2 The instrumentalities of Interstate commerce 3 Substantially affect interstate commerce o Intrastate local o Very broad civil rights drugs o US v Lopez Lopez wore gun into an elementary school unconstitutional but doesn t impact interstate commerce o Regulatory powers to states Unless substantially interferes with Interstate Commerce Piggyback trucks Iowa passed a law against piggyback trucks which affected impacted interstate commerce Congress cant pass a law unless they have the powers to do it Gonzales v Raich o Summary Defendant Raich used homegrown medical marijuana which was legal under California law but illegal under federal law Ruled against respondents Congress may criminalize the production and use of home grown cannabis even where states approve its use for medicinal purposes but was reversed o CA legalized medicinal marijuana local in nature o Congress illegalized for the whole US o Use of precedent o Local activities that have affect on the nation Supremacy clause preemption o Where congress has directly acted to core the field o Where no congressional action states o Middle determining what congress meant o Implied preemption labor relations Granholm v Heald o Summary Michigan NY regulate the sale and importation of alcohol through a 3 tier distribution system producers wholesalers retailers but only for sales from out of state wineries Separate plaintiffs out of state wineries want to ship wines directly to customers Ruled for plaintiff in Michigan case Ruled for defendants in New York case o Out of state no direct sales o Instate allow for direct sales o Stop trade rivalries between states o Is there legitimate purpose with no other alternatives o Purpose tax and keep it from minors o Instate wineries do it with no problem Full faith Credit o Judgments in one state must be respected in another state o Contracts deeds wills etc o Otherwise Problems For example same sex marriage Privileges and Immunities clause o Citizens of each state should be entitled to the Privileges and immunities of citizens in the several states o Must have a compelling state interest for discrimination o Citizen only laws o Citizens pay more without a justification o Example Alaska depriving Texas Privileges and immunities to work on oil well in Alaska out of state tuition The Bill of Rights 10 o Apply to the federal and state governments o Virginia wouldn t ratify without a bill of rights o Legal person v natural person Freedom of Religion o State sponsored religion o Blue laws secular purpose o Plastic Santa cases part of overall seasonal pageant o Free exercise private employers must make reasonable accommodations Title VII Freedom of speech o Private corporations do not have to comply o Bill gates doesn t need the first amendment o Not all speech is oral o Not all speech is protected Fighting words obscenity defamation pornography o Commercial speech False statements about their products Substantial government interest Advertising Corporate political speech Pit News v Pappert o Summary Pit news is University of Pitsburgh s student paper When commonwealth of Pennsylvania enacted a statute banning educational institutions from advertising alcoholic beverages Pits News lost around 17 000 in advertising revenue Brought suit to have law declared unconstitutional Judge upheld law on grounds paper was free to say what it wished about alcoholic beverages as long as the paper was not paid o Banned ads for alcoholic beverages o Ads encourage consumption of one over another o 4 part test Lawful activity and not misleading Government interest is substantial Does the reg directly advance government interest Is it more extensive than necessary Equal protection o Treat similarly o Compelling state interest o Light economic social o Remedy for past discrimination Affirmative action Gruter v Bollinger o Summary Plaintiff Gruter a Caucasian applied for admission to University of Michigan law School and filed lawsuit alleging her application was rejected because defendants illegally used race as a predominant factor in determining law school admissions Law school wanted to maintain a diverse student body and used a point system to do that Supreme court granted certiorari o University of Michigan case o Narrowly tailored plan giving a plus for ethnicity o Race conscience not a quota o Not a violation