Federalism and the Courts
Jonathan Lagerquist
The Supreme Court building in Washington D.C. The
building was completed in 1935
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Federalism
• ”…seeks to limit government by dividing it into
two levels, national and state.” (Lowi et al.)
• American federalism not static, but rather
constantly evolving
• The federal judiciary is an important actor in
determining the nature of federalism
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The Constitution
• Articles of Confederation
(written in 1777 and
ratified 1781)
• Constitution written in
Philadelphia in 1787
• Three branches
• Separation of powers
• Checks and balances
• Federalism
Scene at the Signing of the Constitution of the
United States by Howard Chandler Christy,
1940
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The Constitution
• Enumerated powers
• 10th Amendment
• Necessary and proper clause and implied
powers
• The Constitution is a text, and open to
interpretations
• Who gets to say what it actually means?
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The federal judiciary
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Article III
Life tenure and guaranteed salaries
Jurisdiction
Congressional control
Appellate jurisdiction
Original jurisdiction
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The early Supreme Court
• John Jay
• Advisory opinions
• Chisholm v. Georgia (1793)
– The 11th Amendment
(ratified 1795)
The first Chief Justice of the
Supreme Court, John Jay.
Served from 1789 to 1795
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The Marshall Court
• John Marshall (1755-1835)
• Fourth Chief Justice of the
Supreme Court (1801 -1835)
• Made the Court an coequal
branch of government
• Enhanced the power of the
national government over the
states
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Marbury v. Madison (1803)
Versus
William Marbury, the would-be
Justice of the Peace in the
District of Columbia
James Madison, the "Father of
the Constitution," Jefferson’s
Secretary of State, and 4th
President of the United States
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Marbury v. Madison (1803)
The Supreme Court building
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The Marshall Court
• Fletcher v. Peck (1810)
• Martin v. Hunter's Lessee (1816)
• Trustees of Dartmouth College v. Woodward
(1819)
• McCulloch v. Maryland (1819)
– Necessary and proper clause
• Gibbons v. Ogden (1824)
– The commerce clause
• Worcester v. Georgia (1832)
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Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857)
Dred Scott, the slave who sued
to gain his freedom
Roger Taney, the 5th Chief Justice
1836 to 1864. Know for
delivering the worst ruling in the
history of the Supreme Court
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Dred Scott v. Sandford
The Missouri Compromise of 1820
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The Civil War, 1861 to 1865
• The Reconstruction
amendments:
– 13th (1865) Ending
slavery
– 14th (1868) Protected
the individual from
state action
– 15th (1870) Voting
rights
The Confederacy in red
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Early 14th Amendment cases
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The Slaughter-House Cases (1873)
United States v. Cruikshank (1876)
The Civil Rights Cases (1883)
Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)
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The Court and business
• United States v. E. C. Knight Co.(1895)
– Sherman Antitrust Act, 1890
• Pollock v. Farmers' Loan & Trust Company
(1895)
– 16th Amendment
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Due process and a liberty to contract
• The 5th Amendment
– “[N]or shall any person . . . be deprived of life,
liberty, or property, without due process of law”
• The 14th Amendment
– “[N]or shall any State deprive any person of life,
liberty, or property, without due process of law”
• Allgeyer v. Louisiana (1897)
• Lochner v. New York (1905)
– The Lochner era, 1905 to 1937
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The Lochner era
• Muller v. Oregon (1908)
• Hammer v. Dagenhart (1918)
– commerce clause
• Adkins v. Children's Hospital (1923)
• The Great Depression, began in 1929
• President Frankin Delano Roosevelt’s New
Deal, 1933 to 1938
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The Court and the New Deal
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"Black Monday,” May 27, 1935
The Judicial Procedures Reform Bill of 1937
West Coast Hotel Co. v. Parrish (1937)
“The switch in time that saved nine”
United States v. Darby Lumber Co. (1941)
Wickard v. Filburn (1942)
United States v. Carolene Products Co.
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The Court and Civil Rights
• Brown v. Board of Education
(1954)
– Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)
• Incorporation of the Bill of
Rights
– Barron v. Baltimore (1833)
– Gitlow v. New York (1925)
States with segregated public
schools in 1954
• A right to privacy
– Griswold v. Connecticut (1965)
– Roe v. Wade (1973)
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The Court and federalism
• United States v. Lopez (1995)
• United States v. Morrison (2000)
• City of Boerne v. Flores (1997)
– Employment Division v. Smith (1990)
– Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993
– Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc. (2014)
• Citizens United v. FEC (2010)
• Shelby County v. Holder (2013)
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Thank you for listening
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