Power and Rights in US Constitutional Law

Abstract

This book provides a coherent, readily accessible analysis of the tensions inherent in American constitutional law between the governing body and the governed. It is, in short, about democratic government and its citizens. Government possesses power. Citizens enjoy rights that protect them against untoward exercises of this power. All exercises of governmental power are traceable to, and legitimated by, the people, making them democratic. This book combines both an analytic framework for understanding constitutional law as well as excerpts from seminal Supreme Court decisions on controversial topics, such as the President's war powers, the impeachment of President Clinton, civil rights legislation, gun control, free speech, freedom of religion, abortion, and school desegregation. The book covers the major constitutional doctrines, including the enumeration of powers, executive immunity, the jurisdictional "Cases or Controversies" requirement for federal courts, and the "Political Question" doctrine. The so-called levels of scrutiny applied to impingements on constitutional rights are explained and illustrated in their application. For ease of understanding and study, constitutional rights are subsumed under the concepts of liberty and equality. Liberty rights can usefully be thought of as individual rights. They include the "fundamental rights" recognized by the Constitution and by the Supreme Court, such as freedom of speech and the right of privacy. Equality rights are those enjoyed as a member of a protected group. According to reigning doctrine, the protected groups are known as "suspect" and "quasi-suspect" classes. Racial classifications, for example, belong to the former group; gender classifications, to the latter.