Con Law: Individual Rights

con-law-individual-rights

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Question 1 of 1

Time Left

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Overtaken by the forces of evil, the North Carolina legislature limits voter-eligibility to graduates of Duke University. It turns out that the overwhelming majority of Duke grads are rich white Republican men who are originally from New Jersey. A group of UNC graduates hires you to challenge the North Carolina law and asks for your preliminary assessment of various constitutional claims. You haven't done any factual research yet. Knowing only these facts, which of these claims is least likely to prevail under current law?

Select the correct answer(s).

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Explanation

Under current law there is no way to bring political-discrimination claim at all. Fundamental right claim will be really strong, race/gender-discrimination could be strong but there aren't enough facts.

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Overtaken by the forces of evil, the North Carolina legislature limits voter-eligibility to graduates of Duke University. It turns out that the overwhelming majority of Duke grads are rich white Republican men who are originally from New Jersey. A group of UNC graduates hires you to challenge the North Carolina law and asks for your preliminary assessment of various constitutional claims. You haven't done any factual research yet. Knowing only these facts, which of these claims is most likely to prevail under current law?

Select the correct answer(s).

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The Virginia legislature passes a law providing that individuals may no longer engage in self-defense, regardless of their fear of imminent death or serious bodily harm. Shortly after the law takes effect, a Richmond resident is attacked by a hooded figure with a knife. The Richmond resident, who fears for her life, quickly pulls a gun out of her purse and shoots the attacker, who dies immediately. The prosecutor decides to prosecute the Richmond resident for manslaughter. At trial, the Richmond resident tries to assert self-defense, arguing that the Virginia ban on self-defense is unconstitutional because it violates a "fundamental" right. She accurately points out that in the entire history of the United States, Virginia is the first state to ever eliminate self-defense and that this defense has always been understood as fundamental. Is a court likely to decide that the Virginia statute is constitutional?

Select the correct answer(s).

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Explanation

Self-defense is something that has been recognized by states/federal government for a very long time, there is uniformity in the legal tradition over time. This is a quintessential example of a fundamental right under Substantive Due Process doctrine. Nothing to do with a bill of attainer because we don't have any sort of law that is basically a legislative adjudication of a particular question. No problem with state action - this is about the constitutionality of the law.

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The University of Virginia -- a state-run university -- decides to implement a new admissions program. Under the policy, candidates are numerically/mathermatically scored using a wide variety of criteria, including grades, writing ability, extracurricular activities, and so forth. Additionally, the policy gives applicants ten points if they are from an "underrepresented racial minority," ten points if they are from Virginia, and ten points if they are from a low-income family and/or identify as gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender. Which of these is the strongest basis for a constitutional challenge?

Select the correct answer(s).

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Explanation

The fact that you are using race in a mathematical way creates a major problem under Bakke (Affirmative Action case: if you want to use race, it has to be holistic). Race is the strongest basis for a challenge based on the strength of the claim AND the level of scrutiny (race gets you to strict scrutiny, the others don't).

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The U.S. Defense Department's Counter-Terrorism and Intelligence Division has a high demand for translators. After a bombing in Jakarta (in Indonesia), the CTID concludes that it needs to hire more translators who speak Bahasa (the official language in Indonesia). The group advertises for five positions and ends up hiring five additional translators, all of whom were born in Indonesia and all of whom are ethnically Javanese. A white applicant from Utah who took four semesters of Bahasa in college then sues the CTID, claiming that its hiring policy unconstitutionally discriminates on the basis of race and ethnic origin because all new hires were ethnically Javanese and native Indonesians and alleging that the CTID "would reasonably anticipate that all of its hires would be ethnically Javanese and native Indonesians."

Select the correct answer(s).

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Explanation

No facts showing subjective motive to discriminate on the basis of race, no facial discrimination on the basis of race. No gerrymandering style claim either. Even when the government acts as an employer, it is subject to the limitations of the Equal Protection Clause (no market-place participant style exception).

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A prisonnier who is incarcerated at a state prison wishes to marry another inmate, but the warden's a policy of not allowing any prisoners to marry each other. What constitutional rule best supports the prisoner's claim of a "right to marry"?

Select the correct answer(s).

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Explanation

Substantive Due Process is the way that we identify fundamental rights (right to vote is the only fundamental right that we need to know under EP analysis - everything else we have put under SDP). The Fifth amendment limits the federal government, 14th amendment has the due process clause that restricts state action.

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In 2010, Virginia comprehensively reformed its criminal laws in a Unified Criminal Act. The UCA provides that, "unless otherwise indicated, the default sentencing range for felonies shall be between 1 and 5 years in prison." The UCA specifically provides for even higher sentences for many felonies, including arson. In 2012, a group of environmentalists used dynamite to blow up coal-burning power plants throughout the state. In 2014, after prosecutors discovered that the UCA did not provide a higher sentencing range for setting off bombs, the state legislature passed a law to provide: "The crime of arson shall include the destruction of property through bombing." Prosecutors then charge and prosecute the environmentalists for committing arson. The environmentalists decide to bring a constitutional challenge against their prosecution for arson under the 2014 law. Which of these provisions would best support their claim?

Select the correct answer(s).

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Explanation

Not a Bill of Attainder problem because the legislature isn't imposing the punishment and the law is general.

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Virginia passes a statute - the Safety Tanning Act -- providing that "only licensed tanning specialists may offer commercial skin tanning services." In most states, business may run tanning salons and offer other tanning services without any license. After the law passes, the owner of an unlicensed tanning salon files a lawsuit seeking to prevent encforcement of the law. She claims that the law violates the Due Process Clause "because the law is pointless and reflects a corrupt effort to insulate the big coroporate tanning salons from competition." Is a court likely to conclude that the STA is constitutional?

Select the correct answer(s).

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Explanation

The default is rational basis - conceivable factual basis and a rational connection, we aren't asking why the legislature passed the bill (no subjective motive analysis unless we are dealing with a suspect classification under Equal Protection). The DPC applies to economic regulations, it just applies rational-basis review.

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A federal statute -- the Zoning Protection Act -- provides that in zoning disputes, gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender individuals may file claims in federal court based on alleged sexual-orientation discrimination. Congress passed the Act after documenting widespread instances of discrimination against sexual minorities in zoning decisions throughout the country. After being denied a permit to build new garage, a gay man sues his local zoning commission in federal court under the ZPA. The zoning commission responds by challenging responds by challenging the authority of Congress to pass the Act pursuant to its enforcement authority under the Fourteenth Amendment. Is a court likely to find the ZPA to be legally valid?

Select the correct answer(s).

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Explanation

When approaching a question like this (combining a bunch of features of § 5 authority), approach the issues separately: Is there a state action problem? if not, is there Morrison problem (is the government creating a private remedy against a private individual or a public remedy against a private individual like a federal criminal law that would ban some private individual from doing something) Or is there a congruency/proportionality problem? Congress does not have unlimited discretion with the means it chooses. The key problem in Morrison was that the remedy ran against the private actor (it wasn't corrective in the courts view - not aimed at the state actor who was violating the constitution). Here, the man is authorized to sue the zoning board, the remedy is running against the government agency.

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After the 2010 census, North Carolina passed a redistricting plan with this shape. The district pulls together several disparate urban areas with high concentrations of racial minority voters who almost uniformly vote for Democratic candidates. Shortly before the plan goes into effect, it is challenged in federal court as a racial gerrymander. What is the states best argument against the constitutional challenge?

Select the correct answer(s).

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Explanation

The government is allowed to discriminate in order to try to engage in some political gerrymandering because there is no justiciable way for the courts to administer a rule against it. The number of residents in the district is non-responsive to the argument that this is a racial gerrymander - it would survive a one-person one-vote claim but its irrelevant to the racial gerrymandering claim.

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Concerned about the degradation of traditional moral values, a town council passes an ordinance banning the sale of vibrators used for pleasurable stimulation during sex or masturbation. In the discussion leading up to the bill, the town's lawyer noted that many other municipalities have similar ordinances and that no court has ever recognized a right to purchase a vibrator. Good Vibrations, an adult novelty store in the town, challenges the ordinance as an unconstitutional abridgment of individual liberty under the Fourteenth Amendment. What is the best way for Good Vibrations to frame its constitutional challenge?

Select the correct answer(s).

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Explanation

Undue burden analysis is focused on abortion - even if we had a choice between an undue burden test and an ordinary fundamentals rights claim, you want to bing the fundamental rights claim because that gets you to strict scrutiny as opposed to a permissive balancing test. You want to frame your claim in general terms.

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After being fired for sexual harassment,Matt Lauer successfully runs for mayor of New York City. On the first day in the job, Later fires all the female employees "because this city can't afford to have me around women." The fire employees file suit, alleging that their termination was unconstitutional. Is a court likely to hold that Lauer acted unconstitutionally?

Select the correct answer(s).

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Explanation

Gender discrimination is subject to intermediate scrutiny (important or substantial governmental interest/narrowly tailored)

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A police officer responds to a call about a fight at a local bar. When the police officer arrives, she observes an intoxicated man making sexist remarks toward a woman who is sitting at the bar. When the police officer approaches the man, he lunges at the police officer -- striking her in the arm -- and continues to make a variety of sexist remarks. The police officer sues the man for sex-gender discrimination under the Fourteenth Amendment. Is the officer likely to win?

Select the correct answer(s).

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After the 2010 census, Virginia's legislature draws new district lines for state elected offices. The state has 8 million residents, and there are 100 members of the state House of Delegates. Rather than draw district lines so that each Delegate's district has exactly 80,00 people, however, the legislature allows the district lines to fluctuate between 78,000 and 82,000 residents so that whole counties are placed within a single Delegate's district as much as possible. A voter in the largest district (with 82,000 residents) then files a suit, alleging that the Virginia legislature has violated the Equal Protection Clause. Is a court likely to conclude that the legislature has violated the Equal Protection Clause?

Select the correct answer(s).

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Explanation

The state is allowed to have a 10% variance with respect to state district lines (state representatives).

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A South Carolina statute -- the Save the Kids Act -- provides that all women seeking an abortion must be instructed at least 24 hours prior to terminating a pregnancy that "South Carolina cherishes the human life of the fetus that you are carrying, and the State stands ready to support a decision to choose life by paying all the remain gin costs of your pregnancy." In addition to this informational requirement and the financial-support provisions, the SKA also states in the preamble that "the purpose of this Act is to preserve the dignity and value of human life by leading women to choose life." A doctor who provides abortions challenges the constitutionality of the SKA. Is a court likely to conclude that the SKA is constitutional?

Select the correct answer(s).

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Explanation

This statute is similar to waiting periods that the court has upheld (Casey). The right to an abortion is no an anti-discrimination right, state governments have been allowed to discriminate against having an abortion so long as it doesn't place an undue burden on the woman. If she is still free to make the ultimate decision (can incentivize her to not abort) then there is no undue burden.

Con Law: Individual Rights

Question 1 of 1

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A prisonnier who is incarcerated at a state prison wishes to marry another inmate, but the warden's a policy of not allowing any prisoners to marry each other. What constitutional rule best supports the prisoner's claim of a "right to marry"?

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