1

Federalism and the CourtsJonathan Lagerquist

The Supreme Court building in Washington D.C. The building was completed in 1935

2

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

3

The Constitution

Scene at the Signing of the Constitution of the United States by Howard Chandler Christy, 1940

• Articles of Confederation (written in 1777 and ratified 1781)

• Constitution written in Philadelphia in 1787

• Three branches• Separation of powers• Checks and balances • Federalism

4

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?

5

The federal judiciary

• Article III• Life tenure and guaranteed salaries• Jurisdiction• Congressional control• Appellate jurisdiction• Original jurisdiction

6

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

7

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

8

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

9

Marbury v. Madison (1803)

The Supreme Court building

10

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)

11

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

12

Dred Scott v. Sandford

The Missouri Compromise of 1820

13

The Civil War, 1861 to 1865

The Confederacy in red

• The Reconstruction amendments:– 13th (1865) Ending

slavery – 14th (1868) Protected

the individual from state action

– 15th (1870) Voting rights

14

Early 14th Amendment cases

• The Slaughter-House Cases (1873)• United States v. Cruikshank (1876)• The Civil Rights Cases (1883)• Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)

15

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

16

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

17

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

18

The Court and the New Deal

• "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.

19

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)

• A right to privacy – Griswold v. Connecticut (1965)– Roe v. Wade (1973)

States with segregated public schools in 1954

20

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)

21

Thank you for listening