Questions tagged [constitution]
A constitution is a framework for government, and serves as a set of founding principles for the entity.
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Did 'State' mean the same thing as today's 'country' during the time of the foundation of the USA?
It has been said that during the 18th century, the term State meant what we now refer to as countries. In other words, modern developments notwithstanding, did each US State start out as countries, ...
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What is considered due process of law in the 5th amendment in the US Constitution?
I was reading about the SCOTUS decision on DOMA, and it said that they invoked the 5th amendment, which states: nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law.
I would ...
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Is It Illegal For The IRS To Target Groups Based On Political Views?
This morning Steven Miller, outgoing IRS Commissioner, testified in front of Congress that it is not illegal for the IRS to target certain groups based on their political ideology:
http://www.youtube....
user1765
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Is retrospective legislation legal in Australia?
In 2011, the Commonwealth passed legislation making it a crime for recipients of social security to fail to report changes to their financial circumstances to Centrelink (our social security agency) ...
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What is the origin of "from each according to his ability" formula and why is it considered Marxist/Socialist?
Should anyone here have some sources or reputable background history to the below quotation, would you please consider making it available here?
[...] from each according to his ability, to each ...
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What was the reasoning behind putting the right to keep and bear arms in the US Constitution?
The Second Amendment is currently the focus of both sides with some claiming they are trying to protect it, and others trying to curtail the rights that others claim it was intended to protect.
So ...
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Illegal vs Unconstitutional
In U.S. politics what is the difference between something being illegal vs unconstitutional?
My current understanding (as a non-US person):
Wouldn't something illegal automatically be ...
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How is censorship on the radio constitutional?
I listen to the radio from time to time and it really gets me thinking about how the censorship laws work.
With the Constitution granting freedom of speech I don't really understand how radio and TV ...
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Do people in USA need official permission to demonstrate?
In some countries, people who want to demonstrate need to get official permission from the Ministry of Home Affairs in advance. In order to get that, they have to elaborate their reason and specify ...
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Is the Senate required to pursue a trial if presented with articles of impeachment?
The current make-up of Congress could potentially lead to a situation where the House was able to draft and pass articles of impeachment against the sitting president. However, the Senate is ...
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Where is the process for Presidential Impeachment codified?
The US Constitution Article 2, Section 4, states:
The President, Vice President and all civil officers of the United
States, shall be removed from office on impeachment for, and
conviction of, ...
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If a president does extra-constitutional things, what can be done?
Over the past decade or so, there has been a lot of noise regarding the Executive branch doing extra-legal things.
Between the Bush-era Torture scandal, and the Obama-era drone strikes, it ...
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Does the US Policy allowing targeted assassination of Americans suspected of being terrorists violate the Constitution?
According to a report by NBC News:
A confidential Justice Department memo concludes that the U.S.
government can order the killing of American citizens if they are
believed to be “senior ...
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What is the debt ceiling and what happens if we reach it?
Over the past few years, there has been debate in congress as to whether or not to raise the debt ceiling.
My question is simple(the answer to it might not be):
What Is the debt ceiling, under what ...
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How was the US able to create a Department of Education at the Federal level?
Looking through Article 1, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution (that part of the document that enumerates the powers of the Congress), there is nothing that talks about Congress' role in education. ...
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What is the difference between a constitutional law and a law
In Britain, where I live, there isn't a distinction between constitutional law and ordinary statute law. Any law can repeal or amend any other law, and all laws follow the same procedure to be passed....
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What is the political/legal distinction between a "state" and a "commonwealth" in the United States?
Some of the "states" in the United States are referred to as a Commonwealth rather than State (Virginia, Massachusetts, Kentucky and Pennsylvania specifically). The Wikipedia article for Commonwealth ...
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Hypothetical challenge to the 22nd Amendment
What if, for whatever odd reason (disregarding the extreme unlikeliness of this ever happening), a two-term President of the United States was elected to a third term by popular write-in vote? What ...
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How far does in loco parentis extend for schools in the United States?
To my personal opinion, In the United States schools have adopted the position that they have in loco parentis authority over students, at the moment the students leave the company of their parents.
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Is the PATRIOT ACT constitutional? [closed]
As noted by multiple civil libertarian groups, the PATRIOT ACT and its associated laws authorize the government to conduct courts in which the interpretation is not made public, and searches may be ...
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What are the limits of the second amendment?
The second amendment of the US constitution states:
A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free
State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be
...
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Is legalization of marijuana legal in the United States?
The question posed here is whether the states' partial nullification of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) is legal. Under the supremacy clause, federal law and statute should trump state law, but ...
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Are all retroactive laws, ex post facto laws?
In the United States, Congress' seeming inability to pass a fiscal cliff bill before the 1/1/13 12:00 AM deadline has sparked discussion that Congress could potentially pass a bill sometime in January ...
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Must all democratic countries have a constitution?
It seems to me that all democratic countries, e.g. republics and representative monarchies, also have a constitution of sorts.
On the other hand, what defines a democratic country is the "power ...
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What’s the Constitutional basis for allowing natural-born U.S. citizens to renounce their citizenship?
The 14th Amendment's first sentence reads:
All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein ...
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Are state laws restricting electors' votes constitutional?
Several states have laws that purport to restrict or punish faithless electors for their electoral votes. See Wikipedia's Faithless elector: Legal position. Michigan and Minnesota even claim the ...
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What is the origin of the Presidential signing statement in the United States?
With the increasingly polarized nature of American politics, modern presidents have increasingly relied on the use of signing statements to challenge or augment the implementation of measures they ...
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What is the legality of using foreign law to decide domestic cases?
There has recently been significant discussion in the United States on the use of foreign law, and foreign legal proceedings, being used as a means for informing a domestic judge's rationale for ...
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Are local currencies unconstitutional?
In many places around the United States, localities and organizations have been printing money as a means to drive business toward local establishments and raise money for the community in times of ...
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Can the Equal Rights Amendment still be ratified?
Given that it took the 27th Amendment to the United States Constitution over 200 years to be ratified, would the Equal Rights Amendment that is currently three states short of the required 38 states ...
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How are conflicts between constitutional and treaty obligations resolved?
The present Constitution of Bolivia, which came into effect on the 7th of February 2009, has this to say about coca (an English translation follows the original Spanish):
Artículo 384. El Estado ...
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Does Mcullough v. Maryland mean that charitable donations cannot be taxed?
In McCulough v. Maryland, Chief Justice John Marshall promulgated the doctrine the power to tax is the power to destroy.
Additionally, as we all know, the Lemon Test prohibits the United States ...
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How does DOMA get around the "Full Faith and Credit" clause to the Constitution?
Regardless of what one feels about "gay marriage", the recent decision by the Supreme Court to review the case brings up an interesting Constitutional question. Namely, if, say, Maryland recognizes ...
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Why is West Virginia a state?
First off, I am a resident of the Commonwealth of Virginia, and am completely aware of the circumstances of the creation of the state of West Virginia. In 1863, in the midst of the Rebellion, ...
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What amendment to the U.S. Constitution removed the provision for slaves to count as three fifths of a person?
One of the compromises in the original U.S. Constitution provided that slaves counted as three fifths of a person for the purposes of computing populations and thus allocating seats to the House of ...
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Why was the Electoral College the system selected by the founding fathers?
What advantages did the founding fathers see in electoral college that made them pick it over other potential voting systems?
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What is the constitutional status of military bases?
Does the United States Constitution have any amendments related to foreign bases? Technically foreign bases aren't U.S. territory, but they must have some laws.
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Constitutionality of the Income Tax
There is a growing movement in the United States of Americans that call into question the constitutionality of the Federal Income tax in the modern age.
Understanding that the income tax first came ...
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Why do the supreme court justices have a life term period?
The justices of the Supreme Court of the United States is composed by chief justices which have a life-term period on that position after they are "elected".
I have always asked to myself why some ...
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