Constitution Study Guide (Print).pdf

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Constitution Test Study Guide: 1

Constitution Test Study Guide

Sanjit Dandapanthula

Part 1: Bill of Rights

Amendment 1: The people have the right to free religion, speech, press, assembly, and petition.

Amendment 2: People are allowed to keep and bear arms, because a militia is important.

Amendment 3: Soldiers can’t be quartered in houses without the consent of the owners, unless they

do it in a manner outlined by the law.

Amendment 4: No unreasonable search or seizure may be carried out without a written order.

Amendment 5: This amendment guarantees a trial by jury and “due process of law,” and guards

against double jeopardy (being charged twice for the same offense) and self-incrimination.

Amendment 6: This amendment outlines the rights of the accused, including the right to have a

"speedy and public" trial, the right to be informed of the charges made against him, the right to call

witnesses in his defense, and the right to have an attorney in his defense.

Amendment 7: In suits of common law, with over $20 at stake, the right to trial by jury will be

preserved, and nothing tried by a jury can be re-examined in any court in the US, except according

to common law itself.

Amendment 8: Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and

unusual punishments inflicted.

Amendment 9: The people have more rights than those explicitly stated in the Constitution.

Amendment 10: The powers that aren’t national are given to the states and the people.




Superior

Courts

All types of civil and criminal cases, including

juvenile cases.

Original jurisdiction.

Appeals from district

courts.

District

Courts

Criminal jurisdiction over misdemeanors, gross

misdemeanors, and criminal traffic cases. Can hold

preliminary hearings for felony cases. Civil

jurisdiction when injury is less than $75,000.

Jurisdiction over traffic and non-traffic infractions,

domestic violence and anti-harassment orders, no

contact orders, change of name petitions, and lien

foreclosures. Small claims division jurisdiction for

up to $5,000 in damages.


Municipal

Courts

Municipal courts hear misdemeanors and gross

misdemeanors, violations of city or municipal

ordinances, with ability to fine defendants up to

$5,000, a year in jail, or both. The violation must

have occurred within the city. Can order anti-

harassment protection orders if there is a local court

rule. Municipal courts with populations over

400,000 may be given jurisdiction over additional

types of cases by their local city.





Part 3: Elastic and Establishment Clauses

Establishment: Government cannot promote or establish a single religion

Elastic: Congress can pass all laws necessary to carry out its allotted powers (by the Constitution).

Part 4: Checks and Balances of Branches




Part 5: The Bill Process

Part 6: Electoral College Function

The electoral college functions through a process in which citizens of a state elect an amount of

electors that depends on the total amount of house representatives and senate members of that state.These electors proceed to vote for a president based on the wants of their state or they can vote by

their own judgement. There are a total of 538 electoral votes, 100 from the senate, 435 from the

house, and 3 votes from the District of Columbia.

Part 7: Know the Cases

Marbury vs. Madison: This case established the idea of judicial review. The story begins with John

Adams who was about to leave office appointing 58 members of his party to be in congress by giving

John Marshall commissions to deliver to these people. John did all but 17 of them and Thomas Jefferson went into office and found these 17. John believed that the next secretary of state James

Madison would deliver these though Jefferson told him to not. These 17 people were unhappy since

they couldn’t actually be in office until they got these commissions. Marbury who was supposed to

be appointed got mad and sued James Madison who was Jefferson’s secretary of state because he

wanted him to deliver the commission. The Supreme Court decided to not order Madison to deliver

the commission because if he disobeyed, the court would look weak, and if they didn’t do anything




they would look afraid. They performed a compromised decision which involved them stating that

the law requiring them to issue writs of mandamus conflicts with Article Three Section Two Clause

Two of the Constitution. Since the Constitution reigned supreme they could not force Madison to

deliver. This helped make it clear that the Judicial Branch isn’t weak or going to be threatened, and

established it as a power that interprets the Constitution.

Gideon vs. Wainwright: Mr. Clarence Earl Gideon was put on trial for breaking and entering

against Mr. Wainwright but he was poor so he couldn’t afford a lawyer. He was semi-literate so he

did a pretty bad job and landed himself in prison. He learned law himself, sitting in jail. He then

appealed to the Florida supreme court and was rejected. Then he appealed to the US supreme court

for violation of his Sixth amendment and was accepted because this case would help many others as

well. He then was freed along with many other who didn’t receive proper lawyer help.

Mapp vs. Ohio: This was a case involved in the idea of the Fourth Amendment. What happened

was that Mrs. Mapp had her house illegally searched under the threat of a bomb. The police then

found “lewd and lascivious” items in her basement and she was arrested since those were illegal in

Ohio. Mapp’s attorneys said then that those materials shouldn’t be used in the trial since they were

obtained without a warrant. This was overturned since the items weren’t forcibly seized and Mapp

appealed to the Supreme court. The supreme court was divided on which amendments protected

Mapp whether it was the Fourth, the Fifth, or the Fourteenth. She ended up winning her case.

Hazelwood vs. Kuhlmeier:

This case involved the censorship of a student newspaper. The principal

had censored articles in the school newspaper which had talk of abortion, pregnancy, and divorce.

He believed that these weren’t school appropriate. The students sued the school in a district court

but the court ruled that in a school environment it is just. They then appealed into the US court of

appeals and it said the students First Amendment rights were violated. The other side then appealed

to the Supreme Court who ruled the students’ rights weren’t being violated since spectrum wasn’t a

public forum and the freedom of speech for individuals isn’t the same in school. Also school

sponsored papers are under school restrictions.

Tinker vs. Des Moines: This case involved students being forced not to wear armbands to school or

else face suspension. The purpose of these armbands were to protest the Vietnam War. The students

believed this violated their First amendment rights to symbolic speech. They appealed it from the

district court to the circuit court and then the supreme court. The supreme court ruled that Tinker

won since they weren’t harming anyone in this peaceful demonstration. This would later be used forschool protests later, as long as the political protest is peaceful and does no harm or offense to others.

Miranda vs. Arizona: This was a case where Mexican immigrant Ernesto Miranda was arrested for

rape and kidnapping and the policemen interrogated him and he gave a self-incriminating testimony

in a 2-hour long interrogation. They didn’t inform him of his Fifth and Sixth amendment rights

which respectively gave him the right to avoid self-incrimination and the right of the assistance of an

attorney. The case went from the Superior court where he was convicted to the Supreme court of




Arizona where the Superior court verdict was upheld and finally to the Supreme court of the United

States where the verdict was overturned. The supreme court believed that the Fifth amendment is so

crucial that it cannot be waived and it is not fair if people don’t know their rights so they overruled

this case.

New Jersey vs. TLO: This case starts with TLO and some other kid smoking in the bathroom.They are found by a teacher and the person with TLO admits but TLO doesn’t. The teacher then

searches her bag and finds a pack of cigarettes and some paper that could be used in rolling

marijuana and searches further finding evidence that TLO is a drug dealer who sells marijuana. TLO

had also admitted to committing the crime. The case goes from the juvenile court where TLO is

indicted to the appellate where the conviction is upheld to the new jersey supreme where it is

overturned and finally to the supreme court where it is overturned again. This case was over how the

Fourth and Fifth amendments applied in schools. The Supreme Court ruled that the search was

reasonable because the amendments apply differently in the school since it is a special environment.

Part 8: Know the Numbers

435 members in House of Representatives, and 100 members in Senate.

54 Republicans in Senate, 44 Democrats, and 2 independents.

>290 votes needed in House of Representatives to override President’s veto

Term of office for President is 4 years

9 Supreme Court justices (8 now)

38 states needed to ratify Amendment

270 electoral votes needed to become President

12 electoral votes in Washington State

Bill of Rights went into effect 1781 (passed 1789)




Part 9: Duties and Powers of Branches

Legislative: The legislative branch is known as Congress and is divided into the House and the

Senate. They discuss and pass laws.

Executive: The president and his assistants and his cabinet and so forth but their duty is to enforcethe laws.

Judicial: The courts which decide if what you did was constitutional or not, and what punishment

you get if you break the law.

Part 10: Executive Branch Departments

Department of Agriculture: supervises agricultural production to make sure prices are fair for

producers and consumers, helps farmers financially with subsidies and development programs, andhelps food producers sell their goods overseas.

Department of Commerce: promotes international trade, economic growth, and technological

advancement.

Department of Defense: oversees everything related to the nation's military security. The

department directs the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, and Air Force, as well as the Joint Chiefs of Staff

and several specialized combat commands.

Department of Education: administers more than 150 federal education programs, including

student loans, migrant worker training, vocational education, and special programs for thehandicapped.

Department of Energy: manage use of energy, energy technology, energy conservation, the civilian

and military use of nuclear energy, regulation of energy production and use, and the pricing and

allocation of oil.

Department of Health and Human Services: Administers health organizations.

Department of Homeland Security: protects the country against terrorism.

Department of Housing and Urban Development: promotes community development,

administers fair-housing laws, and provides affordable housing and rent subsidies.

Department of the Interior: protects the natural environment and develops the country's natural

resources.

Department of Justice: supervises U.S. district attorneys and marshals, supervises federal prisons

and other penal institutions, and advises the President on petitions for paroles and pardons.




Department of Labor: protects the rights of workers, helps improve working conditions, and

promotes good relations between labor and management.

Department of State: advises the President on foreign-policy issues, works to carry out the

country's foreign policy, maintains relations between foreign countries and the United States,

negotiates treaties and agreements with foreign nations, speaks for the United States in the UnitedNations and other major international organizations, and supervises embassies, missions, and

consulates overseas.

Department of Transportation: sets the nation's transportation policy.

Department of the Treasury: reports to Congress and the President on the financial state of the

government and the economy, regulates the interstate and foreign sale of alcohol and firearms;

supervises the printing of stamps for the U.S. Postal Service; operates the Secret Service, which

protects the president, the vice president, their families, and other officials; curbs counterfeiting; and

operates the Customs Service, which regulates and taxes imports.Department of Veterans Affairs: provides benefits and services to veterans and their dependents.

Part 11: Articles in the Constitution

Article 1: What the legislative body is composed of and what they can do. Rights denied to states

and things denied to people.

Article 2: How the president is elected his duties, the officers appointed under him, and how people

can be impeached.

Article 3: Powers of the Judicial branch and how it is established.

Article 4: Rights given to states, formations of state, rights to inhabitants of states, relations between

states.

Article 5: How the constitution can be amended.

Article 6: Everyone is bound to the constitution and all agreements before the creation are valid; the

constitution is the supreme law (i.e. supremacy clause).

Article 7: States needed for ratification.




Part 12: Other Important Amendments

Other than the Bill of Rights, other significant amendments include the Thirteenth which abolished

slavery, the Fourteenth which made all people born in the us a citizen, the Fifteenth which made itso everyone could vote besides age restrictions, the Nineteenth which let women vote, and the

Twenty-sixth which lowered the legal voting age from 21 to 18. Another was the Twenty-seventh

amendment which prevented Congressmen from changing their own pay.

Part 13: Examples of Violations of Bill of Rights

The following examples correspond with their amendment numbers.

1.

Ellen is not allowed to publish her paper on why Trump is a horrible person because thepolice don’t like it.

2.

Simon gets his R8 revolver taken away from him by a policeman even though he is just

storing it in his house and wears it while in the local militia.

3.

Harvin is forced to quarter soldiers in his house against his will when his town is about to be

invaded by armed Canadians (what are the odds of that?).

4.

Skylar’s house is barged into and policeman take his vodka for evidence in a case without a

warrant.

5.

Emily Evanson is in a court case for a capital crime and isn’t given a Grand jury, forced to be

a witness against herself, and has her food stolen for public use because of her crimes.

6.

Sanford is arrested for DUI and the judge states that he will not be given a jury since it’s

obvious he was driving under influence.

7.

Daniel is sued for $500 for public disturbance by yelling “The vectors are unaligned!” loudly

at 2 in the morning. The Judge then states that there is security camera footage and it’s an

open and shut case, so he doesn’t need a jury.

8.

Patrick “accidentally” kicks a man in the shin while doing cartwheels at 30 rpm and is then

sued 2 billion dollars. The next day he is fined 6 billion dollars for eating in Ms. Evanson's

class and the next day is sent to Guantanamo bay for, again, eating in Ms. Evanson’s class.

9.

Anthony (vice president) creates vacuums around people so they asphyxiate under the

pretense that “it is not stated in the Constitution that the people have the right to oxygen”.10. Hayden (now president) prohibits the state of Nebraska from setting its minimum wage to

60 cents an hour even though it isn’t a right of the government or a right prohibited from a

state.




Part 14: State and Federal Court Cases

Federal: Large cases involving large amounts of money over $75,000, Bankruptcy, copyright, patent,

and maritime law case, and cases where U.S. is a party (i.e. Thomas performing a kamikaze on the White House).

State: Smaller crimes committed by ordinary people (robbery, larceny, breaking and entering etc.)

Traffic laws more ordinary crimes. Taken when the location of the crime or civil case occurs in the

respective state. (i.e. Thomas throwing toilet paper at Ms. Evanson’s house.)

Part 15: Congressional Leaders

House:

Office of the Speaker: Paul Ryan

House Majority Leader: Kevin McCarthy

House Majority Whip: Steve Scalise

Office of the Democratic Leader: Nancy Pelosi

Democratic Whip: Steny Hoyer

Senate:

Vice President: Joe Biden

President Pro Tempore: Orrin G. Hatch

Majority Leader: Mitch McConnell

Majority Whip: John Cornyn

Minority Leader: Harry Reid

Minority Whip: Richard J. Durbin

Part 16: Key Cabinet Members and Officers

Vice President - Joe Biden

Secretary of State - John Kerry




Secretary of Treasury - Jack Lew

Secretary of Defense - Ashton Carter

Attorney General - Loretta Lynch

Secretary of the Interior - Sally Jewell

Secretary of Agriculture - Tom Vilsack

Secretary of Commerce -Penny Pritzker

Secretary of Labor - Thomas Perez

Secretary of Health and Human Services - Sylvia Mathews Burwell

Secretary of Housing and Urban Development - Julian Castro

Secretary of Transportation - Anthony Foxx Secretary of Energy - Ernest Moniz

Secretary of Education - John King

Secretary of Veterans’ Affairs - Robert McDonald

Secretary of Homeland Security - Jeh Johnson

White House Chief of Staff - Denis McDonough

Director of the Office of Management and Budget - Shaun Donovan

Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency - Gina McCarthy

Trade Representative -Michael Froman

Ambassador to the United Nations - Samantha Power

Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers - Jason Furman

Administrator of the Small Business Administration - Maria Conteras-Sweet




Part 17: Supreme Court Justices*

[Chief] John G. Roberts, Jr.

Clarence Thomas

Anthony M. Kennedy

Ruth Bader Ginsburg

Sonia Sotomayor

Stephen G. Breyer

Samuel A. Alito, Jr.

Elena Kagan

There are currently only 8 justices due to the recent death of Justice Antonin Scalia.

They all perform the same duty, which is to review cases from lower courts, usually over

controversial interpretations of the Constitution. The Chief Justice, however, has a few more duties

including: presiding over impeachment trials of the President, representing the Judicial Branch, and

presiding over oral arguments.

Part 18: QualificationsPresident:

Must be at least 35 years of age

Must be a natural-born U.S. citizen

Must have been a resident of the U.S. for at least 14 years

Senator:


Must have been U.S. citizen for at least nine years

Must live in the represented state at the time of election

Representative:





Must have been a U.S. citizen for more than 7 years

Must live in the state they represent at the time of election

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