Multistate Essay Examination (MEE) Constitutional Law Syllabus

Constitutional Law syllabus — full chapter and topic list

Expand any chapter to see its topics and sub-topics. This is the whole examinable outline for Constitutional Law in Multistate Essay Examination (MEE), not a summary of it.

1. 1

   Judicial Power and Federalism

   4 topics

   • Judicial Review and Justiciability
     • Standing, ripeness, and mootness
     • Political question doctrine
   • Congressional Powers
     • Commerce Clause
     • Taxing and spending powers
     • Enforcement of Reconstruction Amendments
   • Federalism Limits on States
     • Supremacy Clause and preemption
     • Dormant Commerce Clause
     • Privileges and Immunities Clause
   • Separation of Powers
2. 2

   Due Process, Equal Protection, and Takings

   5 topics

   • State Action Doctrine
   • Procedural Due Process
     • Protected interests
     • Mathews v. Eldridge balancing
   • Substantive Due Process
     • Fundamental rights and strict scrutiny
     • Privacy and family rights
   • Equal Protection
     • Suspect and quasi-suspect classifications
     • Levels of scrutiny
   • Takings Clause
3. 3

   First Amendment

   4 topics

   • Freedom of Speech: Content Regulation
     • Content-based vs. content-neutral
     • Unprotected categories
     • Time, place, and manner restrictions
   • Speech in Special Contexts
     • Public forum doctrine
     • Commercial and government speech
   • Prior Restraints, Vagueness, and Overbreadth
   • Freedom of Religion
     • Establishment Clause
     • Free Exercise Clause

Constitutional Law flashcards for Multistate Essay Examination (MEE)

24 of 56 cards from the Constitutional Law deck — real questions with worked answers.

1. What are the four requirements for a federal court to exercise judicial review under Article III standing?

   (1) Injury in fact — a concrete and particularized, actual or imminent harm; (2) Causation — the injury is fairly traceable to the defendant's conduct; (3) Redressability — a favorable decision will likely remedy the injury; plus the litigant must assert his own rights (no third-party standing absent an exception).

2. What are the requirements for taxpayer standing, and the main exception?

   General rule: a person has no standing merely as a taxpayer to challenge government expenditures. Exception (Flast v. Cohen): a taxpayer may challenge congressional spending under the Taxing and Spending Clause that violates the Establishment Clause.

3. List the justiciability doctrines that can bar a federal court from hearing a case.

   Standing, ripeness (claim not yet ready — too speculative), mootness (controversy ended), the political question doctrine, and the prohibition on advisory opinions (must be an actual case or controversy).

4. What are the recognized exceptions to the mootness doctrine?

   (1) Wrongs capable of repetition yet evading review (e.g., pregnancy, elections); (2) voluntary cessation by the defendant who could resume the conduct; and (3) class actions where the named plaintiff's claim is moot but other class members have live claims.

5. What is the political question doctrine and give classic examples.

   Courts will not decide issues constitutionally committed to another branch or lacking judicially manageable standards. Examples: republican-form-of-government (Guarantee Clause) claims, impeachment procedures, partisan gerrymandering, and the conduct of foreign affairs.

6. What is the adequate and independent state grounds doctrine?

   The U.S. Supreme Court will not review a state court judgment if it rests on a state-law ground that is both adequate (fully resolves the matter) and independent of federal law, because any opinion would be advisory.

7. What three-part test governs whether Congress may regulate under the Commerce Clause?

   Congress may regulate: (1) the channels of interstate commerce; (2) the instrumentalities of interstate commerce and persons/things in interstate commerce; and (3) activities that have a substantial effect on interstate commerce (economic activity may be aggregated).

8. What is the limit on Congress's power to regulate non-economic intrastate activity under the Commerce Clause?

   Congress cannot regulate purely non-economic, intrastate activity based on the substantial-effects prong by aggregating its effects (e.g., Lopez gun possession, Morrison gender-motivated violence). Aggregation applies only to economic activity.

9. What conditions must congressional spending conditions on states satisfy (the Dole test)?

   (1) For the general welfare; (2) unambiguous so states know the conditions; (3) related to the federal interest in the program; (4) not barred by another constitutional provision; and (5) not so coercive as to be compulsion (NFIB v. Sebelius).

10. What is the scope of Congress's taxing power versus a penalty?

    A tax is valid if it raises revenue (or has a revenue-raising purpose); even a regulatory tax is generally upheld. A 'tax' that is really a penalty (high, scienter-based, enforced by a regulator) may be struck down, but the individual mandate was upheld as a tax in NFIB.

11. Under what power may Congress enforce the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments, and what is the limit on the 14th?

    Congress may enforce these amendments by appropriate legislation. Under §5 of the 14th Amendment, remedial/preventive laws must show congruence and proportionality to actual constitutional violations (City of Boerne); Congress cannot create new substantive rights.

12. Does the 13th Amendment require state action, and what may Congress prohibit under it?

    No — the 13th Amendment (banning slavery/involuntary servitude) applies to private conduct. Congress may rationally determine and prohibit the 'badges and incidents of slavery,' including private racial discrimination.

13. What is the Dormant Commerce Clause and the two-tier test for state laws affecting interstate commerce?

    Even absent federal legislation, states may not unduly burden interstate commerce. (1) If a law discriminates against out-of-state commerce, it is virtually per se invalid unless it serves a legitimate non-economic purpose with no reasonable nondiscriminatory alternative. (2) If facially neutral, it is valid unless the burden on commerce clearly exceeds the local benefits (Pike balancing).

14. What are the two exceptions allowing a state to discriminate against interstate commerce?

    (1) The market participant exception — a state acting as a buyer/seller may favor its own citizens; and (2) the traditional government function / Congress-authorized exception — Congress may permit discrimination, and states may favor their own in performing traditional government functions.

15. What does the Privileges and Immunities Clause of Article IV prohibit, and what does it not protect?

    It bars a state from discriminating against out-of-state citizens regarding fundamental rights or important economic activities (e.g., earning a livelihood) absent substantial justification and no less restrictive means. It does NOT protect corporations or aliens, and does not cover recreational/non-fundamental interests.

16. Compare the Dormant Commerce Clause and the Article IV Privileges and Immunities Clause.

    DCC: protects all market actors including corporations and aliens; has market-participant and congressional-consent exceptions. Art. IV P&I: protects only individual U.S. citizens (not corporations/aliens) regarding fundamental rights/livelihood; has NO market-participant exception; requires intentional discrimination.

17. What is the Supremacy Clause and the types of federal preemption?

    Federal law is supreme; valid federal law preempts conflicting state law. Express preemption (statute says so); implied preemption — conflict preemption (impossible to comply with both, or state law obstructs federal objectives) and field preemption (federal scheme so pervasive Congress intended to occupy the field).

18. What are the President's powers regarding treaties versus executive agreements?

    Treaties require Senate ratification by two-thirds vote and are supreme over conflicting state law (last-in-time prevails over federal statutes). Executive agreements need no Senate approval; they prevail over conflicting state law but NOT over conflicting federal statutes.

19. Describe Justice Jackson's three-tier framework for presidential power from Youngstown.

    (1) Acting with express or implied congressional authorization — power at its maximum; (2) acting amid congressional silence (zone of twilight) — power uncertain, may rely on concurrent authority; (3) acting against the express or implied will of Congress — power at its lowest ebb, valid only if Congress lacks power over the subject.

20. What is the appointments and removal power of the President?

    The President appoints principal officers (ambassadors, Cabinet, judges) with Senate advice and consent; Congress may vest appointment of inferior officers in the President, courts, or department heads. The President may generally remove executive officers at will, but Congress may impose for-cause limits on officers of independent agencies/quasi-judicial bodies.

21. What is the difference between absolute and qualified presidential/official immunity?

    The President has absolute immunity from civil damages for official acts taken while in office (Nixon v. Fitzgerald) and at least presumptive immunity for core constitutional acts. Executive officials performing discretionary functions get qualified immunity unless they violate clearly established statutory or constitutional rights.

22. What is the legislative veto and why is it unconstitutional?

    A legislative veto lets Congress (one house or committee) overturn an executive action without bicameralism and presentment. It is unconstitutional (INS v. Chadha) because any action altering legal rights/duties must pass both houses and be presented to the President.

23. What is the non-delegation doctrine and the standard for valid delegation?

    Congress may delegate rulemaking authority to the executive so long as it provides an 'intelligible principle' to guide the agency. The doctrine is rarely enforced; nearly all delegations are upheld.

24. What is the State Action Doctrine and why does it matter?

    Most constitutional rights (Bill of Rights via 14th Amendment) restrain only governmental, not private, conduct. To assert a constitutional violation against a private actor, the plaintiff must show state action. (Exceptions: 13th Amendment and the Article I prohibition on slavery reach private conduct.)

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