Questions tagged [us-constitution]
The United States Constitution is the primary legal document for the United States of America.
305
questions
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Is the individual right to bear arms disproven by the deleted conscientious objector clause of the 2nd amendment?
As an individual, is the notion that an American has the right to a firearm per the 2nd amendment disproven based on the deleted clause of conscientious objectors?
Proposed by James Madison upon the ...
0
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1answer
41 views
Could Senators convene congress by objecting to the closing of a pro-forma session?
Here's the hypothetical:
Congress is adjourned, but the Example Caucus wants it to convene again as soon as possible. Congress plans to take recess for more than three days, so they've scheduled ...
2
votes
1answer
47 views
25th amendment: what happens in the period between the VP's two declarations?
Section 4 of the 25th amendment provides:
Whenever the Vice President [transmits a declaration] the Vice
President shall immediately assume the powers and duties of the office
as Acting President. ...
1
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2answers
100 views
Is a presidential self pardon more likely to be valid if issued to a group instead of the president as an individual [closed]
My understanding is, the presidential pardon power is based on this passage of the US constitution:
The President ... shall have Power to grant Reprieves and Pardons for
Offenses against the United ...
0
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1answer
60 views
When the VP is Acting President
When the Vice-President is serving as Acting President on account of a temporary disability of the President, do they retain their Vice-Presidential powers, including the power to preside over the ...
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3answers
97 views
Do I have the right to let Twitter deactivate/hide a public account I had, but no longer use?
So a number of years ago, I created a Twitter account which I forgot the password and email to. More than 3 years ago, almost 4. I did not post anything, almost nothing. Just liked a couple of posts. ...
7
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2answers
253 views
What is the precise legal meaning of “electors” being “appointed”?
Both Article 2 of the US Constitution and 3 USC Chapter 1 talk about "appointing electors".
However, 3 USC Chapter 1 clearly refers to the election day (this is when "appointing ...
19
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2answers
4k views
Does Texas have standing to litigate against other States' election results?
https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/states-blast-texas-bid-overturn-election-seditious-abuse/story?id=74656637
What standing is required (if any) for an entity (person, corporation, state, etc.) to ...
3
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3answers
127 views
Do governors have veto power over the appointment of the electors by state legislature?
I believe governors in all 50 states have veto power when normal laws are passed in their states.
However, if a state legislature chose (or was directed to by the courts) to appoint the electors in a ...
13
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2answers
2k views
Ramifications of Texas' election lawsuit
It's a generally accepted principle that each state is responsible for running its own elections. This leads to a lot of variation between different states - some states let felons vote, some don't; ...
2
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3answers
167 views
What triggers a contingent election?
I have read many opinion articles which discuss the possibility that some states fail to appoint any presidential electors (as actually happened with the state of New York in our first federal ...
0
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1answer
61 views
Is recent diplomatic service abroad an impediment to becoming president of the United States?
Here is Article II, Section 1, Clause 5 of the Constitution of the United States:
No Person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this ...
2
votes
3answers
143 views
What happens if two people claim the same (personalized) pardon?
What would happen if the identity of an individual named in a presidential pardon could not be ascertained with certainty, but several people have a strong claim to being the named individual?
For ...
0
votes
1answer
93 views
What does this sentence about Trump's lawsuits in Pennsylvania mean?
Source
A turning point for the Trump campaign’s legal efforts came on Nov. 13, when its core team of professional lawyers saw the writing on the wall. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit in ...
0
votes
2answers
118 views
Can Congress provide a binding interpretation of the USA Constitution by statute?
The Eight Amendment of the USA Constitution forbids the imposition of "cruel and unusual punishment".
Can Congress enact a statute which says "The death penalty is cruel and unusual&...
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1answer
54 views
How would an originalist interpret a change in the implementation of a broad language?
The following question is inspired by a point made by Justice Breyer in the following link, but Justice Scalia did not specifically address this point, so I wondered how an originalist would address ...
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2answers
130 views
How would originalists vs living-constitutionalists assess the constitutionality of electing a female President of the United States?
This question regards the USA and its federal constitution.
Article II, Section I of the US Federal Constitution says that:
The executive Power shall be vested in a President of the United
States of ...
0
votes
3answers
93 views
What would prevent a US judge to condemn someone to slavery according to 13th amendment?
Let us assume that a particularly pervert judge (or a subversive one seeking to make a public case) condemns a convicted criminal to slavery, according to the 13th amendment that seems to allow for ...
1
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3answers
70 views
Does torture violate the US Federal Constitution, and if so under which theory?
We all know about the tortures that took place at Abu Ghraib prison.
However, Justice Scalia explains to us that torture does not offend the US Federal Constitution.
As Justice Scalia explained to us, ...
7
votes
5answers
4k views
Is there an implied consent to a frisk in a stop in the US?
This question regards US law, and the Fourth Amendment to the US Federal Constitution.
Suppose I am walking on the sidewalk, when a police officer stops me.
He then says the following: "I will ...
0
votes
1answer
74 views
Has the fugitive slave clause of the US constitution been used since passage of the 13th Amendment?
The Wikipedia article on the 'Fugitive Slave Clause' of the US constitution (Art. IV § 2(3)) says (emphasis added):
The passage of the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which ...
1
vote
3answers
131 views
Is the United States federal income tax an indirect tax under the 5th amendment?
I'm no American citizen, so I don't know that much about all the ins and outs of the Constitution. I've been watching a movie where one of the characters called the federal income tax "...
1
vote
2answers
66 views
Can Congress restrict which individuals are eligible to serve as federal judges?
Federal judges in the United States are appointed by the president with the advice and consent of the Senate. The constitution does not impose any restrictions on who may be appointed and confirmed as ...
2
votes
1answer
60 views
Michael Jackson trial and the constitutionality of gag orders
In this page, Wikipedia says that in the Michael Jackson 2005 trial (People v. Jackson) the judge:
put a gag order on both sides
Erwin Chemerinsky says (link, at the time of 1:53:37) that gag orders ...
-1
votes
1answer
60 views
Clarification on Amendment XIV
Amendment XIV says:
But when the right to vote at any election for the choice of electors
for President and Vice President of the United States, Representatives
in Congress, the Executive and ...
3
votes
1answer
82 views
What is meant by direct Taxes in Article 1 Section 2 in the US Constitution?
I am new when it comes to understanding the US Constitution and I am not comfortable with Section 2, Paragraph 3 of Article 1!
[Representatives and direct Taxes shall be apportioned
among the ...
3
votes
2answers
63 views
Would the federal decriminalization of marijuana under the MORE act supersede state-level criminal statutes?
Bill in question
I haven't been able to find a clear answer to this question.
I'm aware that there exists the Supremacy Clause which says that state laws cannot contradict federal laws. Another way of ...
6
votes
3answers
241 views
Can a pardon be issued clandestinely?
Say there exists some individual who is in danger of prosecution for federal crimes, though it's not yet certain what the exact charges will be, nor even whether the indictment will be made at all. ...
5
votes
1answer
198 views
Compensation for gays charged under sodomy laws after Lawrence v Texas
I’m not an American or legally trained, but I’m wondering if there has ever been any compensation awarded to homosexuals fined under sodomy laws, after those laws were found to be unconstitutional. My ...
9
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5answers
4k views
Does the sixth amendment entitle me to know who called the county on me for a code violation?
Is my accuser the person who petitioned the county to investigate a code violation?
0
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1answer
75 views
Can the US Congress subpoena witnesses for any arbitrary reason?
This question was prompted by the headline on October 15, 2020 that the Senate Judiciary Committee will vote on whether to subpoena the CEO of Twitter for suppressing certain political content. This ...
38
votes
2answers
7k views
Is the typo in the 25th amendment significant?
The fourth section of the 25th amendment to the US constitution provides for the president to be declared unfit involuntarily. The first of its two paragraphs describes the declaration itself, made ...
2
votes
1answer
382 views
Could the 14th amendment, section 3, keep Trump from holding office for a second term?
It seems widely agreed upon that even if a President breaks a law, he can only be removed from office through the impeachment process.
However, could an incumbent president who wins a second term be ...
1
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1answer
64 views
Who succeeds to a political party's presidential candidacy if the candidate withdraws before the election?
If a president and simultaneously a presidential candidate Trump would have to quit before the November vote the remainder of his presidency would of course be assumed by Pence, his VP and running ...
1
vote
1answer
72 views
Can the Speaker of the House expel senators from the Hall of the House before all electoral votes have been counted?
A recent article in The Atlantic 1 goes through some rather dire hypothetical scenarios in which constitutional crises arise during the upcoming Presidential elections.
One of their scenarios ...
1
vote
3answers
129 views
Can the US Senate be abolished without unanimous consent of the States?
Article V of the US Constitution states, in part:
and that no State, without its Consent, shall be deprived of its equal Suffrage in the Senate.
It has been suggested elsewhere that abolishing the ...
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votes
3answers
77 views
The phrase "by and with the [Advice and] consent of the Senate is defined once in the U.S. Constitution
The constitution introduces the phrase "by and with the advice and consent of the Senate" and clarifies that "consent" means "provided 2/3 of the Senators present concur"...
9
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1answer
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How can the US House of Representatives transition to be elected by proportional representation? Would editing “PL 2 USC 2c” work?
Here is context for my question: I am a student studying political science. I am researching policy that could be used to dismantle the stranglehold that the Democratic and Republican parties have on ...
3
votes
1answer
79 views
Has there been a SCOTUS case which clarified the meaning of the phrase “to promote the progress of science and useful arts”?
The US constitution article 1 section 8 gives the Congress an enumerated power "to promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the ...
2
votes
2answers
153 views
Who becomes President if no candidate for President or for Vice-President has been selected at noon, January 20th?
The Twentieth Amendment to the Constitution , Article 3, deals with the situation where no President or Vice President has qualified on January 20.
Section 3
If, at the time fixed for the beginning ...
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2answers
135 views
How Do States [Arizona] Amend the Federal Constitution?
How do states (specifically Arizona) amend the United States federal constitution? How do states amend the federal constitution without permission/cooperation from the US federal congress? What is the ...
22
votes
3answers
4k views
Could a US state allow non-citizens to vote in presidential elections?
On July 30th, President Trump suggested in a tweet that the US presidential election should be delayed due to COVID impeding in-person voting. Every news article I've read since (Vox, Slate, ...
1
vote
1answer
54 views
Are curfew-like warrants possible?
I understand that curfew laws are a concern due to the possibility of use of them to violate the constitutionally protected rights of individuals. Even in the face of pandemic-level health concerns, ...
4
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2answers
123 views
Can the government outlaw excessive spending on defense counsel?
Suppose a jurisdiction in the United States wanted to pass a law limiting the amount of money that a defendant could spend on counsel, to try to prevent a very wealthy person from assembling a dream ...
1
vote
0answers
25 views
Does “district” in the Sixth Amendment include state judicial districts?
The Sixth Amendment refers to:
"an impartial jury of the state and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law"
...
0
votes
1answer
84 views
fortune-telling a NY crime, is it a dead letter?
Fortune-telling for pay is a misdemeanor in New York State if "he claims or pretends to tell fortunes, or holds himself out as being able, by claimed or pretended use of occult powers, to answer ...
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2answers
80 views
Is US citizenship confirmation required for constitutional protection
I've been watching a lot of 1st Amendment audit videos and I understand that filming in public is guaranteed to any US citizen. I also understand that if no crime is committed, no US citizen cannot be ...
0
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1answer
80 views
Changing the name of one of the United States
Does the law have anything clear to say about changing the name of a state in the United States? What I know is:
Maybe a couple of decades ago there was discussion in North Dakota of changing the ...
1
vote
2answers
69 views
Where is Arizona's [and other states] timezone defined?
Where is the timezone defined for Arizona? Is it in the Arizona constitution? Is it in Arizona Revised Statutes? Is it in the United States constitution? Is it in the United States Code? Where is ...
2
votes
1answer
97 views
Can the US President and Senate redefine the calendar year to extend the presidential term?
I was recently watching a video about what would happen if the US president tried to cancel or postpone the election. From what I gather, the 20th amendment ensures that his term will end on January ...
