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8/18/2019 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.
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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.
Original jurisdiction.
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.
Original jurisdiction.
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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
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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
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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
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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)
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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
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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
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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 be at least 30 years of age
Must have been U.S. citizen for at least nine years
Must live in the represented state at the time of election
Representative:
Must be at least 25 years of age
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Must have been a U.S. citizen for more than 7 years
Must live in the state they represent at the time of election