University of Vermont

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• University of Vermont
• 2008 Study of U.S. Institute
• An Introduction to American Constitutional Law
• and the Constitution of the United States
• Lawrence White
• Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
• July 17, 2008

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• Fundamental Precepts of American Constitutional
  Governance
• Federalism
• The United States is a federation of sovereign
  states we have a Federal government and fifty
  state governments, each with defined spheres of
  power and authority.
• The constitutional form of government means that
  governments exercise only those powers explicitly
  delegated to them by the people.

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• Fundamental Precepts of American Constitutional
  Governance
• Federalism
• The United States is a federation of sovereign
  states we have a Federal government and fifty
  state governments, each with defined spheres of
  power and authority.
• The constitutional form of government means that
  governments exercise only those powers explicitly
  delegated to them by the people.
• Separation of Powers
• Power is allocated among three branches of
  government (legislative, executive, judicial),
  each with its own unique function and it own
  unique mechanism for making law.
• Checks and balances ensure that each branch is
  subordinate to the other two--no branch
  predominates.

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Separation of Powers -- The Three Branches of
Government

Branch of Government Title Under the U.S. Constitution Typical Title Under State Constitutions

Legislative United States Congress General Assembly
Executive President of the United States Governor
Judicial Supreme Court of the United States VariousSupreme Court, Court of Appeals
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Distribution of Federal Civilian Employment by
Branch for September 2006 www.opm.gov/.../html/200
6/september/charts.asp
Executive Branch (97.7) - 2,637,146 Judicial
Branch (1.2) - 33,760 Legislative Branch (1.1)
- 29,486
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How Each Branch Makes Policy

Branch of Government Function Means

Legislative Enactment of laws Statutes (also called public laws)
Executive Implementation and enforcement of laws Regulations
Judicial Resolution of disputes over the meanings of laws Court decisions
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An Exercise Draft a law protecting disabled
individuals from unreasonable discrimination in
the workplace.
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Section 102(a) of the Americans with Disabilities
Act of 1990 No employer shall discriminate
against a qualified individual with a
disability in regard to the terms,
conditions, and privileges of employment.
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Section 102(a) of the Americans with Disabilities
Act of 1990 No employer shall discriminate
against a qualified individual with a
disability in regard to the terms,
conditions, and privileges of employment.
??
The term employer means a person engaged in an
industry affecting commerce who has 15 or more
employees for each working day in each of 20 or
more calendar weeks in the current or preceding
calendar year .
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Section 102(a) of the Americans with Disabilities
Act of 1990 No employer shall discriminate
against a qualified individual with a
disability in regard to the terms,
conditions, and privileges of employment.
??
Disability means a physical or mental
impairment that substantially limits one or more
of the major life activities of such individual
.
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Section 102(a) of the Americans with Disabilities
Act of 1990 No employer shall discriminate
against a qualified individual with a
disability in regard to the terms,
conditions, and privileges of employment.
??
Disability means a physical or mental
impairment that substantially limits one or more
of the major life activities of such individual
. Physical or mental impairment means
(1) Any physiological disorder, cosmetic
disfigurement, or anatomical loss or (2) Any
psychological disorder.
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Section 102(a) of the Americans with Disabilities
Act of 1990 No employer shall discriminate
against a qualified individual with a
disability in regard to the terms,
conditions, and privileges of employment.
??
Disability means a physical or mental
impairment that substantially limits one or more
of the major life activities of such individual
. Physical or mental impairment means
(1) Any physiological disorder, cosmetic
disfigurement, or anatomical loss or (2) Any
psychological disorder. The term
substantially limits means unable to
perform a major life activity that the average
person in the general population can perform .
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Section 102(a) of the Americans with Disabilities
Act of 1990 No employer shall discriminate
against a qualified individual with a
disability in regard to the terms,
conditions, and privileges of employment.
??
Disability means a physical or mental
impairment that substantially limits one or more
of the major life activities of such individual
. Physical or mental impairment means
(1) Any physiological disorder, cosmetic
disfigurement, or anatomical loss or (2) Any
psychological disorder. The term
substantially limits means unable to
perform a major life activity that the average
person in the general population can perform
. Major Life Activities means functions
such as caring for oneself, performing manual
tasks, walking, seeing, hearing, speaking,
breathing, learning, and working.
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Section 102(a) of the Americans with Disabilities
Act of 1990 No employer shall discriminate
against a qualified individual with a
disability in regard to the terms,
conditions, and privileges of employment.
??
Qualified individual with a disability means
an individual with a disability who satisfies the
requisite skill, experience, education and other
job-related requirements of the employment
position such individual holds or desires, and
who, with or without reasonable accommodation,
can perform the essential functions of such
position. The term reasonable accommodation
means modifications to the work environment, or
to the manner or circumstances under which the
position held or desired is customarily
performed, that enable a qualified individual
with a disability to perform the essential
functions of that position.
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The Two Houses or Chambers of Congress


House Senate

Number of Members 435 100
How elected By Congressional District By State
Length of term 2 years 6 years
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Texas
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• The current House of Representatives
• Total number of seats 435.
• Democrats 233.
• Republicans 202.
• Democrats control the House and are entitled to
  appoint its leaders (the Speaker of the House
  Nancy Pelosi and the Majority Leader Steny
  Hoyer) nd select all committee chairs.

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Red districts are held by Republican
incumbents. Blue districts are held by Democratic
incumbents.
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• The current Senate
• Total number of seats 100.
• Democrats 49.
• Republicans 49.
• Independents 2 (Senator Bernie Sanders from
• Vermont and Senator Joe Lieberman from
• Connecticut).
• Democrats control the Senate because the two
  Independents are aligned with that party.
  Democrats, therefore, appoint the Senate Majority
  leader (Harry Reid of Nevada) and select all
  committee chairs.

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• The Legislative Process
• Introduction printing referral to committee.

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• The Legislative Process
• Introduction printing referral to committee.
• Committee hearings committee vote reporting.

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• The Legislative Process
• Introduction printing referral to committee.
• Committee hearings committee vote reporting.
• Floor debate amendment vote.

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• The Legislative Process
• Introduction printing referral to committee.
• Committee hearings committee vote reporting.
• Floor debate amendment vote.
• Process repeated in the other chamber.

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• The Legislative Process
• Introduction printing referral to committee.
• Committee hearings committee vote reporting.
• Floor debate amendment vote.
• Process repeated in the other chamber.
• Conference committee.

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• The Legislative Process
• Introduction printing referral to committee.
• Committee hearings committee vote reporting.
• Floor debate amendment vote.
• Process repeated in the other chamber.
• Conference committee.
• Presidential signature or veto veto override.

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How the federal court system is
organized District courts, courts of appeal, and
the Supreme Court
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United States District Court for the _____
District of Pennsylvania
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United States Court of Appeals for the _____
Circuit.
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(Petition for writ of certiorari must be granted
by the Supreme Court and only about 78 of
8,6000 petitions are granted every year.)
United States Supreme Court
Appellate Court (13 in all, geo- graphically
defined)
(United States Court of Appeals for the ____
Circuit)
(Usually an appeal as a matter of right.)
Trial Court (94 in all some states have one,
others two, some as many as four)
(United States District Court for the _ _
District of ____)
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Ultra Lib.Lib.Center...Cons.Ultra
Con
The Court in 1980
Marshall Brennan Stewart Stevens Blackmun
White Powell Burger Rehnquist
The Court today
Ginsburg Stevens Breyer
Souter Kennedy Roberts Alito
Thomas Scalia
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