CONSTITUTIONAL LAW
Constitutional law deals with the interpretation and implementation of the United States Constitution. So, it deals with some of the fundamental relationships within the society. This includes relationships among the states, and the federal government, the three branches (the executive, the legislative, the judicial) of the federal government, and the rights of the individual in relation to both federal and state government. The Supreme Court has played a crucial role in interpreting the Constitution.
The Constitution establishes the three branches of the federal government and enumerates their powers. Article I establishes the House of Representatives and the Senate. Section 8 enumerates the powers of Congress. Congress has specifically used its power to regulate commerce (the commerce clause) with foreign nations and among the states to enact broad and powerful legislation throughout the nation. The sixteenth Amendment gives Congress the power to collect a national income tax without apportioning it among the states. Article II of the Constitution establishes the presidency and the executive branch of government. The powers of the President are not as clearly enumerated as those of the Congress. He is vested with the "executive" power by section 1. Section 2 establishes him as Commander-in-Chief and grants him power to give pardons, except in cases of impeachment, for offenses against the United States. Section 3 provides the power to make treaties (with the advice and consent of two-thirds of the Senate) and the power to nominate ambassadors, ministers, Judges of the Supreme Court, and all other Officers of the United States.
Article V of the Constitution provides the procedures to be followed to amend the Constitution. Currently, the Constitution has been amended twenty-seven times (including the Bill of Rights).
Article VI of The United States Constitution states that the "Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in pursuance thereof, and all treaties made or shall be made, under the Authority of the United States, shall be the Supreme Law of the Land". Furthermore, all federal, state, and local officials must take an oath to support the Constitution. This means that state governments and officials cannot take actions or pass laws that interfere with the Constitution.
The first section of the fourth article of the Constitution contains the "full faith and credit clause". This clause provides that each state must recognize the public acts (laws), records, and judicial proceedings of the other states.
Specific provisions of the Constitution protect the rights of the individual from interference by the federal and state governments. The first ten amendments, called the Bill of Rights, were enacted in 1791 to provide a check on the new federal government. The first eight amendments provide protection of some of the most fundamental rights of the individual. For example, the First Amendment protects the fundamental civil rights of free speech, press, and assembly.
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