Please read the US Constitution at the back of your book or online
(http://www.usconstitution.net/const.txt) Additional material on the Constitution and for
these questions can be found on Wikipedia.
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Added on 25.02.2016 17:48
Question 1:
What are the topics of the first 3 articles of the Constitution? Is there any relevance to the
order in which they are described?
Question 2:
How long did it take for the ratification of the 27th Amendment?
(i) What facts and circumstances support the case that this amendment has the
same validity as the other amendments of the Constitution?
(ii) What facts and circumstances can you use to argue that this amendment
should be re-ratified to be valid?
Question 3:
Hypothetical: It is now 2016, and after 8 years of the Obama/Biden administration,
Hillary Clinton is the Democratic nominee. Her campaign slogan: Remember the Good
Ole Days Under My Hubby Bill. She proposes to name Bill Clinton as the Democratic
Vice Presidential Nominee.
If Hillary Clinton wins, then would the 22nd Amendment prohibit Bill Clinton from
serving as Vice President:
(i) What reading of the 22nd Amendment would suggest this prohibition?
(ii) What interpretation of the 22nd Amendment would argue for allowing Bill as
VP?
If 3 years into the administration, Hillary Clinton resigns after a political scandal
irreparably damages her reputation, can Bill serve as President:
(iii) What reading of the 22nd Amendment would stop Bill Clinton from moving
back into the Oval Office?
(iv) Can the 22nd Amendment be read to allow another Bill Clinton presidency?
Question 4:
It is now 2016, and John McCain wants to run for President again. He has formed a ticket
with his erstwhile rival and now best billionaire buddy, Mitt Romney. Their campaign
slogan: Vote for the Billionaires. Where was John McCain born? (see
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_McCain) In light of the prohibition in Article II, Sec. 1:
(i) What arguments can Senator McCain use to bolster his case for being eligible
to be President?
(ii) What arguments can his opponents use?
Question 5:
Read Article II of the Constitution.
(i) How could you interpret this Article as giving the President very limited
powers?
(ii) What sections can you refer to in this Article (and elsewhere in the
Constitution) to argue that the Presidents powers are very broad?
Question 6:
If you were a controversial bureaucrat who desperately wanted to be made ambassador to
Russia (so you could personally yell at Putin), but you could not be approved by the
Senate, what section of Article II would you direct the Presidents attention to?
What is the limit of this power?
Question 7:
Can Congress and the President increase the number of Justices of the Supreme Court?
Question 8:
The 10th Amendment has been famously derided as a truism that all is retained which
has not been surrendered United States v. Darby, 312 U.S. 100, 124 (1941)
(i) Can you read the 9th and 10th Amendments in a way that makes the
complementary and relevant? Explain.
(ii) Can the 10th Amendment be deleted from the Constitution with no detriment
to the people?