by Jay Wexler
Bill of Rights, 101, 102, 159–60
birther movement. See natural-born citizen clause
Bolton, John, 46
Bork, Robert, 13–14, 112
Bowers v. Hardwick, 169
Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act, 101
Brewster, Benjamin, 12
Brown, Archie, 166–67
Brown v. Board of Education, 141, 175
Bush, George W., x, xiii, 39–41, 46, 51–52, 125–26, 187
Bybee, Jay, 125, 126
California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control, 97–98
California v. LaRue, 97–98, 108
Carter, Jimmy, 42
checks and balances, 3–4, 10. See also separation of powers
Cheney, Dick, 1, 2
Chin, Gabriel, 89, 91
Chisholm v. Georgia, 100–101
Civil War, American, 130
Clark, Tom, 71
Clinton, Bill, xii, 6, 42, 46, 51
Clinton, Hillary, xiii, 2, 11–13, 14–15
Code of Federal Regulations, 145–46
coelacanths, 192
Colorado Amendment 2, 168–69, 170–72
Colvin, John, 151–52
commander in chief clause, xvi, 42, 121, 122–27, 133–35
“Command of the Sea” metric, 135
commerce clause, 25–27, 107
Committee on the Constitutional System, 17–18
Confederate States of America, 130
Congress: Article I powers summary, 24–25; and the congressional elections clause, 78; constitutional limitations on, 23–24, 26–27; delegation of constitutional powers by, 23, 32–34, 37–38; letters of marque and reprisal powers of, 121, 127–30, 133–35; members’ protections under Article I, 6; presidential succession statute, 93–95; property clause powers, 24; war powers of, xvi, 131. See also dormant commerce clause doctrine; letters of marque and reprisal clause; weights and measures clause
constitutional interpretation: broad, 6, 54–55; as a “living document,” 116–17; maximalist, 107–9; minimalist, 107; pragmatic, 13, 14; strict construction, 5–6, 92; textual, 12, 13. See also Supreme Court, U.S.
Constitution of the United States: checks and balances, 3–4, 10; citizen’s view of, 54–55; function of, xiv–xvi, 3–5, 100; indeterminacy debates over, 80–82; personal liberties guarantees of, 159–60; problematic clauses symposium, 77–79, 106–7; separation of powers, 3–7, 9–11, 15–19. See also amendments; Bill of Rights; specific articles
Cooper, Charles, 14
Craig v. Boren, 109, 110
Cummings v. Missouri, 166
Cutler, Lloyd, 2, 17
Daugherty, Harry, 51
Daughtrey, Martha Craig, 192–93
declare war clause, xvi, 121–27, 131
Delgado, Richard, 156
dodo bird, 187, 192
dormant commerce clause doctrine, 74–75, 102–4, 107–8, 112
Douglas, William O., 181–82
drosophila fruit flies, xvii, 117
due process clause. See Fourteenth Amendment
Egyptian plover, 131, 137
Eighteenth Amendment, 99, 103–6
Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals, 171
Eisenstadt v. Baird, 179
Eleventh Amendment, 100–101, 116
Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals, 40
Ellis Island, xiii, 57–59, 70, 73–74
Ely, John Hart, 123, 132, 182
Endangered Species Act, 25–26
Engblom v. Carey, 185–86
Epstein, Richard, 174
equal protection clause. See Fourteenth Amendment
executive branch powers, 3–5, 41–43, 53, 131–34. See also letters of marque and reprisal clause; recess-appointments clause; war powers allocation
ex post facto clauses, 160–61
FactCheck.org, 86
federalism, 99–106, 160. See also Twenty-first Amendment
The Federalist Papers, 46, 79–80, 143
Fifth Amendment, 180, 182
First Amendment, ix, xiv, xvi, 98, 107, 181
Fletcher v. Peck, 165, 166
Ford, Gerald, 42
Foreign Gifts and Decorations Act, 148–49
44 Liquormart Inc. v. Rhode Island, 109, 110
Fourteenth Amendment: equal protection and due process clauses, ix, xvi, 24, 102, 108, 140–42, 169–72, 180; privileges and immunity clause, xiv; ratification of, 141
Fourth Amendment, ix, 182, 189
Frankfurter, Felix, 80
Franklin, Benjamin, 144
full faith and credit clause, 75
Garland, Ex parte, 166
Ginsburg, Ruth Bader, 142, 182
giraffes, ix, 156
Goldberg, Arthur, 181
Goldwater, Barry, 88
Gonzalez, Alberto, 125
Gore, Al, 1, 2, 39
Granholm, Jennifer, 85
Granholm v. Heald, 112
Grassley, Charles “Chuck,” 158, 173
Green, Edward H.R., 68
Griswold v. Connecticut, 179, 181
grizzly bear, 56
Haig, Alexander, 93
Hamilton, Alexander, 46, 165
Hatch, Orrin, 14
Henry, Patrick, 164
Herz, Michael, 55–56
Hewitt, William, 74
Hills, Rick, 171–72
Hitchens, Christopher, 140, 148
Ho, James C., 94–95
Holmes, Oliver Wendell, Jr., 67
Horwitz, Morton, 186
Huffington Post, 87
incompatibility clause, 2, 6–9, 11, 16–19, 193. See also separation of powers
ineligibility clause, 6, 11–15. See also separation of powers
Insular Cases, 89
“Is the Third Amendment Obsolete?” (Horwitz), 186
Jackson, Andrew, 46
Jama, In re, 153–54
Jama, John Paul, 153–54
Jay, John, 83
Jefferson, Thomas, 28, 63, 163–64
Johnson, Lyndon, 124 judicial branch powers, 3, 59–64, 78
The Justices Deliberate Granholm v. Heald, a small play called, 112–15
Kalt, Brian, 52–54
Kemp, Jack, 1, 2
Kennedy, Anthony, 14, 169, 170 Kennedy, Edward M. “Ted,” 40–41
king penguin, 146–47
Kissinger, Henry, 85
Knox, Philander, 51
Koh, Harold, 126
Land, Clay, 86–87
Larson, Carlton F. W., 155
LaRue, California v., 97–98, 108
Last Call (Okrent), 104
Lawrence v. Texas, 179
legislative punishment. See bill of attainder clauses
letters of marque and reprisal clause: and the commander in chief clause, 133–35; congressional powers, 121, 127–30, 133–35; history of, 127–30; and modern acts of piracy, xiii, xvii, 119–21, 135–37; relevance of, 193; text of, 119, 131; and the war powers clause, xvi, 121–27, 131–33
Lincoln, Abraham, 46, 130
lions, ix, 172
Liptak, Adam, 155–56
Lobel, Jules, 134
Lochner v. New York, 180–81
Lockheed Martin, 21–22
Lopez, United States v., 26
Loudon, Euan, 146
Loudon, Harold V., 146
Lovett, United States v., 166
Loving v. Virginia, 141
Madison, James, 2, 28, 46, 63, 79–80, 143, 150, 165
Maersk Alabama crisis, 119–20
Mankiewicz, Frank, 35–36
Marbury, William, 62–63
Marbury v. Madison, 62–63
Marcy, William L., 129
marque and reprisal. See letters of marque and reprisal clause
Mars climate orbiter, 21–22, 36–37
Marshall, John, 63, 165
Massachusetts state constitution, 143
McCain, John, 88–92
McKinney, James, 147
McReynolds, James, 180
A Metric America (National Bureau of Standards), 31–32
Metric Conversion Act (1975), 32, 34, 37
metric system, 21–22, 27–31, 32, 34–37. See also weights and measures clause
Military Commissions Act, 157–58, 172–73
Miranda v. Arizona, 5
Morrison v. Olson, 6
Myers v. United States, 6
NASA, 21–22
National Bureau of Standards, 31–32
natural-born citizen clause: and the birther movement, xiii, 85–87; criticism of, 83–85, 94–96; history of, 79–80, 83, 88–92; and presidential succession, 92–96; relevance of, 193; text of, 77, 83
Nebraska state constitution, 170–71
Nile crocodile, 131, 133
Nineteenth Amendment, 141
Ninth Amendment, 181, 182
Nixon, Richard, 13, 42, 124, 168
Nixon v. Administrator of General Services, 168
nobility clauses. See title of nobility clauses
Nofziger, Lyn, 35–36
Noonan, Peggy, 178, 190–91
nutria rat, 95
N.Y. State Liquor Authority v. Bellanca, 108–9
Obama, Barack, xiii, 85–87, 158
Office of Legal Counsel (OLC), x–xii, 11, 14–15, 42–43, 125, 126
Okrent, Daniel, 104
Olson, Theodore, 89–90
Onion (newspaper), 187
original-jurisdiction clause, xii, 57, 62–64, 69, 71, 75, 193
Paine, Thomas, 142–43
panda bears, ix
pardons, presidential, 42–43
Parrillo, Nicholas, 129, 130
Paul, Ron, 120–21, 129–30, 135, 137
Pelphrey v. Cobb County, 52
Philips, Josiah, 163–64
plankton, 188, 192
pocket veto clause, 50
Powell, Lewis, 14
Prakash, Sai, 9, 127
privacy rights. See right to privacy
privileges and immunity clause, xiv
Prohibition, 99, 103–6, 110–11
property clause, 24
Pryor, William H., 40–41, 47–49, 51–52
quartering of troops, xiii, 177–78, 184–86, 188, 190–92, 193
Rally to Restore Sanity, 187
Randolph, Edmund, 164
Reagan, Ronald, 35–36, 46, 93
recess-appointments clause: controversies, 40–41, 47–48; history of, 44–46; intersession/intrasession appointments, 45–47, 49–52; relevance of, 193; text, 39, 43, 45, 121; and the Tillman Adjournment, 52–54
recommendations clause, xi
Reforming American Government (Committee on the Constitutional System), 17–18
Reid, Harry, 54
religious test clause, 79
reprieves and pardons, 42–43
Revolutionary War, American, 128–29
right to privacy, 178–79, 181–82, 188–89
Roberts, Owen, 180
Roe v. Wade, 179, 182
Romer v. Evans, 169–70
Romney, George, 88
Roosevelt, Frankin D., 180
Roosevelt, Theodore “Teddy,” 50
rule of avulsion, 73
Rutledge, John, 46
Sachs, Stephen, 91
Sanitary District of Chicago, 66–67
Saxbe, William, 13
Scalia, Antonin, 169
Schwarzkopf, Norman, xiii, 139–40, 148–49
Second Amendment, xiv
Second Circuit Court of Appeals, 174
Selective Service System v. Minnesota PIRG, 167
separation of powers, 3–7, 9–11, 15–19. See also incompatibility clause; ineligibility clause
shrews, ix, xvii
Sixteenth Amendment, 104
Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, 192
Society of the Cincinnati, 144–45
Spudich v. Smarr, 110, 111
Starr, Kenneth, 6, 112
State Board of Equalization of California v. Young’s Market Co., 107–8
Stevens, John Paul, 74
Story, Joseph, 83
Supreme Court, U.S.: “anti-animus” rule, 169; on bills of attainder, 159, 165–68; congressional power limitations, 26–27; dormant commerce clause doctrine, 74–75, 102–4, 107–8, 112; Ellis Island case, 57–59, 70, 73–74; hypothetical case transcript, 112–15; on individual liberties, 108–9; Insular Cases decisions, 89; judicial review power of, 4, 62–63; on obscenity, 98; original-jurisdictional power of, xii, 60–64, 69, 75, 193; original package doctrine, 104; political doctrine question use, 125; right to privacy decisions, 179; on the separation of powers, 5–6; special master appointments, 69–71; standing doctrine application, 9–10; on state-imposed legislative term limits, 80; state-versus-state cases, 59, 65–69, 74–75; substantive due process doctrine, 180; support of congressional delegation of power, 33–34; Tenth Amendment application, 101; three-part tests, 167–68; on the Twenty-first Amendment, 98–99, 107–9, 111–12; on war powers, 124–25. See also constitutional interpretation
Tenth Amendment, 101–2
Texas v. Florida, et al., 68
Third Amendment: humor, 187; and limitations on military power, 189–90; quartering of troops under, xiii, 177–78, 184–86, 188, 190–92, 193; relevance of, 192–93; and the right to privacy, 178, 181–82, 188–89; text, 177
“Third Amendment Rights Group Celebrates Another Successful Year” (Onion), 187
Thirteenth Amendment, 106, 141
Tillman, Seth Barrett, 8–9, 52–54
Tillman Adjournment, 52–54
title of nobility clauses: frivolous arguments under, 152–54; history of, xvi, 142–45, 147, 149–51; legacy preferences and, 154–56; and officers of the United States, xii, 139–40, 145, 147–49; and private individuals and organizations, 144–48; relevance of, 193; text, 139, 143; and U.S. immigration law, 145, 147
“Titles of Nobility, Hereditary Privilege, and the Unconstitutionality of Legacy Preferences in Public School Admissions” (Larson), 155
titles of nobility amendment, 149–52, 155
“torture memo,” 125–26
Treaty of Paris (1856), 129
Tribe, Laurence, 89–90, 106–7
Tribe-Olson memorandum, 89–90
Twelfth Amendment, 94
Twenty-fifth Amendment, 92–93
Twenty-first Amendment, xvii, 99, 104, 106–11
Twenty-seventh Amendment, 150–51
Udden, J. A., 147–48
United States Metric Board, 32, 34–35, 36, 37
United States Statutes at Large (Library of Congress), 151–52
United States v. Lopez, 26
United States v. Lovett, 166
United States v. Virginia, 142
“Unnatural Born Citizens and Acting Presidents” (Ho), 94–95
Utah prairie dogs, 18–19
Van Buren, Martin, 83
Van Devanter, Willis, 180
Verkuil, Paul, 70
vesting clause, 59–60
Violence Against Women Act, 27
Virginia, United States v., 142
Volstead Act, 105
Voting Rights Act (1965), 24
War and Responsibility (Ely), 132
war powers allocation, xvi, 121–27, 131–33. See also letters of marque and reprisal clause
War Powers Resolution, 124
Warren, Earl, 167
wartime troop quartering, xiii
Washington, George, 12, 27, 46, 83, 144–45
Webb-Kenyon Act, 104, 107
weights and measures clause, 21–23, 27–29, 32, 37, 193. See also metric system
West Coast Hotel Company v. Parrish, 181
“Why Senator John McCain Cannot Be President” (Chin), 91
Wickersham, George W., 147–48
Wilson, Woodrow, 2, 16–17
wombats, ix, xvii
Wuerth, Ingrid Brunk, 134
Yablon-Zug, Marcia, 110–11
Yackle, Larr
y, 64–65
Yoo, John, 123–24, 125–26, 132–33
Young’s Market Co., State Board of Equalization of California v., 107–8
zebra mussel, 95
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Wexler, Jay.
The odd clauses : understanding the Constitution
through ten of its most curious provisions / Jay Wexler.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
E-ISBN 978-0-8070-0091-5
ISBN 978-0-8070-0090-8 (hardback : alk. paper)
1. Constitutional law—United States. I. Title.
KF4550.W465 2011
342.7302—dc22 2011012339