CONSTITUTIONAL LAW 1 OUTLINE
KEYED TO: SULLIVAN CASEBOOK

1. The Supreme Court's Authority and Role * Judicial Review * ROL→ Congress may neither restrict nor enlarge the Supreme Court’s original jurisdiction. * Marbury v. Madison * →Established Judicial Review. Court Held that a writ of mandamus to deliver a commission made by John Adams fell under the Sup. Court's appellate jurisdiction and therefore could not be brought in that court originally under Art. III b/c it is repugnant to the Constitution * →Supreme Court Authority to Review State Court Judgments * ROL→ The United States appellate power also extends to REVIEW state court judgments * →Judiciary Act of 1789, § 25: Provides for supreme court review of final decisions of the highest state courts rejecting claims based on federal law * Martin v. Hunter's Lessee * →A Virginia citizen willed his Virginia land to his nephew, P, a British subject and resident of England. Virginia, according to state law, had the right to confiscate land owned by British subjects and did so. Virginia granted this land to D, who then ejected P from the land. But, the treaties of 1783 and 1794 with Great Britain had anti-confiscation laws saying that the states won’t take the land of British citizens. Supreme Court exerted its authority to review the Virginia court's judgment and held that Supremacy Clause declares that the Federal interpretation will trump the States interpretation) * Cohens v. Virginia * →SC upheld its jurisdiction to review the validity of state laws in criminal proceedings) * →Judicial Excusivity * ROL→ It is exclusively the court's duty to interpret the constitution and say what the law is; Supremacy Clause makes the Constitution the Supreme