Constitution Summary

Christie Martin
November 8, 2014
Constitution Summary

The Constitution of the United States
The Preamble:
“We the People”
Establishes justice and discipline
This establishes the most important concept of American government
Article I- The Legislative Article
Section 1- Legislative power
Only congress has the power to make laws
It is divided into two chambers, the Senate and House of Representatives
Section 2- House of Representatives; Composition; Qualifications; Apportionment; Impeachment Power
Every two years, voters determine who will represent them in the House of Representatives
States aren’t allowed to limit voting rights for the US election
In order to serve in House, you have to be a citizen of the US for at least seven years and 25 years old. You also have to live in the state that you want to represent in Congress.
It is based on population; more people that live in that state, the more seats it gets in the house.
A census needs to be taken every ten years, so you can see if the population is growing in that state and making sure the population is proportional to each states representation in Congress.
If a seat becomes vacant, the governor is supposed to have a special election to fill that seat.
The House of Representatives have to complete control to choose their own leaders
Only the House of Representatives have power to impeach executive and judicial officers who are unfit for office.
Section 3-
Each state gets two seats in the Senate, regardless of the population
Each senators term lasts six years and are chosen by their State Legislatures
One third of the Senates seats are up for election every two years. That’s so senators will never face election at the same time.
You have to be at least 30 years old, a citizen for at least 9 years, and be a resident of the state you want to represent.
The Vice President is also known as the President of the Senate. He doesn’t participate in debates or cast a vote unless there is a tie vote.
The Senates President is in charge when the VP of the US is not in the house.
The senate has power to choose its other officers
If the House of Representatives votes to impeach any civil officer, the Senate must serve as the judge and the jury.
If two thirds of the senators vote to convict, the impeached official is removed from office.
The only punishments the Senate is allowed to give out in impeachment cases are removal from office and banishment from future government service.
Section 4- Congressional Elections: Times, Places, Manner
The Constitution leaves it up to the state to organize congressional elections
Congress has the power to set new rules for federal elections
Congress needs to have a meeting each year
Section 5- Powers and Duties of the Houses
The House and Senate have the power to judge the qualifications of their own members
A majority of either chambers membership is required to be present to constitute a quorum
The House and Senate have the power to set their own rules of parliamentary procedure
Both chambers of Congress must publish an official record of their proceedings
Neither the House nor the Senate can go out on an extended vacation while the other remains in business unless the other approves of it first.
Section 6- Rights of the Members
Congressmen get paid by the government, at a salary they set themselves. They also have legislative immunity, so they can’t be charged with a crime for anything they say in Congress.
Congressmen can’t be arrested or harassed by police unless they committed a serious crime or treason.
People serving in office in either the executive or the judicial branches of the government can’t simultaneously serve in Congress or vice versa.
Section 7- Legislative Powers: Bills and Resolutions
All tax legislation must originate in the House of Representatives, even though the Senate retains its normal power to amend any bill sent to it from the House.
A bill becomes a law but both houses of Congress have to pass it and then send it to the president. If the president vetoes it, it then goes back to Congress, where a two-thirds vote can override his veto. If the president simply does nothing, the bill becomes law without his signature after ten days. If Congress adjourns less than ten days after sending the president a bill, he can apply a pocket veto by refusing to sign it. The normal way a bill becomes law even without presidential signature after ten days does not take effect if Congress adjourns before ten days are up.
Joint resolutions of Congress are special measures passed under special circumstances, unlike regular bills of law. They still have to be sent to the president for his signature.
Section 8- Powers of Congress
Power of tax
Money is power, and in the governmental structure created by the Constitution, Congress controls the money.
Congress has the power to levy tariffs
Congress is allowed to go into debt to pay for government programs and services
Congress has the power to impose regulations on interstate and international business. They can set up a process for immigrants to become American citizens and to set rules for hopelessly indebted people and businesses to declare bankruptcy law.
Congress controls minting of the money and sets its value. Congress has the power to set up Post Offices and to build roads connecting them; to set up a system of copyrights and patients, granting creative people the exclusive right to sell their creations; to set up lower level federal courts that report to the Supreme Court; to punish pirates. They most importantly have the power to declare war.
Congress can’t fund military operations more than two years in the future. They have to provide and maintain a Navy
Congress has the power to set rules for the behavior of the armed forces; to call out the militia to defend the nation from attack or armed rebellion. Congress has the power to set up a national capital of the US that is outside the jurisdiction of any state and has ultimate authority over all federal military facilities even if they’re located within particular states.
If the militia is called into national service, Congress pays for it and governs its actions
Section 9- Powers Denied to Congress
You can’t be held in jail without facing legitimate charges of some kind, there is no such thing as indefinite detention without due legal process.
A bill of attainder is a law that simply declares that certain people are guilty of a crimes and then imposes some kind of punishment.
An ex post facto law is a law that retroactively criminalizes a certain act after it has already been committed.
A capitation tax is a head tax, one charged to each individual in the population
Ensure that all states are treated fairly by the national government. Congress can’t charge taxes for shipping goods from one state to another.
Granting Congress control over government spending
Ensure that the US would never develop a formal aristocracy. The US government can’t grant any titles of nobility.
Section 10- Powers Denied to the States
Only the federal government has the power to conduct foreign diplomacy or print money
Ensure that the states don’t start acting like independent countries, undermining the national government.
States aren’t independent nations, they can’t charge tariffs on imports from other states
The states are not allowed to run their own armies or start their own wars
Article II- The Executive Article
Section 1- Nature and scope of Presidential Power
The Executive Power gives the president a strong mandate to enforce the country’s laws and administer the country’s public policies.
Each states gets a number of electoral votes equal to its number of senators plus its number of US representatives. This system splits the difference between allocating electoral votes proportional to population or equally to each state.
Congress gets to set the date for presidential elections, the day is the same throughout the whole US.
The president has to have been born in the United States, has to be 35 years old, and has to be living inside the US for at least 14 years.
The presidency is a paid position, the president receives a pre-set salary that can’t be changed during the course of his term.
The Constitution actually spells out the exact language of the presidential oath of office, which must be taken upon the president’s inauguration.
Section 2, 3 & 4- Powers and Duties of the President
The president is the commander in chief of the military, he is the boss of the heads of all the civilian departments of government and has the power to pardon individuals convicted of crimes.
The president has the power to negotiate treaties with foreign governments, although a two thirds vote of the Senate is required for ratification. He also has the power to nominate all appointed officials of the government.
The president can appoint individuals to government positions without Senate approval
The president is required to report to Congress over time. The president can call Congress into a special session when it’s out on recess if he thinks there is urgent business that Congress needs to deal with.
The president has to grant commissions to all military officers of the United States
If the president does such a bad job that the Congress finds him guilty of treason, bribery or other serious crimes.
Article III- The Judicial Article
Section 1- Judicial Power, Courts, Judges
The Supreme Court is the head of the judicial branch
Congress has the power to create lower level federal courts that can serve under the Supreme Court to help the Supremes work through the federal caseload.
Section 2- Jurisdiction
Federal courts can decide cases involving federal law, disputes between different states, and disputes between residents of different states.
The US Supreme Court had original jurisdiction in a few select kinds of cases, those involving ambassadors.
Someone accused of a crime in a federal court has the right to have his trial heard by a jury of his peers, rather than decided solely by a judge.

Section 3- Treason
The requirement of two eyewitnesses to an overt act of treason to convict someone for the crime remains an odd wrinkle in the law of today.
The government cannot punish the relatives of descendants of someone convicted of treason, the maximum punishment for committing treason is death.
Article IV- Full Faith and Credit Clause
Section 1- Privileges and Immunities
Each state has to recognize the laws, records, and court ruling of other states
Section 2- Privileges and Immunities: Interstate Extradition
States cannot discriminate against the residents of other states
States that capture fugitives from justice in other states have to send them back to face trial
Slaves who escaped into freedom in the North were required to be sent back to their owners in the South
Section 3- Admission of States
A system to allow new states formed on the western frontier to enter the Union as equals of the original states
Any western territories that haven’t yet become states fall under the direct control of the Congress
Section 4- Republican Form of Government
The federal government ensures that each state must maintain a representative from of government; no state is allowed to become a dictatorship.
The federal government also promises to protect all the states from foreign military attack
Article V- The Amending Power
The Constitution can be amended through a formal process
For an amendment to take effect, it first needs to be ratified by three fourths of the state legislatures
Article VI- The Supremacy Act
The new US government established by the Constitution promised to take on all debts racked up by the older, weaker national government.
No other law passed by any of the states can trump the Constitution
Treaties ratified by the Senate also gain the status of “supreme law of the land”
All government officials, elected, and appointed, must swear an oath to support the Constitution of the United States. That oath cannot be religious, and the government cannot require its officials to pass any test of religious affiliation to take office.
Article VII- Ratification
The Framers at the Philadelphia Convention of 1787 decided that ratification by nine states should be enough to allow the new Constitution to take effect