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Federalism in the usa checks and balances
Constitutional Law ; Checks & Balances
Checks and Balances and Separation of powers
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The Attorney General of the United States, Eric Holder, wrote a letter to Senator Rand Paul confirming that the President could kill a United States citizen on United States soil. This controversy was started by a simple question asked by Senator Rand Paul in a letter to the Justice Department. Senator Paul asked the Justice Department if the President believed he had authority to kill an American citizen within the United States. Instead of the Justice Department, the Attorney General responded with a hypothetical situation, which simply meant, yes, the President has the authority under the Constitution to kill an American citizen within the Untied States. The checks and balances on a hypothetical situation must be reviewed by the judicial branch or this hypothetical jargon may give the President more powers than the original intent of the Constitution. The founders wanted the President to be ready for any invasion or insurrection and that is why the President is Commander-in-chief of the armed forces. The founders were every reluctant to allow the President to decide whether his o...
One of President Lincoln’s most notable infringements was his suspension of the writ of habeas corpus. Within months of taking the presidential oath, Lincoln ordered the suspension of habeas corpus, citing “supra-constitutional reasons for taking unilateral executive action.” Attorney General Edward Bates’ defense of Lincoln’s actions regarding habeas corpus in which he refers to it as a privilege rather than a guaranteed civil liberty serves as basis for proving the illegitimacy of this act. If the writ of habeas corpus, which protects citizens from unlawful imprisonment, is viewed in the manner that Bates (and Lincoln for that matter) refers to it, one of the most basic constitutional liberties of a right to trial can easily be deprived and can very well devolve into despotism later
You little tyrant king george off with your head.Since the Americans had a bad experience with one person having too much power they made a constitution that guarded against tyranny by, dividing power, making the branches able to check or limit each other, and dividing power between big and little states.
In the Iraq War, the decision for the United States government to declare war was not what was the ideas of the founding fathers. Before the war even started, the President declared war himself, without the consent of Congress. An in the Constitution itself, it writes that Congress has the power, “to declare War,” (Art. I, sec. VIII). Then, as if to have a slap on the other side of the face, Congress, “refused to insist on enforcement of Article I, Section 8 of
Our Founding Fathers Alexander Hamilton and James Madison had faith in the ethics of the people to establish a representative government. Alexander Hamilton author of many of the Federalist papers before his death in 1804, he was firm believer in the Constitution grew frustrated; therefore, in Federalist paper One; he would provide answers to any objection to the Constitution. Alexander Hamilton believed that the Constitution wasn’t written to limit the people. He makes an argument in Federalist paper Eight, concerning a standing army, which was not provided against in the new Constitution; he concludes that it may exist under it. They would endeavor to supply the inferiority of population and resources by a more regular and effective system of defense, by disciplined troops, and by fortifications. The states support its number of discipline troops. He implied
Lincoln found powers in the constitutional clause making him "Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the militia of the several states." He said that because of this clause, he had the right to use any means necessary to defeat the enemy. With this justification, he issued many executive orders before Congress even convened. Lincoln summoned the militia, ordered a blockade of the Confederacy ports, expanded the regular army beyond its legal limit, and directed government funds before congressional allocation. of these powers were granted to him in the Constitution.
The farmers of our Constitution recognized the need for separate powers as well as checks and balances among the executive, legislative and judicial branches. This in turn helps to "provide for the common defense". Separation of powers prevents one branch from becoming excessively dominant over the United States, in order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution of the United States of America.: In order to accede to the preamble and adhere in its goals, the Constitution ensures this is by clearly stating the authority of the Congress in Article I Section 8 and the authority of the President in Article II Section 2. These fixed powers in the Constitution clearly state that one cannot act without permission or authorization of another. It is designed to that one cannot take action without consent of the other branch. This is prevalent in Article I Section 7 that states the process of how a law is passed. The fact that there are clear steps to the initiation of a law states the importance of separation of powers so that a single dominant branch does not arise.
War powers refers to the powers exercised by Congress or the president during times of war or other crises affecting national security. Article 2, Section 2 of the US Constitution declares that the president is the Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States. He may direct the military after an official declaration of war from Congress. There is a lot of disagreement and confusion about what exactly the president has the power to do under the Constitution. The purpose of this paper is to determine what war powers the constitution and Congress give the president, domestically and abroad during times of war, and what the scope of those powers is.
(Sell Lecture Notes, p.6) Congress shares responsibility with the president in declaring war, negotiating treaties with other countries and proving funds for soldiers and weapons. This is when conflicts come to head. The Vietnam War is a perfect example of this conflict, when the President waged war without a formal declaration of war from Congress. Because of this Congress then passed the War Powers Act in 1973. (Sell Lecture Notes, p.2) The Presidency has many responsibilities and powers.
There are two methods one can use when interpreting the Constitution. The first method includes not doing something unless the Constitution says that one can (i.e. unless the Constitution says one can do something, then one cannot). The other is where one can go ahead and do something if the Constitution doesn’t say one can’...
For instance, if there were a terrorist in the United States planning to blow up a government building, but you could not suspend the writ of habeas corpus, it would take too long to make a case out of it, and there could have been a preventable tragedy. It could be easier to just have probable cause to keep them from harming anyone, but it defies everything our country was built on. President Lincoln had said, during his presidency, “the writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended unless when, in cases of rebellion or invasion, the country may require it” (Source B). However, if a corrupted, but influential president in the legislative branch, decides to “go to war”, he could get away with many arrests that he could not have before they had “went to war”. Justice O’Connor believes in the suspension of the writ, as long as they are “given a meaningful opportunity to contest the factual basis for that detention” (Source E), meaning that they must have at least probable cause. Yet there could be many loophole opportunities in this, which is why the ability to suspend the writ Habeas Corpus should be
The Founding Fathers limit the power of government in the Constitution utilizing many different tactics, many more than even the aforementioned. Their main intent was to make the nation less democratic and to keep the government small. The Constitution has accomplished the Founding Fathers' goal until now, and will hopefully continue doing so in the future.
...ophy...” (Document B) In the end, the founding fathers wanted to do what they felt was right for their country.
Presidential power has become a hot topic in the media the in recent years. There has been extensive debate about what a president should be able to do, especially without the involvement of Congress and the American people. While this debate has become more publicized since the Bush administration, similar issues of presidential power date back to Truman and the Korean War. As with much of the structure of the U.S. government, the powers of the president are constantly evolving with the times and the executives.
...ese without the advising of Congress and other government officials. The vote of the people of the country is also crucial and determines how long the president can keep his job. His inability to make decisions solely from his own opinions and actions show why the limitations of the president’s power outweighed his empowerment.
The Separation of Powers was important to our Founders because the mistreatment of the power that the colonists gave to their leader was evident. The colonists preferred to avoid a similar occurrence in their new country, where they felt that their leaders were violating their rights. In one of James Madison’s Federalist Papers, it states that “the accumulation of all powers, legislative, judiciary, in the hands, whether of one, a few, or many, and whether hereditary, self-appointed, or elective, may be justly pronounced the very definition of tyranny…(L)iberty requires that the three great departments of power should be separate and