Assignment task:
Summarize The federal government and all fifty state governments are based on written constitutions. Each of these constitutions sets forth the structure and powers of government as well as the rights of citizens. The term "constitutional law" refers to the judicial interpretation of these constitutions in the context of legal disputes. These disputes arise in both state and federal courts. Each of the fifty states has its own court system, which is responsible for interpreting its own state constitution and, in some instances, the federal constitution. Because of the variations in state constitutional law, this chapter focuses on federal constitutional law. It is important to understand, however, that because the federal constitution is the "supreme law of the land," state constitutions (as well as statutes and local ordinances) must conform to the principles of the U.S. Constitution. All federal courts interpret the U.S. Constitution, but because the U.S. Supreme Court sits at the apex of the federal judicial hierarchy, the Supreme Court is the most important developer of constitutional law. Constitutional law has two basic components: the institutional component and the civil rights/civil liberties component. The former component embraces issues of congressional, presidential, and judicial power as well as questions of state versus national authority and problems of interstate relations. The latter component involves claims of personal freedom and legal and political equality, usually asserted in opposition to exercises of governmental power. Because civil rights and liberties are so important, and because there are so many issues of freedom and equality that courts must adjudicate, we devote separate chapters to these topics (see Chapters 4 and 5).