Category: L
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Levying War
Levying WarEarly judicial interpretation of the meaning of treason in terms of levying war was conditioned by the partisan struggles of the early nineteenth century, which involved the treason trials of Aaron Burr and his associates. In Ex parte Bollman,1…
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Land Controversies
Controversies Between Citizens of the Same State Claiming Land Under Grants of Different StatesThe genesis of this clause was in the report of the Committee of Detail which vested the power to resolve such land disputes in the Senate,1 but this propo…
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Lawfulness of Governmental Action
Standing to Challenge Lawfulness of Governmental ActionStanding to challenge governmental action on statutory or other non-constitutional grounds has a constitutional content to the degree that Article III requires a "case" or "controversy," necessitating a litigant who has susta…
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Legislative Courts
Legislative CourtsLegislative courts, so-called because they are created by Congress pursuant to its general legislative powers, have comprised a significant part of the federal judiciary.1 The distinction between constitutional courts and legislativ…
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Law of the Land Origin
Origin of the ConceptionHow did this distinctive feature of the Constitution come about, by virtue of which the treatymaking authority is enabled to stamp upon its promises the quality of municipal law, thereby rendering them enforceable by the courts without further action? The short answer is that…
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Legislative Role of the President
Legislative Role of the PresidentThe clause directing the President to report to the Congress on the state of the union imposes a duty rather than confers a power, and is the formal basis of the President's legislative leadership. The President's legislative role has attained great proportio…
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Lend-Lease Act
The Lend-Lease ActThe most extensive delegation of authority ever made by Congress to the President to enter into executive agreements occurred within the field of the cognate powers of the two departments, the field of foreign relations, and took place at a time when war appeared to be in the offin…
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Litvinov Agreement
The Litvinov AgreementThe executive agreement attained its modern development as an instrument of foreign policy under President Franklin D. Roosevelt, at times threatening to replace the treaty-making power, not formally but in effect, as a determinative element in the field of foreign policy. The …
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Logan Act
The Logan ActWhen in 1798 a Philadelphia Quaker named Logan went to Paris on his own to undertake a negotiation with the French Government with a view to averting war between France and the United States, his enterprise stimulated Congress to pass "An Act to Prevent Usurpation of Executive Func…
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Loyalty Issue
The Loyalty IssueBy section 9A of the Hatch Act of 1939, a federal employee was disqualified from accepting or holding any position in the Federal Government or the District of Columbia if he belonged to an organization that he knew advocated the overthrow of our constitutional form of government.<a…
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Law Interpretation
The President as Law InterpreterThe power accruing to the President from his function of law interpretation preparatory to law enforcement is daily illustrated in relation to such statutes as the Anti-Trust Acts, the Taft-Hartley Act, the Internal Security Act, and many lesser statutes. Nor is this …
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Law of Nations
The President as Executor of the Law of NationsIllustrative of the President's duty to discharge the responsibilities of the United States in international law with a view to avoiding difficulties with other governments was the action of President Wilson in closing the Marconi Wireless Station a…
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Law of the Land
Treaties as Law of the LandTreaty commitments of the United States are of two kinds. As Chief Justice Marshall wrote in 1829: "A treaty is, in its nature, a contract between two nations, not a legislative act. It does not generally effect, of itself, the object to be accomplished; especially, s…
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Legal Tender
Legal Tender 1 (Powers Denied to the States)Relying on this clause, which applies only to the states and not to the Federal Government, the Supreme Court has held that, where the marshal of a state court received state bank notes in payment and disch…
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Legislative Power in Wartime
Delegation of Legislative Power in WartimeDuring wartime, Congress has been prone to delegate more powers to the President than at other times.1 The Court, however, has insisted that, "[i]n peace or war it is essential that the Constitution be s…