Category: M
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McCulloch v. Maryland
Five years after the decision in Mc- Culloch v. Maryland that a state may not tax an instrumentality of the Federal Government, the Court was asked to and did reexamine the entire question in Osborn v. Bank of the United States.1 In that case counsel…
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Maritime Jurisdiction
Territorial Extent of Admiralty and Maritime JurisdictionAlthough he was a vigorous exponent of the expansion of admiralty jurisdiction, Justice Story for the Court in The Steamboat Thomas Jefferson 1 adopted a restrictive English rule confining admi…
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Manufactured Diversity
Manufactured DiversityA litigant who, because of diversity of citizenship, can choose whether to sue in state or federal court, will properly consider where the advantages and disadvantages balance, and if diversity is lacking, a litigant who perceives the balance to favor the federal forum will som…
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Maritime Law
Maritime Law (Necessary and Proper Clause)Congress may implement the admiralty and maritime jurisdiction conferred upon the federal courts by revising and amending the maritime law that existed at the time the Constitution was adopted, but in so doing, it cannot go beyond the reach of that jurisdict…
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Mootness
MootnessA case initially presenting all the attributes necessary for federal court litigation may at some point lose some attribute of justiciability and become "moot." The usual rule is that an actual controversy must exist at all stages of trial and appellate consideration and not simply…
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Marbury v. Madison
Marbury v. MadisonChief Justice Marshall's argument for judicial review of congressional acts in Marbury v. Madison 1 had been largely anticipated by Hamilton.2 Hamilton had written, for example: …
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Martial Law
Martial Law and Constitutional LimitationsTwo theories of martial law are reflected in decisions of the Supreme Court. The first, which stems from the Petition of Right, 1628, provides that the common law knows no such thing as martial law; 1 that is…
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Myers Case
The Myers CaseHowever much the two arguments are still subject to dispute, Chief Justice Taft, himself a former President, appears in Myers v. United States 1 to have carried a majority of the Court with him in establishing the Hamiltonian conception…
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Myers Versus Morrison
Myers Versus Morrison (Presidential Duties and Powers)How does this issue stand today? The answer to this question, so far as there is one, is to be sought in a comparison of the Court's decision in Myers, on the one hand, and its decision in Morrison, on the other.<a name=t1 href=#f1 target=&qu…
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Mails Protection
Congress Power To Protect the MailsThe postal powers of Congress embrace all measures necessary to insure the safe and speedy transit and prompt delivery of the mails.1 And not only are the mails under the protection of the National Government, they …
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Maritime Crimes
Origin of the Clause 10 (Maritime Crimes)"When the United States ceased to be a part of the British empire, and assumed the character of an independent nation, they became subject to that system of rules which reason, morality, and custom had established among civilized nations of Europe, as th…
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Military Justice System
Trial and Punishment of Offenses: Servicemen, Civilian Employees, and DependentsUnder its power to make rules for the government and regulation of the armed forces, Congress has set up a system of criminal law binding on all servicemen, with its own substantive laws, its own courts and procedures, a…
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Military Operations
Theater of Military Operations (Constitutional Rights In Wartime)Military law to the exclusion of constitutional limitations otherwise applicable is the rule in the areas in which military operations are taking place. This view was assumed by all members of the Court in Ex parte Milligan,<a name=t1 …
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Militia
Clauses 15 and 16. The MilitiaClause 15. The Congress shall have Power * * * To provide for calling forth the Militia to execute the Laws of the Union, suppress Insurrections and repel Invasions.More about Militia: Clause 16Clause 16. The Congress shall have Power * * * To provide for organ…
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Militia Regulation
Regulation of the Militia (Militia Clauses)The power of Congress over the militia "being unlimited, except in the two particulars of officering and training them . . . it may be exercised to any extent that may be deemed necessary by Congress. . . . The power of the state government to legislat…