Category: Necessary and Proper Clause
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Corporations
Power to Charter Corporations (Necessary and Proper Clause)In addition to the creation of banks, Congress has been held to have authority to charter a railroad corporation,1 or a corporation to construct an interstate bridge,<a name=t2 href=#f2 targe…
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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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Necessary and Proper Clause
Necessary and Proper Clause DefinitionAll grants of power to Congress in § 8, as elsewhere, must be read in conjunction with the Necessary and Proper Clause, § 8, cl. 18, which authorizes Congress "[t]o make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into Execution the …
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Punishment
Definition of Punishment and CrimesAlthough the only crimes which Congress is expressly authorized to punish are piracies, felonies on the high seas, offenses against the law of nations, treason and counterfeiting of the securities and current coin of the United States, its power to create, define, …
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Courts and Judicial Proceedings
Courts and Judicial Proceedings (Necessary and Proper Clause)Because the Constitution "delineated only the great outlines of the judicial power . . . , leaving the details to Congress, . . . [t]he distribution and appropriate exercise of the judicial power must . . . be made by laws passed by C…
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Currency Regulations
Currency Regulations (Necessary and Proper Clause)Reinforced by the necessary and proper clause, the powers " 'to lay and collect taxes, to pay the debts and provide for the common defence and general welfare of the United States,' and 'to borrow money on the credit of the United St…
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Acts Concerning Claims
Special Acts Concerning Claims (Necessary and Proper Clause)The Necessary and Proper Clause enables Congress to pass special laws to require other departments of the government to prosecute or adjudicate particular claims, whether asserted by the government itself or by private persons. In 1924,<a n…
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Chartering of Banks
Chartering of Banks (Necessary and Proper Clause)As an appropriate means for executing "the great powers, to lay and collect taxes; to borrow money; to regulate commerce; to declare and conduct a war; and to raise and support armies . . . ," Congress may incorporate banks and kindred insti…